It's no surprise that Mulan (2020) by Disney really had it coming. Crystal Liu's big mouth along with Disney's support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) really brought it down with #BoycottMulan. Now, it's time to re-review the film that truly brought honor to us all called Mulan (2009) by Jingle Ma. It has a DVD re-release which I think would get a lot of sales to protest against Disney's Mulan. I also think that both Angry Joe and Nostalgia Critic may want to watch this film. I mean, this film was a lot of well-timed WTF moments that Nostalgia Critic could make fun of (such as the bathing scene or the Rouran princess's desire to be a queen in Wei) without derailing it. The 2009 film is obviously not for children - it doesn't do violence for the sake of it. I don't think it'd get a PG-13 rating either since it's got blood.
Now, a look back at how the movie did bring "Honor to Us All". The movie itself actually knows when to be serious and when to be funny. Well, there may be some unintended comedy scenes but they don't ruin the flow. I do like the movie's realistic approach by removing the fantasy elements such as the ghosts of the ancestors or the witch. However, I think Jingle Ma could've handled the Rouran witch or the fantasy elements better than Disney. If anything. Gong Li could've appeared here as the Rouran witch and Ma would know what to do and what not to do. I wouldn't mind if this film had fantasy elements since Ma would do a better job. In Ma's mind though - he wanted this Mulan to be realistic. Disney wanted to brag about having a more realistic one yet they forcibly insert an obviously fictitious character in the witch.
The film did its best to actually have some degree of realism even if there are obvious WTF moments. For one, I remembered laughing at how Vicki Zhao became Mulan when she looks TOO MUCH like an Anime character. Nicky Lee becomes a live version of Yao (he's named Turtle) and Jaycee Chan becomes the rather annoying Tiger, Mulan's childhood friend. Tiger is obviously the amalgamation of Ling and Mushu. But unlike Mushu, Tiger does eventually become useful. There's also Fatso who had a brother in the field. The movie itself presented Turtle as the commander's nephew. In the Disney version, the commander was the father of Shang. Shang is renamed Wentai (acted by Aloys Chen) and helps hide Mulan's secret. The main antagonist Mendu (Shan Yu in Disney) is acted by Wuxia legend Hu Jun. Jun was also starring in Demigods and Semidevils as the main protagonist six years prior to his antagonistic role here. Jun's experience in Wuxia roles made him portray a more menacing Shan Yu. An interesting note is that Aloys and Vicki did star in another film called Painted Skin together. I wonder why in the world wasn't a second Mulan filmed?
The film knew who to get and what to make the best of it unlike what Disney did. A lot of scenes from Mulan being a martial artist (and her father wants her to stop) up to the training camp are consistent. Mulan already had the basic skills so she's able to fit into the camp even if she does miss a few shots at first. The real dangers of war are consistently placed. Mulan goes from war heroine to someone who makes shoddy decisions. Not to mention, Ma manages to make a villain out of the emperor's prime minister (as the Commander-in-Chief) who refuses to send reinforcements. No comic relief as a lot of characters die. Some annoying characters do die which would actually make your day if you wanted some of them dead in the Disney version. I did want the ending to happen in the Forbidden City but then again the movie version of Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po had died in battle. I guess Ma didn't want to spend too much with flashy special effects and decided to go with a more up close and personal end to Mendu than the cartoony end to Shan Yu. Still, I wish Mendu invaded the city and Mulan brutally killed him there.
The ending itself is pretty open-ended. I guess Ma didn't want to create his own version of the failed Mulan II from Disney. Instead, we're left with an open ending where audiences get to decide. Personally, I actually wanted a happy ending but again there were also stupid ways to do diplomacy and the movie gets on with it. I guess Ma didn't want to give the delusion of happy endings either. Either way, the ending is open to interpretation. Maybe, Ma was playing it safe and decided that he'd let the audience write the ending by giving an open-ended ending than write a second movie that will bomb.
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