Review of Disney's "Mulan" remake about a brave girl with a budget of $ 200 million.
Mulan - from princess to superheroes
The great news - the most talked about premiere of 2020 - is now available online. A budget of $ 200 million, large-scale location filming, cutting-edge special effects and 2 Oscar nominations - all this is the new Disney film Mulan. Enjoy the endless views of the foothills, breathtaking battle scenes, colorful original costumes and a captivating storyline. You can watch Mulan (12+) in the Okko online cinema, when you subscribe for the first 7 days for free (read the terms of the promotion).
Daughter for father
A young resident of the tiny Chinese village of Mulan, from childhood, was different from her peers. She became the chosen one of the magical power of Qi, endowing with incredible agility and strength. What would have been an invaluable gift for the future boy warrior became a curse for the girl. Mulan's fate was predetermined from birth, like any other woman, she was to become a wife. Failure to follow tradition would have brought shame on her family. And yet our heroine had to go against the rules. When ruthless Zhuzhan warriors attacked China, the emperor announced a general mobilization: one man from each family must enter military service. The girl's father is too sick to survive such a test, and then Mulam secretly leaves the house, pretends to be a young man and becomes a soldier. She will have to endure many trials and prove that a woman can defend her homeland with a sword in her hands, and the power of Qi is not a punishment, but a blessing.
Long way to the audience
Disney has been hatching the idea of a film adaptation of its 1998 animated hit for many years. In 2010, the director of "The Masks" Chuck Russell even managed to start filming a remake, but soon the project was canceled. They started talking about "Mulan" again in 2015. More than a thousand candidates from all over the world took part in the casting for the role of the Chinese Jeanne D'arc. As a result, the star of the "Forbidden Kingdom" Liu Yifei was approved, who independently performed all the stunts. The director's chair was taken by New Zealander Niki Caro, who gained fame after the release of the drama Rider the Whale, which tells about the clash of the Maori people with Western civilization. The film was originally set to premiere in November 2018, but filming did not finish on time. Since then, the release date has been repeatedly postponed: "Mulan" became one of the victims of the covid lockout. The film was planned to be shown in early spring 2020, but the world saw it only in September. By that time, cinemas in the United States were still closed, so "Mulan" completely lost its American release.
The dragon turned into a phoenix
It seems that no other project in 2020 has been discussed with such fervor. Critical reviews for Mulan ranged from enthusiastic to devastating. Fans of the original Disney cartoon were furious that the adaptation did not include the audience's favorite, the dragon Mushu, and the musical tale was transformed into a serious drama with pro-feminist overtones. The fact that fans of the Disney princess considered an unforgivable violation of the canon, in many ways, is the main achievement of the film. Finally, Disney did not make an exact tracing of the animated masterpiece, as it was in The Lion King and The Jungle Book, but told the audience a completely new story. Yes, there is no dragon and stereotypical love story in the cinema, but there is a breathtaking beauty of endless Chinese landscapes, dizzying action scenes, detailed original costumes, a non-trivial plot and topical issues. The modern heroine of Ancient China does not sing songs - she, like a real superhero, soars over the rooftops and chops enemies into cabbage. By the way, the choreography of the fighting scenes is staged with great respect for the traditional Chinese Wuxia genre.
My enemy
The modern Mulan is a story about a brave woman who makes difficult choices, overcomes herself and follows the harsh male path. This time the authors took care of a worthy antagonist. The warrior is confronted not only by the stereotypical evil in the person of the cruel avenger, the leader of the Zhujans, Beri Khan, but also by his comrade-in-arms, the witch Xiannian. She is a social outcast woman with a magical gift. Xianniang is like Mulan's sister, her own distorted reflection. And the victory over the witch symbolizes the victory of the main character over herself, her fears and doubts. Thus, the classic Chinese legend of the brave Hua Mulan received a whole new reading.
