Live Action Mulan Review **SPOILER ALERTS**

If you haven’t already heard, or maybe you forgot because of the pandemic, Disney released a live-action version of the classic Mulan. Many controversy and questions have loomed above the movie, from there being no musical aspect to political conflicts. Mulan was a game-changer for young girls and women, arguably Disney’s first representation of women empowerment and even possibly the LGBT community. Taking a dive into how Disney reintroduced these concepts into 2020, it’s time to get the popcorn and pretend to be in theaters. 

Disney has been releasing live-action versions of their timeless classics, and in 2018 Disney began production on a version of Mulan. While many were excited to see their favorite characters come to life, the film had much controversy surrounding it and still does. Disney had planned to release in September 2020 but ultimately had to cancel due to the ongoing pandemic. They released it on their platform Disney+, however, you had to pay extra to view it, so shoutout to my mom for sponsoring this article. Anyway, let’s take a dive into the concepts and controversy surrounding Mulan. 

Now I already prefaced for spoilers so here’s the biggest shocker, there is no singing. That’s right, you won’t get to belt out “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” As a personal lover of the Mulan soundtrack, I was heartbroken to hear this, however, Disney took this as an opportunity to take the film in a more mature direction and pay tribute to traditional Chinese culture. We get to see Mulan as a young girl and how even from a young age she possessed greatness. Disney chose to follow the concept of qi, having a balanced energy flow and a basis for Chinese philosophy. From a young age it is clear that Mulan possesses an amazing ability. The enemy also possesses a woman with a similar connection, who ends up sacrificing herself for Mulan so she could win the war. Obviously, this woman was not in the original movie and it was an interesting concept for Disney. While she did teach Mulan to embrace herself I wished there was greater character development for her and between her and Mulan. She could have gone on to be a mentor for Mulan, really teaching her to hone her power. 

Sticking with character development I feel like they could have focused more on other characters. I understand that the movie is about Mulan and her journey, however, some characters just popped in and out with no further explanation. Chen Hunghui, Mulan’s ally, and love interest, played a big role in the story development but his character had little background to him. Throughout the movie, she has a clear connection with Chen, but because of the lack of character development much had to be inferred about him. One inference that fellow Mulan enthusiasts and myself share is the possibility of his character being bisexual. He clearly has a connection, a little more than just a bromance, with the male version of Mulan. Some scenes between the two of them were sexualized and one could feel the tension through the screen. This isn’t the first possible tribute to the LGBTQ community. A scene of Mulan binding herself in order to come off as flat-chested, male, was given prominent screen time. Now Disney has never commented on these accusations but it’s a nice possibility to believe. 

Alright, let’s get into some controversy, because LGBTQ references are just the beginning. The Chinese government is currently executing a genocide and placing its own citizens in re-education camps. Filming took place in Xinjiang, China where over 2 million Muslim-identifying citizens have been placed in concentration camps. Disney has since thanked the governing bodies of this region. Disney executives claim to have been unaware of the human rights crisis happening so close to set. The lead actress of the film has also openly supported Hong Kong’s law enforcement policy over citizens’ voices which led to a trending hashtag, #BoycottMulan. While Disney has not publicly come out in regard to this information they have tried to be impartial in the past. None of this information had an impact on the production of the movie but it has, coupled with COVID, had an impact on the box office.  For more info: https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/9/9/21427978/mulan-disney-controversy-explained-uighurs-xinjiang 

Overall I liked the movie and I’ll admit, going into the movie I had a pre-perceived idea that it was going to exactly like the original, which gave me a one-track mind. However, I went back and watched it again and found the ideas and messages Disney was conveying. In my opinion, it would be better suited for mature audiences in order for the concepts to be grasped. Disney did fantastic with the storyline, costumes and production of the overall movie. I wish they would have made more conscious decisions regarding the people and places involved with the production. Overall I would highly recommend watching to get some bada** women juju!

• disney
• live action
• movie
• Mulan
• review