Mulan (2020) - Doug Reviews
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ย. 2020
- Does Disney's latest remake bring honor to us all? Well, definitely not to Doug. Let's take a look a Mulan 2020.
Watch the Nostalgia Critic review of Mulan - • Mulan - Nostalgia Critic
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Mulan is a 2020 American action drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name, based on the Chinese folklore "The Ballad of Mulan". The film stars Liu Yifei in the title role, alongside Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Gong Li, and Jet Li in supporting roles. It is directed by Niki Caro, with screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin.
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Let's have a calm and civil discussion about Mulan 2020......BEGIN!
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Review Silicon Valley
@@untappedpotential2761 what's silicon valley?
Can’t wait for the Silicon Valley review (3rd reply)
Disney live action remakes are just going to keep on coming huh? Wish they’d stop, and focus on original movies, no sequels.
Skeleton Entertainment that’s what I’m saying🤣 just said it for no reason
Mulan Scriptwriters:
"Let's get down to business and remove the fun"
Did they send me writers when I asked for none
@@thegamingsentinel9238 🎵🎤You're the saddest simps I've ever knew. But you can bet! Before we're through. Mr. I'll make a sue...out of yoooouuu.🎤🎵
I hope this comment deserves all the like's it could get.
Hope they borrow this comment thread for NC’s review lol
Saphira Winters be a sue
We must never suffer
Be a sue with all the strength of a great typhoon
Be a sue it’s a mystery that that this was ever green liiiiiit
“Dishonor on your cashcow” 🤣
Though it is so true.
Haha!!!
That made me lol for real
So accurate lol.
Dishonor on your CASH COW! Every live action Disney Remake and Michael Bay film in my opinion.
One of the things that's great about the original Mulan is when she's told to go home. She's awful at being a girl, but she's also awful at being a soldier. She could have just taken being sent home as a win. Like, "I don't have to fight, they sent back the one male, my job's done! My father's safe!" But not only does she not go home, she bests the test nobody else could do with the arrow and the weight of honor and discipline to prove she deserves to be there. THEN she sticks with her arduous training to fight in a war that could kill her in several different ways? _That's_ a "strong" character!
And then she gets a second "out" when she's discovered - her life is spared, she could have just packed up and gone home (in shame perhaps but at least alive).
But no, she goes straight to the imperial city and when no one will listen, she keeps moving forward. She knows she has a responsibility, even if she has to go it alone.
I haven't even seen the new version and my hopes weren't high but...yikes.
Wouldn't her father be sent home, since he's clearly not able to fight?
@@MadTurnip Either that or he'll just straight up die from training/war.
@@MadTurnip Maybe because it was Shang who sent him home? I would imagine if it was the general who was training them he would be more strict than Shang.
Now that you mentioned it, she was offered a way out. I honestly think she should have been thrilled that she had managed to get her family out of the war. But of course her whole ordeal was that she wanted to somehow bring honor to her family and herself, and if she would have gone home, that just would have solidified that she was a disgrace all around.
Original Mulan: Earned Respect and Honor by perseverance and hardwork.
Live-action Mulan: Born with superpowers. Deal with it
P.S they cut Mushu and the cricket and the singing to be more realistic and then replaced it with a bird/bat-shifting witch who wants to fit in.... Uhmm... Ookaaayyy....
And they replaced Shang the love interest and the legend that sang " I'll make a man out of you *
@@chinyang1200 and the reason are as stupid as sh*t
Eddie Murphy's dragon was more fun!
Obviously you haven’t read the source material because there was no Mushu or cricket and Mulan’s father taught her how to fight before she joined the army. Don’t get me wrong I agree this movie is bad, but you brought up the least of this movie’s problems. On top of that I’d argue Mulan 2 is worse.
"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."
Mulan 2020: What's adversity?
"Strong female characters" don't have character arcs in current year. They have character lines! Straightforward, unwavering, unchanging lines. Don't like that? MISOGYNIST!!
Mulan in animated movie wasn't perfect, she couldn't keep up with her male friends in physical prowess so she used her wit and brains to overcome.
No. That's feminist indoctrination
@@silverblade357 Exactly this. Not only do they face no adversity within their fiction, but they are coddled and protected by the foamy-mouthed Twitter fiends.
The manner of people that will see these wretches as role models will be pushovers and victims through all of their lives.
It's possible to have a character with a straight line character arc, but it better be a great movie around them, and they better be interesting to begin with.
