It has been four years since the release of the live-action remake of the animated film Mulan. It scored 2.8 stars according to Google, an audience score of 46 percent according to Rotten Tomatoes, and a user score of three according to Metacritic. What exactly made this movie so horrible to viewers and some critics?
Some context:
The original Ballad of Mulan takes place in ancient China during the Northern and Southern dynasties (420-589). She conscripts herself into the army of the Northern dynasty so that her father can stay home. Mulan disguises herself as a boy and fights in the imperial army for 12 years before returning home.
Below, I have compiled a short list of inaccuracies, some commentary from my mom (hi), and explanations. Let’s get to trashing this movie.
Starting right off with a cultural inaccuracy. The father mentions the concept of “wielding qi”. Traditionally, qi is
considered energy that is present in everyone. It is the basis of acupuncture.
Me: The concept of qi is portrayed weirdly in this movie
Mom: Qi is energy. The movie portrays it as exclusive to boys and Mulan is the exception. It’s like blood. It’s in everyone.
Qi is not a superpower. It is something that you can cultivate to make yourself stronger, but it is not the Force or a superpower.
Right off the bat, we can see a clear difference between the animated film and the live action. We see that a child, Mulan, is already doing parkour like an acrobat on a tulou. Mulan is already brave and strong, so she does not need to learn anything, and it takes away from her character development (which is nonexistent in this movie).
A tulou is a cylindrical house and they look very pretty.
Me: Why exactly did the tulou give you pause?
Mom: The tulou was traditionally built by the Hakka in the Southern dynasty. This is a problem because the original Ballad of Mulan takes place in the Northern dynasty, not the Southern dynasty. The ruler of the Northern dynasty wouldn’t conscript from the Southern dynasty (and vice versa).
Next, we will talk about the “witch”. This is a distinctly western element in a Chinese movie. She should be called a spirit, even more specifically, a fox spirit. Me: Hoo boy. Next is the “witch”.
Mom: They killed her off to “empower” Mulan and women. Her “sacrifice” means nothing when she dies in the dumbest way possible [she flew into an arrow that was aimed at Mulan].
Even the “witch” herself says that she is extremely powerful and could “tear [Bori Khan] to pieces before he could blink”. It is clear that she possesses incredible power, but the movie decided to make her die for the plot.
Finally, a personal gripe:
The witch could have easily taken the throne for herself. If she was as powerful as the movie made her out to be.
Do not tell me a woman can’t be emperor. Wu Zetian succeeded in doing so, and she was an ordinary woman. If the “witch” was as powerful as the movie made her out to be, why couldn’t she take power? This film would have been better (and maybe more empowering?) if the “witch” seized the throne (in my opinion).
The live-action remake of the animated Mulan was a disaster. Everything I mentioned above is only the tip of the iceberg. It is clear that Disney only wants the money and doesn’t want to interpret cultures authentically. The cultural inaccuracies could have been fixed by hiring more Chinese to help out in the movie. They even took a tour of China to make it seem more authentic.
As for the bad feminism and writing, hire better writers, Disney.
If you want more information, check out the video on YouTube made by Xiran Jay Zhao: “EVERYTHING CULTURALLY WRONG WITH MULAN 2020…”
Thanks for reading!
