Mulan 2020 movie review: Dazzling visuals pop on the small screen
Опубликованно 05.09.2020 17:05
And it would have looked spectacular because the scale of this movie can’t be overstated.
Full of sweeping wide shots of beautiful, snow-capped landscapes, the architecturally designed imperial city or military battalions decked out in scarlet red uniforms, Mulan is visually very impressive.
It never lets you forget that Disney invested $US200 million ($A275 million) into this film.
Luckily for Disney, given its choice to release it to streaming in markets where Disney+ is available, Mulan still looks incredible on a smaller screen because its blazing colour palette pops and dazzles – unlike poor Tom Hanks’ war movie Greyhound which had hues ranging from ash grey to murky blue and looked terribly flat on Apple TV+.
Making men out of all of them
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Mulan’s COVID-interrupted release plans aside, there was also the trouble with a fledgling albeit noisy boycott movement after comments made by its lead star Yifei Liu in support of Hong Kong police and a growing anti-China sentiment in a year of the pandemic, trade wars and increased crackdown on democratic freedoms by its authoritarian government.
Mulan is more politically tricky to release than it was six months ago. However, other than the film’s pro-military stance and reinforcing the mostly benevolent virtues of at least one imperialistic national ruler (the Emperor is played by Jet Li), there’s not too much to tie Mulan into modern day China.
What Mulan emphasises above all is loyalty and honour to your family. Ancestral fealty is familiar in many cultures, but this particular brand has a distinct Confucian tinge to it, even as it seeks to bust gender norms.
Yifei Liu sparked a boycott movement when she came out in support of Hong Kong police.
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Adhering closer to the traditional legend of a female warrior who saves China than it does to the 1998 animated version – there is no Eddie Murphy-voiced talking dragon, for one thing – Mulan is directed by New Zealander Niki Caro (Whale Rider, The Zookeeper’s Wife).
Even from a young age Mulan (Liu) is a parkour princess, able to nimbly chase a chicken across the rooftop of her village’s round tulou. She seems to be in possession of an abundance of chi, the life force that flows through all living creatures in a balance of yin and yang.
In Mulan, chi operates somewhat like Star Wars’ mysterious “Force”, which makes our hero innately excellent in battle.
But her physical prowess is not a desired characteristic for how she’s expected to bring honour to her family – through a marriage match.
When the Rouran tribes led by warrior Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee) invade from the north and threaten the Emperor’s life, every family in China is conscripted to send one male fighter.
Mulan’s father Hua Zhou (Tzi Ma) is a former war veteran but he is older and injured. However he still prepares to join the fighting. To spare him, in the middle of the night Mulan takes her father’s armour, sword and conscription scroll and takes his place, disguised as a man.
Mulan features lots of stunt riders.
Under the tutelage of Commander Tung (Donnie Yen), Mulan struggles to fit in with her fellow recruits which includes Chen Honghui (Yoson An). Her fear of being discovered swirled with her shame over the deception are suppressing her true gifts.
She yearns to live up to the three characters inscribed on her family’s sword – loyal, brave and true.
There are some truly remarkable and exciting action sequences in the film, which proves you can do big set pieces without a plethora of guns or making everything go boom (although there is fiery catapult action).
There are martial arts and sword fights that showcase the prodigious skills by cast members including Liu and Yen, who did many of their own stunts, bodies flying and twisting against the pull of gravity.
There are also several exciting sequences involving a stable of stunt riders on horseback while a multi-levelled fight sequence on a bamboo scaffolding set moves briskly as the camera’s movements twirl with the actors.
From the jawdropping production design and vibrant costumes to the lustrous cinematography by Australia’s Mandy Walker, it all looks rather breathtaking – and its textual depth looks about seven times better than Aladdin did.
New Zealand’s South Island stood in for China.
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But – and it’s a big but – the story’s pacing doesn’t match the level of its spectacle. Most of Mulan moves along nicely, taking time out for character moments or scenes of contemplative rituals, but as soon as the training ends and the fighting begins, that final act whizzes past with little consideration for the story.
Which would work if it didn’t decide to take huge shortcuts, specifically characters who make unearnt decisions and have about-turns that don’t make sense contextually, but which serves the sole purpose of quickly moving onto the next set-piece.
It’s exasperating and takes you out of the story as you literally scream at the TV, “But that would never happen!”
The action sequences in Mulan are mighty impressive.
There’s not a lot of depth to the characters in general who are mostly archetypes, including villain Bori Khan, whose backstory is merely hinted at and not fleshed out – there’s a line about his people’s land being stolen and colonised by the Emperor, which could have made him a far more compelling baddie in the vein of Black Panther’s Killmonger than just an imposing screen presence.
The second villain is Chinese screen legend Gong Li’s Xian Lang, a witch who can shapeshift into a hawk and mimic the forms of other people.
There are several visual nods and musical cues to the 1998 animation, while Caro’s references to the work of filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and David Lean comes through. There’s enough here to please long-time fans, including Christina Aguilera’s new version of Reflection and a surprise cameo near the end.
Maybe Mulan won’t be everything audiences had hoped for – none of the Disney live actions have been – but it mounted a good effort.
Rating: 3/5
Mulan is available for premium video-on-demand rental for $34.99 on Disney+ from Friday, September 4
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Категория: Культура
