An interesting dimension that the remake adds is the notion of qi: a special power that Mulan learns at a young age to hide, even moreso than her tomboy tendencies. Without those breezy numbers to break up the narrative, this is a rather grim tale of the looming threat of war as well as the more immediate danger of what will happen to Mulan if she is found out. Her father, fearing for his daughter’s life more than the family’s honor, sends their ancestral phoenix after her for protection (replacing Eddie Murphy’s wisecracking dragon Mushu).ĭisney made it clear from the first announcement that this Mulan would not be a musical, which automatically takes away a lot of the levity. Instead, Mulan steals his sword and armor in the night and goes in his place. Blessed as he is with two daughters, disabled veteran Hua Zhou (Tzi Ma) is ready to take up his sword again, knowing he will not return.
With that in mind, the bones of the story are much the same: As the Rourans (replacing the Huns) threaten to invade China, the Emperor (Jet Li) calls upon every family to produce one man to join the fight. The “Chinese-assisting production” has already stumbled, Disney falling prey to its own Western biases again in placing Mulan in both the wrong region and time period. Mulan doesn’t entirely succeed, but the fact that, like its heroine, it tries is invaluable. It’s a difficult edge to walk, updating the story while satisfying those who still belt out “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” at nerd karaoke. After all, while our protagonist is clearly brave and loyal, her subterfuge bars her from being true-lending a surprising yet welcome solemnity to the live-action film, while still capturing some of the whimsy for nostalgic audiences. It’s also a handy metaphor for how Disney approached remaking both the beloved (if imperfect and Westernized) animated film, as well as the Chinese legend itself: by building out the more simplistic themes from the 1998 adaptation into a multifaceted dilemma for today’s Mulan regarding her place in the world. However, the 2020 film expands that mantra into three specific virtues: loyal, brave, and true, which guide Hua Mulan (Liu) from the family in which she is a misfit, to the Imperial Army in her father’s armor, to a showdown with the encroaching Rouran threat. And when the trailer for the live-action remake was first revealed, star Liu Yifei’s intonation of those same words were audiences’ first indication that the new movie would honor the spirit of its predecessor.
The line is so tied to that movie that no doubt you now have the matchmaker’s musical number stuck in your head. In Disney’s 1998 animated film Mulan, the titular heroine’s mantra is that she will “bring honor to us all,” even if she must do so by unconventional means.
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