It's also a device Disney knows well, as there is minimal difference between the film's usage of "ch'i" and Star Wars' usage of "The Force."
In the 2020 "Mulan," having a preponderance of "ch'i" means being full of an amorphous source of power and life- it's something women in this cinematic universe shouldn't display, but Mulan has quite a bit of. The primary offense is the film's use of "ch'i" (or "qi") as a narrative crutch. But what remains bears minimal discernible relationship to the original, while reading too much like a basic Marvel film with a Chinese-looking facade to stand on its own. It might have been an excellent reinterpretation, were it not so heavy-handed and, well, Disney-fied. Making Mulan a natural-born fighter isn't an unreasonable change, in an era with few notable female action stars - it's also truer to the original folk song "Ballad of Mulan," where Mulan was a skilled fighter before enlisting. (In the opening minutes of the film young Mulan displays her agility, setting her up for success as a fighter.) This is a complete 180 from the ethos of the animated film, where Mulan's entire thing is that she is not a warrior, and chooses to fight anyway for the sake of her father and her family.
Mulan ( the politically divisive Yifei Liu) is a fairly different character from the animated version, a woman who is already an adept warrior but is forced to hide it for the sake of societal expectations. Whether or not you enjoy the live-action film will probably have to do with how wedded you are to the original - and even then, the live-action edition has some major road bumps. That said, it's worth noting that the crew on the live-action film is perplexingly white-this includes the director, screenwriters, costume designer, cinematographer, and many, many others. It's being released to international audiences, as well, whose experiences will be totally different from that of being Chinese American, specifically -the lens that the original film probably most closely captured. I count myself in that latter group.īecause the source material is so Westernized in nature, it's a little hard to judge the remake through any coherent cultural metric. At the same time, the animated original became a cult classic among a generation of growing millennials, particularly young Asian American women who appreciated Disney's singular Chinese "princess" in a sea of mostly white offerings. This is, of course, a problem of Hollywood writ large - Disney, especially in the '90s, was a prime offender. (Most of Disney's remakes have been adapted closer to the originals.)Ĭompare this to the 1998 animated original, which is a brightly colored, action musical buddy comedy that received criticism due to its Westernization of a Chinese story. The new film was billed as more somber in tone, more action-packed, with new characters. Initially slated for release in March, the live-action "Mulan" made early waves by eschewing its source material in favor of a rendition without musical numbers, dragon sidekick Mushu, or fan favorite (and bisexual icon) officer Li Shang. "Mulan," directed by "Whale Rider" filmmaker Niki Caro, is Disney's newest live-action interpretation of an animated classic, and the first to come out during quarantine.