Darryl Chan

After the past few disappointing live-action remakes of Disney classics, you'd think some lessons were learnt. Alas, Mulan is the worst one yet. This tale is about rising above and achieving greatness in spite of the limitations placed upon you, and the 2020 remake gets a female empowerment update as well. The problem is, Disney has decided to attribute Mulan's abilities to her "Qi / Chi." Think of it as the Force from Star Wars, but Oriental and mystical... oooooohhh. This decimates the message of self-determination, because you're only special if you have the "Qi". I won't even go into how the writers have fundamentally misunderstood the concept of "Qi". Can we talk about the phoenix? Why is there a mythical creature that does nothing in the movie but soar about from time to time? It doesn't talk. It doesn't sing. It doesn't do jack$%*!. Is it a symbol of Mulan, or her Qi? (I promise I'll stop saying Qi!) Did the phoenix really have to manifest behind Mulan in a cliched, cheesy way to show that she's omg rising from the ashes? Wait, did Disney acquire X-Men too? We have no singing and very little humour in this one, so what we are left with are bland acting and awkward dialogue, martial arts inspired by soccer kicks and Matrix moves, and some beautifully shot / CGI scenes of landscapes and the Imperial City. A new antagonist, the Witch, is supposedly all powerful but yet depends on men to validate her existence. Why??? She could have just shape-shifted her way to the Emperor and taken the throne. Her demise at the end is just baffling and shows appalling writing. Adding to the insult are some very illogical actions taken by the characters that made the viewing experience that much more maddening. Poor Gong Li and Jet Li... were they blackmailed to do this?