To Molan or Not To Molan? Not Even A Question. It's A Nope

Well, I had the.... Experience of watching Mulan live-action tonight. In recent years, I have been so frustrated with Hollywood putting out really decent movies but crutching on the name of something else well known. Mulan falls into this category. Like Child's Play, Evil Dead, Carrie and dozens of other movies that come to mind, Mulan's live-action remake is actually an okay movie on its own. It has great special effects, dramatic scenes, a master score, well-acted scenes and a plethora of vistoic scenery capturing the essence of the era.

But, and there's a huge but here, it's not the Mulan movie you knew and loved. Yeah yeah, 'they had to change some things'. I get that. All movies have a vision. Some different than others and I'm sure we wouldn't be happy with a carbon-copy remake of the animated classic either. This Mulan movie is little like its original, and that's where my frustration comes in. Yes, it is similar but different enough that Disney could have and should have called it something else. Calling the movie Mulan is like calling me Donald Trump because we're both balding.

This movie's similarities are shallow visual representations of the animated feature that bare physical resemblance but no soul of the original. There was too much missing. The things missing are almost what made Mulan, Mulan in the first place.

Yes, the settings are the same. Yes, the basic theme of a young-lady taking up arms in a "man's" world is very present. The fight scenes were very well choreographed but also felt almost too Matrix-like. She was supposed to be a master swordswoman, not a superhero.

It's hard to really be fair to this movie. When it's a remake of a trusted Disney classic IP, you expect something like The Jungle Book, the Lion King, maybe something that twists the story into a new direction but keeps the core concepts like Maleficent. No, not this movie.

Basically, if you want Mulan, watch the animated movie. If you want a weak love story sprinkled with action cuts that would make the Animatrix a bit jealous, then Mulan 2020 is for you.

Overall score: 4 out of 10 stars

Pros:

- Atmosphere really felt like the dynasty era.

- Acting was fairly well done

- Special Effects were spot on

Cons:

- Missing key characters and events from the original film

- Romance was jerky, forced and in this version of the movie, unneeded

- Felt visual but hollow

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