This was more interesting than I expected, with information about both the animated film and the legend.
It's really interesiting...I think that this new trend to make movies only to make happy a part of the audience has to stop. You can't be creative if you have to be watching all the details in order to not offend anybody. Today's audience must learn to not be offensed by ridiculous things.
Mulan could have worked very well removing some comedy and trying to make it more similar to the original legend. I think that removing things to be politically incorrect makes us go back to the 50s or 60s. It's a kind of censsure. With the spirit of the original one, which I think that it's not so offensive to the chinese culture, it would have worked much better.
Another controversy has erupted in relation to the remake. Evidently, Disney filmed parts of the movie in Xinjiang, a site of human rights abuses and violations. I'm surprised Disney was able to keep this a secret for so long.
Thumper_93 wrote:Who made the decisions in this movie? They tried not to offend the chinese people and look the result
A friend I met on my Disney College Program from China says she is going to see the movie but says she has heard from other Chinese people that it has “too many historical mistakes and stereotypes,” (I’m not sure if this is based on reviews from critics or people who have pirated the movie, or just the trailers which I remember her criticizing when they first came out) so she’s going to treat it like a comedy.
Myself, I haven’t watched it yet. I think I will wait for the Blu-Ray if it does indeed come out in November, or until it lands on regular Disney+.
Last edited by UmbrellaFish on Tue Sep 08, 2020 7:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
Thumper_93 wrote:Who made the decisions in this movie? They tried not to offend the chinese people and look the result
A friend I met on my Disney College Program from China says she is going to see the movie but says she has heard from other Chinese people that it has “too many historical mistakes and stereotypes,” so she’s going to treat it like a comedy.
Here is a thread by a Chinese historian where she details all the problems in the film, like the fact that they didn't understand the concept of Qi, calling the Witch witch (witch is a word rooted in western culture, not Chinese) and that Mulan's dwellings are southern despite Mulan being a Northern story.
I saw it the other night and I’m still wrapping my head around how baffling this was. Most of my complaints are about omissions that I wouldn’t consider spoilery. My issues with the third act are more spoilery though. Just forewarning.
This movie removes almost all of the emotional moments from the original. There is almost no relationship shown between Mulan and her father. This makes it even more baffling when she suddenly just has on his armor and we don’t even see her leaving. There is legitimately no thought process about choosing to save her father, no putting on of the armor, nothing. Mulan holds the sword, then is suddenly in the armor and we don’t even see her grab the horse or leave. It removes the core of the movie. She does this for the love of her father.
Another major issue is Mulan being awkward and clumsy. Instead she has chi, and is a gifted martial artist in many ways even as a child. It removes all self doubt that she can eventually become a warrior from the audiences mind. It places her in a “chosen one” position and she doesn’t even have to use her wit in order to become a great warrior like she does in the original with the weights to climb the pole. She just gets strong and shows she can fight well (and has always been able to fight well)
Another glaring omission is the commentary on femininity and masculinity. Gone is her using the fan in fights. The men dressing as women. The villain doesn’t even underestimate her for being a woman. All the smart points the original made showing that masculinity and femininity aren’t always what we think they are, and the stereotypes surrounding that are gone.
Last but not least is the resolution of the story. In the original Mulan is told she saved all of China. The entire city bows to her. It’s a profound moment for a girl just doing what she knew was right and had to do. It’s the emotional highlight of the movie and sets up just how proud her father should be of her and the woman she has blossomed into. Instead Mulan is told she saved the city. No, the city doesn’t even know what happened, and in the same breath she is offered a spot in the army. It sucks every bit of the emotion out of the film.
Third Act:
For having spent 200 million on this film, the third act looks like a Disney channel movie. Instead of the epic infiltration of the city by the Huns, the clockwork like plan to save everyone, and the sprawling fireworks, we get a sunset fight on.... scaffolding. It is not only hideous to look at, but takes the movie which has been large in scale up until this point to a minuscule, artificial place that stops all momentum the film had going for it and wastes an astronomical budget. I don’t know what happened here, but it felt embarrassing to watch. This third act was, even on page, small. I don’t know if something changed mid production, if the whole finale maybe was retooled and reshot, or what. But the third act could have easily made up for the films earlier failings, and instead it actually took it from being a film I’d at least revisit once again to a film I genuinely have no intention or desire to waste time on.
All the stuff I've read, particularly about Mulan flying, just makes me laugh so hard. @nomad: Somehow I'm not surprised the father-daughter story is completely hollow here. Just from the trailer, the father came across very cold towards Mulan--whereas in the original you could always tell he loved her even when he was reprimanding her (which I partly attributed to his own fear over having to be in battle again).
The RottenTomatoes ratings have dropped some more. The audience rating now puts it only above Dumbo, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Lady and the Tramp. I can't help but enjoy watching this film going splat on the ground.
Listening to most often lately:
Taylor Swift ~ ~ "The Fate of Ophelia"
Taylor Swift ~ "Eldest Daughter"
Taylor Swift ~ "CANCELLED!"
Nomad2010, 100% agree on all the points you made. Well thought out, and accurate. Such a shame for this movie to falter so badly.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Thumper_93... I didn't mind her revealing herself as a woman... but it happens WAY too early in the movie, and it feels unearned, because what? A 2-minute conversation with the witch and that's enough to make her change her mind about what is the most crucial thing in the whole film? It also makes it feel inconsequential, like there were no real stakes. Look... she revealed herself, and pretty much nothing happened.
I won't even address how ridiculous it was for her to waltz into battle with no armor, she probably would have been wounded/killed 15 times. Armors are for protection!
And you realize she didn't chop off her hair early on so they could have that shot with the flowing hair when she does reveal herself, right? (eye roll)
If the reveal had happened in the final 10 minutes, and was happening because she had organically learned something from her journey, it would have worked.
wow what a disaster this movie is turning out for Disney. When will they learn that they will always be damned if they do and damned if they dont? Just focus on making a good movie and dont worry about pleasing the woke crowd. This reminds me of how they tried to be reaaallly careful with Frozen 2 only to end up making it a white savior movie(and it still baffles me that hasn't gotten more online flak other than some mentions in various reviews.)
I guess Ill eventually watch it when I get Disney +, that is unless the controversy get so bad it ends up the way of SOTS.
Sotiris wrote:Another controversy has erupted in relation to the remake. Evidently, Disney filmed parts of the movie in Xinjiang, a site of human rights abuses and violations. I'm surprised Disney was able to keep this a secret for so long.
Marce82, I remember back in the covers thread you told me that you thought this film had potential and that you're looking forward to it and I'm sorry it disappointed you in the end
The thing I found most ridiculous is how quickly the general went from executing her to "lead us". I guess they couldn't really find ways of "fixing" the original Mulan so they gave her superpowers instead. With that being said, doesn't anyone worry about how they are going to "fix" Ariel, Meg and Esmeralda? Or maybe they won't do that to Meg and Esmeralda because they aren't "Disney Princesses".
Yeah, I found that moment pretty ridiculous too. In general, it felt like there was no stakes in this movie.
The biggest issues to me were a) the superpowers and b) the lack of character development, for all characters, not just Mulan.
And yeah... thank you. I had high hopes, but also suspected they would drop the ball. They usually do with these remakes...
Yeah... It's just the trend with these remakes which I think they are mandated from above the filmmakers. Personally I don't think any director has the passion to recreate a successful film from the past so IMO it goes like "Here's the money, now make us a film that is like that one the studio did, people like their nostalgia so they'd pay lots of money to see that, but make sure you put a lot of meta commentary about the previous film or about the Disney company because we saw on the internet that people like that, that makes them feel smart like they are in on the joke, also make sure to "fix" the female characters cause we saw on the internet that a lot of people like to scrutinize them and we want them to think we're woke or something".
Wow, the company acting so woke only to afterwards admit using slave labor in their movies. And the fanboys and shills are totally okay with it, despite always going around complaining about how "problematic" the old classics are and that the remakes need to keep up with modern standards and if you disagree with the remakes you're a bigot. Double standards much?
Also farerb, knowing how Disney is they'll probably kill Meg and Esmeralda because "It'S mOrE FaItHFuL To ThE OrIgInAl StOrY" or because they're "dirty sluts" who can't compare to the beautiful virginal pure white princesses. I'd love the controversy to that: passive white girls who do nothing for others get their happy endings while the abused woman and the woman of color who actually fought against a fascist figure like Frollo get "punished" for existing.
Or the irony on top of all of this would be that the non-Princesses would get the best live-action portrayals.
The funny thing is the "wokeness" Disney was claiming to have here was the pretensions that they were making the film more faithful to the tale and more in line with actual Chinese culture. When we’ve known all along that was not what was actually happening here; even before finding out about Mulan’s superpowers, there was plenty of evidence this was nothing like the original tale for anyone with eyes and ears. The claim of being culturally sensitive was only ever a guise for kowtowing to the monstrosity that is the Chinese regime because $$$ trumps all. That’s a bit different than the usual anti-feminists who hate the oblique ways that older female characters are made more powerful in the re-makes.
Maybe if Disney had actually followed through and made a film that was more faithful to the tale, some would have at least had some respect for that and they wouldn’t be getting raked over the coals quite as hard as they are. But they tried to lie in order to have it both ways, and it didn’t work out for them. Anyway, the audience score dropped some more.
Listening to most often lately:
Taylor Swift ~ ~ "The Fate of Ophelia"
Taylor Swift ~ "Eldest Daughter"
Taylor Swift ~ "CANCELLED!"
