Mulan 2020
This was supposed to be one of Disney’s big releases of 2020, but was repeatedly delayed by Covid until Disney just decided to release it as pay per view on Disney Plus (of course I waited until the $30 ppv fee no longer applied). The original Mulan was not one of my favorites partly because it was mostly about people and the dragon played by Eddie Murphy seemed out of place. By doing live action and eliminating the dragon and the songs, instead the movie becomes more about Mulan herself as she becomes a warrior and saves the Emperor. That is really the better story, including her hiding that she is female and the dishonor/honor she brings on her family, including her father. Everything just seems to work better. The characters seem richer than in a cartoon, the scenery is better, and the battles are better. In the previews I was disappointed by people running up walls and that is still silly, along with some other silly things that you just have to accept, but those are small parts of the movie and explained as being related to “chi” which in this movie is like The Force and gives you special fighting skills like running up walls in thankfully few cases. It isn’t necessarily realistic that this little 100 pound girl can fight much larger warriors, but it helps if you can accept a little Disney magic (and not that different from other female action heroes these days). I think it helped that critics and a lot of the audience didn’t think much of the movie, lowering my expectations and making them easier to exceed. I thought it was well realized, with a lot of positive messages.
Written: 10 Jan 2021
Owned on: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital