Why the Mulan Remake Might Actually Work

Alright, team, let’s get into this one, shall we? Now, I feel I have made no bones about the fact that I just don’t care That Much about the various live-action Disney cashgrabs remakes that have come chugging out of the studio over the last couple of years. But if there is one that intrigues me even a little, it’s Mulan. It actually seems to be the one remake with a little promise – the action, the historical setting, the nature of the unarguable best Disney leading woman of all time and you can fight me on that one. So, with that first teaser out today, let’s take a look at whether this adaptation can actually bring together that promise into something that works.

0:07: I’m a sucker for a long shot at the best of times, so Mulan is already on my good side with this opening. It’s truly gorgeous and I love how it sets up the dynamic nature of our leading woman right off the bat.

0:23: Like I said above, the historical setting is going to make this so much more interesting than, say, The Lion King’s completely animated existence. It already has a lot of visual personality and has a more tactile feel than any of the trailers I’ve seen thus far.

0:46: Ugh, yes. Just come at me with all those reminders of why Mulan is such an amazing leading woman. The coming together of the feminine and masculine roles is a simple conceit, but there’s so much depth to it if it’s done well. Liu Yifei, who plays the title character, is more generally known for her romantic roles, so it’ll be cool to see her take on something so different and iconic.

0:59: Oh, yeah, remember that this is a freaking war movie, too? How they’re going to handle that in context of the Disney storytelling techniques I have no idea, but I’m down to find out.

1:16: I mean, I don’t want to get too uppity about this, but is all action just cut from the John Wick cloth these days? Don’t get me wrong, this looks pretty darn cool, but I feel like this is almost standard-issue for any kind of action cinema. I never thought I’d see Disney drawing from the hyper-violent thriller canon, but it’s 2019 and cinema is cannabilizing itself and this sentence really got away from me, huh?

I like the look of this trailer a lot, but then, I think it’s going to be hard to get this wrong – all the pieces are there to guide this into a great movie, and it’s just down to the studio to get it right. What did you think of the trailer? Are you excited for this remake, or do you want the animated movie to remain the only iteration of this story? Let us know in the comments below!

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By Louise MacGregor

(header image via ImDB)