Over the weekend my wife and I sat down to started watching Disney’s live-action Mulan movie on Disney+. We are both big fans of the animated movie from 1998 and when this movie was announced we were both very excited about it. I can not speak entirely for my wife on this one but as soon as I saw the trailers I got the sense that this was going to be a very different movie from the original. It had a different vibe, it made me think of movies like Hero, or House of Flying Daggers and I was a hundred percent on board with that.
It took us two days to watch it 😅, not because it’s a very long movie but just bad timing. We started late Sunday and we couldn’t finish it, at least not until last night when we watched the other half. My impressions of this movie are simple – I enjoyed it a lot. I loved it as it’s own thing. Perhaps because I was already prepared for it not to be the Mulan we all. Know and love. It’s a good Mulan (1998) inspired action movie if you will. There are a lot of nice nods and callbacks to the animated version but it is not that Mulan.
I never got bored while watching this flick. Some scenes and or situations that were maybe a little more dramatic on the animated version weren’t as dramatic on the live-action. But that didn’t take away anything from the movie to me. The fighting and battle sequences were amazing, something you would expect from movies like, as I mentioned above, Hero or HoD.
I am sure there are flaws and purists will criticize it because it is not exactly like the animated movie but an interpretation of. Like maybe the lack of some of the humor that the animated version has, although there are very hilarious moments in this movie. Also, the dragon in the room, not being apart of the live-action version. An introduction of a character not present on the animated version.
Personally, I am an easy sell, if it entertains me and keeps me away from my phone for most of it, it’s a good movie. I do like different interpretations and takes from other characters in movies and books, I am not a purist. I would watch it again, in fact, I plan to. Again, it is its own version of this tale and I am more than fine with that. I think the most important thing is that (to me) it still keeps what is the core element of this story. This girl that has this big sense of duty, and love for her family, discovering her power through her journey and becoming a great warrior.
