It's really easy to bash Mulan (2020) a lot and maybe bring up Mulan (2009) which was obviously NOT made for children. Watching Mulan (2009) alongside Mulan (1998) by Disney will make you realize Jingle Ma produced an adult version of Disney's Mulan. Sure, the movie Huadu Chronicles was advertised as not suitable for children but the movie itself felt more like a PG-13 flick. Mulan (2009) which came out nine years after the Disney adaptation really had a lot of blood in battle or some scenes deemed inappropriate for children. It's not just meant to be realistic Mulan - no wirework, no magic spells, no Mushu (and yes, that's a GOOD THING), and no spirits of ancestors guiding Mulan. Though I think the 2009 movie could've utilized some supernatural elements to further communicate that Mulan is just a folk legend and not a real person.
How is the 2009 movie really an adult version of the 1998 Disney movie? Well, you need to check for some Disney tropes before 2009 and some VERY SIMILAR scenarios.
Mulan appears to be a socially awkward girl that would piss off the matchmaker - except no matchmaking scene gone wrong. The 2009 version of Mulan has one trait shared with almost every Disney princess before her - a deceased mother. In Beauty and the Beast (1991) we noticed Belle has no mother. Ariel in A Little Mermaid also has no mother. Jasmine in Aladdin has no mother and it was stated in Aladdin and the King of Thieves that she had long died. Yes, Mulan (2009) has NO MOTHER too while Mulan (1998) still had hers and her paternal grandmother. The 2009 movie had a scene where Mulan's father mentions that her mother had long gone. You can see that she, like Belle, is also socially awkward. However, this Mulan knows a few martial arts which cause her to skip the whole "Be a Man" song. She also does her first battle rather well by cutting off a Rouran general's head. Later, she suffers from post-stress traumatic disorder from the war - something you'd probably not want in a Disney movie.
What can be noticed is also some scenes with Wentai. Wentai is basically the 2009 version of Shang. Like Shang, Wentai wants to prove himself to his father though he's actually the seventh son of the emperor. I kind of wish that Wentai remained a commander and not the plot twist that he's of royalty. How he discovers Mulan is a woman and not a man is actually not too appropriate. Sure, Disney did have that bath scene of Mulan but here - it's a hot spring incident. Mulan struggles with Wentai in that hot spring ALONE and they're both in the nude. You can imagine just how that's not appropriate for a Disney movie.
If you observe closely - you may also notice that Yao, Ling, and Chien Po are actually in the movie under different names. Yao is Turtle a spoiled brat because he's the commander's nephew. Yes, you can imagine if Yao and Shang were actually first cousins when they weren't. Ling is Tiger who is also Mulan's childhood friend. Chien Po is Fatso who also has a younger brother. How did they fare? Well, Fatso dies and he's followed by Tiger and Turtle. The death of Fatso was already heartbreaking enough. The commander gets cremated after his fall during the first Rouran attack. They don't get to sing "A Girl Worth Fighting For". Instead, they all sing a farewell song when they all die in battle. They aren't there for comic relief either. Well, I guess their deaths would be a good reason why Ma never would put the Rourans having infiltrated China for the finale.
Maybe, we can mention the Huns errr the Rourans. The main antagonist Shan Yu errr Mendu is no Disney villain. Instead, he's really that depraved with some crazy beliefs. First scene? We can see that Mendu means business by slaughtering innocent officers. Later, Mendu slaughters his own father and later tries to marry his half-sister (dialogue shows they have different mothers) to form a purebred Rouran child - though wouldn't that be bad for the lineage? Mendu himself would've been that terrifying. I wish Ma had a bigger budget for the film since I wanted the snow avalanche scene or the final battle should've taken in the Imperial Palace. I think the actor Hu Jun could pull a more adult version of Shan Yu (from the Disney movie) to make you fear him. The fact that Mendu even kills a general for simply wishing the war to stop is something Shan Yu never did in the Disney movie.
What may be not surprising is how the Chief Minister is actually a villain in the film. The Disney version just made him that unlikable character. Here, the Chief Minister gets jealous of Mulan and decides that he'd BETRAY Mulan's Army by not sending necessary reinforcement. I always felt that the Chief Minister was annoying in the Disney version. Here, he becomes more annoying with his act of betrayal and was later dealt with off-screen. I wonder is there a deleted scene of him being beheaded for treason or what? Regardless, it was a predictable dark twist for me that the Chief Minister should betray Mulan out of jealousy.
I think the movie's bittersweet ending is also meant to draw from earlier, tragic versions of Mulan. I heard one earlier version of the ballad had Mulan actually killing herself rather than being a concubine. Here, Wentai goes to visit Mulan after the battle asking her to be with him instead. Mulan ends up becoming too self-sacrificing to let Wentai go through a ridiculous marriage alliance. But the ending was somewhat open to let the audience decide if they got together. I'd imagine that Wentai may have either took Mulan as a second wife (since polygyny was the norm) or that the Rouran Princess may have canceled the wedding altogether. Either way, I think Ma wanted audiences to use their imaginations how it'd ended.
As someone who watched the 1998 Disney version before the 2009 version - it's easy to observe it. I think it's best to actually watch the 1998 Disney movie before watching the 2009 movie. I mean, it would be actually fun to see how the 2009 movie is what it is - an adult version of the 1998 Disney movie!
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