Example: Christopher Reeve as Superman.
This trend of writing “perfect” female characters is so frustrating. They’re not compelling, interesting, or relatable. They have no depth. I don’t know if writers think they’re doing women a favor, but they aren’t. The best characters are flawed - always - man or woman. It’s like they don’t trust a female character can be likable or well-received unless they are completely without flaw. It’s not empowering, it’s fucking insulting.
One of the main reasons Captain Marvel fell flat.
@@SGCentral 2 Good example of a female character: Kida from Atlantis and Esmeralda from Hunchback.
@@SGCentral does that mean there's going to be a ton of people calling anyone who says anything bad about it sexist on Twitter like with Captain marvel and Ghostbusters
Somewhere along the line people started treating superficial things as character traits. Now we're here.
I always feel bad for the great character writers who's characters suddenly can't inspire someone because they aren't a certain color or sex. It's idiotic and boils people down to just whatever groups they were stuck in
As mediocre as Birds of Prey was, Harley Quinn was actually well written. Why? BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT SHE DOES IS IN HER NATURE.
I am SO SICK of women not being written like people. You’re right! It IS more sexist to churn out these formulaic cookie cutter virtue signaling characters instead of just writing women like PEOPLE. How did the cartoon movies get it so right? Vs modern movies? Ugh
Agreed. Having 1 super powered, un-defeatable female is WAY more sexist than having a weaker female who has to learn to be strong. Because this Mulan is an EXCEPTION. Not a normal girl. By her gaining opportunity to be great and no one else, it means ONLY she deserves this, because of the gifts she was born with, and a predetermined status she has no control of.
But the standard is SO HIGH that literally NO ONE could ever reach that level. No other girl in their society will ever be as strong as this Mulan or show any want to change society. So they will NOT get the privilege Mulan did and also will be encouraged never to try what she did.
By making her perfect she can't be an idol or someone to look up to. Instead she's a pedestal placed on the moon that people can never touch.
ChasehaWing In my opinion we don’t even need to think that deep about it, it’s more sexist simply because this type of character shows that the writers and producers literally don’t care about female representation, they only care about ticking off boxes they think will come off as “marketable feminism bc $” and that’s why it comes off so disingenuous.
And then we get called sexist when we criticize the poorly written female characters nowadays.
Bit of trivia too: the term Mary Sue comes from a story that a WOMAN wrote.
@@kryoruleroftheninthcircleo4151
Yeah. It was the name of a character in a small fanfiction with an inexperienced writer, who put in a self insert OC that somehow got traction and put in a magazine and was demonized by all that read it.
And since then it became code for most female leads no matter what. ESPECIALLY for teenage leads.
Forgive me but if I hear any reviewer use that phrase, I immediately trust them less.
@@ChasehaWing nonetheless it’s a character by a women though... discredited means sexism?
Dear Disney,
Dishonor on you, dishonor on your family, dishonor on your cow
@@slevinchannel7589 That's a reference to a Mushu line in the original Mulan. He called Mulan's horse a cow for some reason idk.
@@LilyRose8959 theres another funny Mushu line at the avalanche scene: "How could you miss it was 3 feet in fronta you!"
@@lessismore8533 Mushu wanted her to use the rocket or whatever to kill Shan Yu. But she fired at the mountain, starting the avalanche.
and dishonor on your cash cow
Steelersgal89 it wasnt a rocket, it was a canon
Can’t believe the cartoon with a dragon feels more realistic that a whole movie with real people.
I mean, this one's just an expensive cartoon with a Phoenix.
A cartoon in that everything on screen is flat, fake and two dimensional.
A talking dragon 🐉
@@kentonbaird1723 uh...
Why are you fucking deffending the movie?
When you know that you liked endgame?
@@JordanWheeler1999 Oh cool. Now you get to tell me what number I'm thinking of at the moment.
@@kentonbaird1723 lol ok smart ass
So I agree with absolutely everything Doug said in this, and as a Chinese woman I have a huge bone to pick with the representation of Chinese culture here. I'm sorry to say Doug that even the little you got from this film of 'Chinese culture' is probably complete BS.
Mulan 2020 is a Western fantasy skinned to look Chinese.
I say that because it is CLEARLY written by people with no clue how Chinese/Asian stories are told, about how the mythology works, about the philosophy/culture behind it.
Qi/Chi is NOT the Force. Qi is not gendered, unlike how Mulan 2020 tries to tell you 'its wielded by men' and Mulan is special because she's a girl and has 'special chi'.
Qi is the energy that flows through everything, through life, through man AND woman. You USE Qi, through training and honing skills, and learn to control and redirect it - that's how you have MARTIAL ARTS. They could have just said 'she has great control/skill over chi', but of course they didn't. Anyone can do it, you don't need to be born with the Force/magic/superpowers, you just need to TRAIN those skills. Wouldn't THAT have been a better plot device?
Qi is not magic fighting superpower. That is such a blind, obviously Western take on Qi.
Like you said, Avatar explains it SO much better.
Witches? In Chinese culture? Never existed. There is no misogyny tied to the idea of women practicing magic in China. The whole 'witch hunt' thing never happened. They could have made the character a malevolent spirit, or demon or something - those absolutely could shapeshift and possess people - but a witch? A BIRD WITCH. Who was ousted for being a 'woman who had chi powers' come the fuck on.
The phoenix is also another really dumb plot contrivance clearly written by a white person. The Chinese Phoenix or Fenghuang DOESN'T RISE FROM THE ASHES. So that entire plot point about the phoenix representing Mulan rising from the ashes is just dumb as all hell.
The Fenghuang is basically the female counterpart to the dragon - it represents balance of yin/yang and royalty, and usually connotes the Empress. I know of people who were confused while watching because they thought the Fenghuang/phoenix meant Mulan was going to become Empress?? Or the witch was or something. But no, they used the dumb 'rise from the ashes' Western trope instead.
There are a hundred more problems, this is literally a handful. There's a reason it's getting panned in China, because it's CLEARLY written by people trying to pander with no actual knowledge. All of what Disney is doing is backfiring immensely.
I absolutely HATE to say it - but if they had just remade the 1998 in live action it would have been better. The Ballad of Mulan is a BALLAD - music is part of it, so they could have just went with the fucking songs.
The important thing that '98 Mulan got was THE WHOLE POINT of Mulan in the first place - a story of sacrifice and loyalty/filial piety, of the nerve of a woman who saved her ageing father from death while risking death herself, working hard to rise through military ranks, finally revealing herself and the army rallying behind her out of inspiration, then TURNING DOWN the Emporer's offers of gratitude and retiring to the country, as the final soft 'fuck you' to the patriarchal society back then.
That's the Ballad of Mulan. The 1998 Eddie Murphy dragon version got more right.
True to your heart means doing what's right and sticking to your morals even if society/everyone tells you you're wrong or worthless. Fuck this Mulan.
And fuck Liu Yifei for supporting police brutality in Hong Kong
Thank you so much for sharing you knowledge about Chinese culture, it's fascinating. It's madening how little respect Disney shows to anything that's not american.
This is so interesting! You deserve so much more likes xxx
Yeah this movie was more crouching beta male hidden agenda lol
@@Crescend0ll You're welcome haha! There's been a huge backlash ESPECIALLY in Asia/Asian communities in the West because of how horribly it represented the source material and culture. Not even gonna talk about the Uyghur concentration camp thing. But Disney really fucked this one up.
It's insane how obviously the entire thing screams wrong, from the way the Emperor will just accept a man-on-man DUEL?? with the bad guy? (this isn't the Wild West, the Emperor isn't Aragorn King of Gondor). There is no glory in battle for Asian royalty - the Emperor is treated as a living god among men basically, they sit around and have hundreds of the smartest men/eunuchs/officials to figure everything out for them (who are usually also plotting some political BS/coup of the palace lol), great generals to lead their armies and strategise on their behalf, hundreds of concubines and a palace that's like a mini city. They would NEVER walk into an obvious enemy ambush to 'high noon' duel the bad guy.
If you even get into the throne room/SEE the Emperor yourself (as the enemy) it basically means you've slaughtered the entire army and palace to get there.
The way people just talk back to authority/royalty, the way the bird witch has Rita Repulsa armour and MOLDED METAL BOOBS and a LEATHER CORSET in ANCIENT CHINA, the horrendous makeup and clothes from multiple dynasties/periods, the fact Mulan has a SIMPLIFIED CHINESE CHARACTER (to pander to the Chinese Communist Party or something idk) on her ANCIENT CHINESE SWORD....
I could talk about this forever and I know there are probably better articles out there.
