Mulan turns to an unwarranted Magyo

Okay, that title was cringy at best, but hear me: animated Mulan was rainshowers in the dry season, live-action Mulan is the storm that pulls the southwest monsoon.

If only Liu Yifei's heart is as perfect as Mulan's hair in combat. 

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

MULAN (2020): THE MOVIE

I wanted to view the live-action Mulan (2020) as a film independent of its animated predecessor Mulan (1998). But alas, that proved to be an impossible feat. I was not even halfway through the live-action film when I caught myself thinking, "I kind of like this Mulan better."
 
In the past few years, Disney has been trying, and most recently failing, to adapt their classic animated movies into live-action. We, the generations who grew up with Disney classics, would get excited of course. But the last few projects were not enchanting enough to capture the magic that made our collective childhoods Disney-fied (oh hello, Aladdin and the most heart-breaking averageness that was Lion King). With these projects came the fear from Mulan fans that the live-action version is just another soulless cash-grabbing scheme of Disney preying on our childhood nostalgia.
 
I think, we could have not been more wrong.
 

Yup, probably would believe you whole-heartedly if only you weren't so pro-CCP.

Director Niki Caro treated Mulan the way she deserved to be treated. The live-action take on the Chinese classic was thrilling all the way from start to finish. While the animated version struggled to completely capture the Chinese traditional cultural settings and details, the live-action reveled in it. That is not to say that the new Mulan was too traditional: the display of astounding special effects and state-of-the-art action sequences with intricately choreographed martial arts battles and horse stunts screams of modern tropes of cinema. The casting was perfect, the cinematography was astounding, the distinctiveness of the film from the animated version was on point.

The film's heroine is much like the movie itself. Most of us probably grew up to believe that most of Disney animated classics’ magic lies in the incorporation of the enchanting songs that we could repeatedly sing-along with. Overly faithful adaptations has been quite the norm for animated-to-live-action Disney projects, and quite honestly, that did not bode well for Aladdin and Lion King. Expectedly, many animated Mulan fans would probably be looking for the beloved songs I’ll Make a Man out of You, or A Girl Worth Fighting For, or Reflection within the live-action movie. However, Caro’s decision to not include singing parts in the movie was tantamount to Mulan forging her own path despite heavy social norms. As a “shout out” to this norm though, the film cleverly used recognizable melodies (like Honor to Us All in the matchmaker scene and Reflection in the Mulan-connects-to-her-chi montage), and memorable lines (“We're going to make men out of every single one of you” and “I don’t care what she looks like, I care what she cooks like!”).

In addition to the omission of musical numbers, Caro’s careful take on scenes involving traditional Chinese culture was respectful of the primary source material (perhaps too respectful – more on that later). Hollywood, when making commercial movies based on any Asian heritage, tend to create overly comical characters and scenes that are borderline racist and are too westernized. This Mulan however, remains heavily grounded on Chinese folklore and tradition. Caro and her team did an exceptional job showing Chinese culture with elaborate sets, gorgeous costumes, and thoughtful principles – no wisecracking little dragons, and no coward of an emperor. The presentation of loyal, brave, true, and devotion to family also represent the long-time values of China’s people.

Another “breaking away from norm” Caro did for the movie was the non-inclusion of a conclusive love story. In the beloved (albeit imperfect) animated classic, Li Shang, the commander, served as Mulan’s love interest – even appearing towards the end at the Hua residence for “dinner”. This was a particularly ground-breaking at that time due to the bisexuality of Li Shang’s character. Li Shang was first intimately attracted to Mulan as a man, not to her in full blossom as a woman. This was hinted in several blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scenes. In Caro’s Mulan though, the commander was not Mulan’s love interest (to avoid#MeToo repercussions), rather it was Honghui, a fellow soldier and Mulan’s equal. In the movie though, it was quite evident that Honghui saw Mulan as someone no more than a fellow soldier while she was still Hua Jun (“How could I even begin to talk to a woman?” while talking to Hua Jun). It was only when Mulan revealed her true self that Honghui had hinted of being attracted to her (“You wouldn’t even hold my hand?”). And even then, Honghui did not even follow Mulan home the way Li Shang did in the animated classic. Honghui just watched her go, killing any hopes for a definite love story. While this is empowering to female viewers (hey, we don’t need any man!), it somehow does the bisexual community a disservice (more on this later).

Probably the closest to "romantic gaze" in the movie before Mulan reveals her true self.

MULAN (2020): THE CCP PROPAGANDA

Let's face it though, the new Mulan movie has huge undertones of Chinese Communist Party propaganda. Disney became an ass-kisser to China just to push this movie through (didn't pay them off well though, also, China had just banned all media coverage on Mulan, making it more difficult to gain publicity in the country).

Here are several points as to why Mulan was a big CCP ass-kissing propaganda:

• Lead actress Liu Yifei voiced support for Hong Kong’s police force, despite the latter being under fire for police brutality against protesters. Similarly, other Chinese celebrities (including Donnie Yen, who plays general here) remained either celebratory or nonchalant of the “achievements” of the Chines Communist Party.
• The film’s ravishing landscapes were shot in Xinjiang, a region in China where more than a million Muslims in Xinjiang, mostly of the Uighur minority, have been imprisoned in concentration camps, and where genocide through forced sterilization is currently implemented intended to prevent births within the Muslim group. Disney thanking the government departments that carry out these atrocities in the closing credits did not help with the film’s reputation.
• The emperor in the new Mulan is powerful and a chi-master, as compared to the animated version who was old and weak. This could be read as a symbol of China’s power. China now holds power, as opposed to previously-held assumptions that the country was weak and poor. Portraying the symbol of the dynasty in a more powerful personality is just about tantamount to Disney saying China is a force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, Mulan's over-loyalty to the emperor despite given a choice to make her own name in her own terms mirrors the Chinese celebrities being overly loyal to the CCP despite gaining substantial fame overseas.

"I can chi my way to safety, too, you know."

• Censorship deprived us of a love story in the camps, as well as the bisexual undertones of that relationship. Reports say that there should have been a kiss scene between Mulan and Honghui, but it did not go down well with Chinese authorities. Since Disney had to kiss asses to have the film push through for Chinese audience, they did not include the scene in the final cut.

MULAN (2020): WILL IT BE WORTH YOUR TIME?

Like I said in the beginning of my post, animated Mulan was rainshowers in the dry season, live-action Mulan is the storm that pulls the southwest monsoon.

Yes, live-action Mulan is a stronger film for me compared to the animated version. But the thing is, the animated version, albeit weaker, was needed at that time. Sure some elements of it did not age well (Mulan and Shang love story?), but at that time we kind of needed Disney to give us an Asian heroine. The live-action, though strong in cinematic qualities, is something no one really needed, especially with all the issues connected with it. It is strong, but futile, and is only potentially damaging to the image of Disney itself.

Will you miss much if you do not watch it? I don't really think so. But if you have time to spare, and I mean reaaaally to spare, use that to watch it if only for the spectacle that director Caro had prepared. Just keep in mind that the art is a separate element from all the actors/artists and production company involved, and you'll probably be good to go.

Also, I think if you're going to watch it, torrents will be your best friend.

#