Leanne Lucas

This movie has a wonderful message of being true to who you are so that you can be the best version of yourself. Although there are many scenes of similarities with the animation, they really did keep their word of making it more realistic. The “witch” was part of Chinese beliefs in shape-shifting and spirits, the Phoenix is a feminine representation and only Mulan sees it, and the ballad was shown very well. The ballad never said anything about Mulan being clumsy and needing the growth, so you could interpret the ballad in different ways. They viewed the ballad in the way that shows Mulan already training in martial arts and is determined to go to war to save her father. The animation and the live action both have DIFFERENT themes yet are both inspirational and breaks gender norms. It’s a shame to see how the political, comparison to animation, and cultural criticism prevents others to watch it. Hollywood needs more all-Asian casts so I support that as well. I hope you all will enjoy the film with an open heart!