This weekend, I got the chance to watch the live-action remake of Mulan.  Mulan is a movie highlighting a girl named Mulan’s journey of how she disguises herself as a man so she can go to war to protect her elderly father from going instead.  After being inspired and in awe of the animated version, I watched the movie expecting to see women empowerment and instead came out feeling empty inside. Out of all the live-action remakes that I have seen, Mulan was certainly the most forgettable one.

The film starts off with Mulan’s parents forcing her to meet with a matchmaker to show what she has to offer as a future wife. Suddenly, invaders known as the Bori Khan attack the Chinese emperor, and the imperial army forces one man from each family to protect the palace. Unfortunately, the only man in Mulan’s family is her ailing father. Mulan dresses up as a man and goes to war, attempting to stop the Bori Khan’s further attacks on the emperor. 

Certain aspects of the movie captivated my attention. For starters, the visuals and scenery were stunning. Another attribute I admired was that the directors maintained historical accuracy: the apparel, setting, and events were all correctly portrayed in the live-action. 

However, numerous factors led to this movie being a letdown. To begin, several new characters that were not in the original version of Mulan were introduced in the remake. This was already disappointing enough since important characters that brought vibrance and humor to the animated version were taken out of the storyline. Sadly, Captain Li Shang and Mushu the comedic dragon did not appear in the remake. The idea of putting new characters in to set up new storylines and character development had so much potential,  but the movie directors failed to create characters that the audience could relate to. Another reason why the remake fell flat on its face was simply because of the subpar acting. The over-the-top acting shows itself in both the battle and emotional scenes. The cliche acting made it difficult to become invested in the characters and the movie.

Aside from the beautiful visuals in the movie, the live-action remake of Mulan was a cinematic disappointment because the acting was cringe-worthy, much of the plot from the original version was changed, and the ambitions for the movie were poorly executed. We all know that remakes of a movie, especially live-action ones, never meet the high standards of the original film. Some movies break the stereotype and can be as good as its original, Mulan certainly did not.