While less musical and humorous in comparison to its 1998 counterpart, the 2020 'Mulan' was worthy to watch. It gave a predominantly-Asian cast a chance to shine, paid more respect to the legend of warrior Hua Mulan, and had great scoring by Harry Gregson-Williams. Even though the story is mostly similar, Yifei Liu put up a good fight as the Chinese war hero.
Yifei Liu as Hua Mulan, ready to fight Böri Khan and bring honor to her family. Photo courtesy of Disney.
Set in Imperial China, Rouran warriors led by Böri Khan, played by Jason Scott Lee, plan an attack to kill the Emperor. When the Imperial Army sets out to conscript one man from each family to prepare for war, Hua Mulan takes her disabled war veteran father's, played by Tzi Ma, place. Despite the risks of dishonoring her family and country, Mulan will do everything in her power to bring down her malevolent foes and save the Emperor's life.
The few moments of humor came from Mulan chasing a chicken early on, the incident at Mulan's matchmaking ceremony, and Yao, Ling and Po's insulting each other. I do miss some songs from the original film, such as "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sung by Donny Osmond. But what it lacks in the former two, it makes up in Mulan's sword and hand-to-hand combat and clever thinking, showing that her actress was well-trained for the role.
Hua Mulan as she charges into war against Böri Khan. Photo courtesy of Disney.
Harry Gregson-Williams' scoring consisted of keyboards, flutes, and the instrumental version of "Reflection" from the 1998 film. They highlighted the moments of adventure with Mulan riding into battle and the laboriousness of her and the Army's training. And going back to "Reflection", Christina Aguilera sang it beautifully just like she did in the end credits 22 years ago.
Böri Khan was quite the vengeful antagonist, given his grudge against the Emperor, and he was ruthless in his determination of conquest over China. Xianniang, played by Gong Li, was not a woman to be trifled with given her shapeshifting and possible telekinetic fighting abilities.
Böri Khan, played by Jason Scott Lee, ready to bring China to its knees. Photo courtesy of Disney.
As I said in the beginning, this 'Mulan' film gave a predominantly-Asian cast a chance to shine. And the majority of the cast portrayed heroic roles instead of the usual gangster or comic relief. This could allow Asian entertainers to get more respect, if they haven't received much lately.
The costumes were a good addition, as well, as Mulan looked like both a warrior whether she was in her armor or dressed like a kung fu expert. Also, the outfits for the Imperial Army and the Emperor looked well-designed to fit that era.
'Mulan' may not have the same amount of humor, slapstick, and songs as its predecessor, but through the training of our heroes and a great soundtrack to back them up, it has a spark that makes it worth the look. If you want to see how Mulan is when she shows her serious side in flesh-and-blood reality, watch the 2020 'Mulan' on Disney+ or in other home media.
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