But goddamn this could have been good and it was just so badly conceived to its core. They could have watched ANY. CHINESE. WAR FILM. Or opened Wikipedia.
I dunno, watch Red Cliff or literally anything Wuxia (Chinese 'low fantasy').
This movie is the equivalent of those dumb white kids who get 'Chinese tattoos' and the tattoo says 'Large Chicken Rice Butt' or something.
Yes to everything you said, especially that last sentence 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
The problem is that they totally rely on the audience having seen the animated version.
Milking off nostalgia. Parents will take their kids to see this. And by doing so, teaching kids this level of stuff is okay.
And audiences will probs like the animated movie more if they had.
@@MY-se1jf and then decide to show them the better version. Lets be honest, Mulan in China was Boycotted by the government, the censors that held it for eight months before it was released in china.
@@garreonlefay6703 Assuming they have better one to show. You are right that some kids will get lucky. And I am glad you pointed it out. Still disappointed with Disney tho. Not all children have parent who care. Or notice whats going on. Same thing with games and loot boxes. Totally not gambling for kids.
天滅中共
How can a live action movie only show one-dimensional characters
When a 2D animated movie can show third-dimensional characters?
Different Times now... Disney is not what it used to be
@@andreasfreij4485 what a paradox! I love it.
@@andreasfreij4485 Sad but true.
Imagine how are they gonna butch Ariel.
@@valerievargas1548 As a DANISH man...... I don't want or dare to think about it
The Disney remakes only serve as a reminder of why we love the originals.
I agree.. all these new remakes make want to buy the orginals and avoid the new versions.
The Bargain Bin Disney movies
more of their great work are from b group....yeah.. a group just shit nobody watch...
Man!! I love this comment.
With the exception of The Jungle Book and Aladdin, majority of these remakes are ass.
Animated version: Be brave, work hard and don't give up
Live-action 2020: If you are not the "Chosen One", just give up.
Ideology: Accept your place, don't question fate.
@@CathrineMacNiel hell no, that would be actually kinda new and interesting message for kids. That some fights dont deserve to be fought, that some times you just cant and should just stop bashing head against the wall
More like: If you don't have a vagina, just step aside and listen when women are talking. Because you are a sexist then. Of course, we are not you silly boy. That, of course, doesn't mean we are seeing ourselves as more like "The Chosen sex", it means we have an idealogy that we believe in, like a religion, so you can treat it like a religion, which means science doesn't need to support it. Because we've been victims because we are women. Then of course, that victimhood is your birthright, and you don't have that birthright if you are born let's say a white boy. But that is not classism and inequality in itself, because we are above that. It's just that we are looking down on you for everything that we think is right and we are compassioned so we cannot do wrong. Of course, you can change your sex by operation, then we won't look down on you because we would not be looking that compassionately but only then. You go girl!
I mean disney is so bad with these. I mean DISNEY CHANNEL is doing better since it has original movies instead of remakes
Oof.
Walt Disney was once quoted as saying “I don’t make pictures just to make money. I make money to make more pictures.”
Unfortunately I feel the company he left behind has gotten that message mixed up somewhere along they way.
When the shareholders forced Micheal Eisner to resign and Bob Igor took over is when Disney started going down hill
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv Can't disagree with that.
He also hated Communists. I mean, really. You think he'd be kowtowing to China?
@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel If Disney was alive, he'd pretty disappointed with how the world has turned out. Not angry, just disappointed. There's no thing worse in this world than disappointment.
@@chasehedges6775 amen
Old Disney: *Let’s write characters with struggle and growth*
Woke Disney: *Mr, I’ll make a sue out of you*
screw woke
@@saklee1777 screw sjw
The powerful thing about the "make a man out of you" portion of the film when Mulan is climbing up the pole is that she doesn't rely on her strength to do it, she's clever in that she uses the weight of the 2 weights to keep her footing. Yea, she obviously uses strength to keep herself moving up, but she figured it all out by using her brain and succeeded where every other guy failed because they thought the whole thing relied on strength alone. That's a very powerful message you can pass on to children- not just girls- that having a sharp mind can help you overcome any obsitical even if it seems impossible.
Exactly, she couldn’t climb the pole the way Shang did so she found a different way. That’s why they reuse the pole climbing in the climax, because a direct attack won’t work so they have to find a different strategy. I always felt that one of the key messages in the movie was _”find a way that works for you”_
That scene was so great that they actually paraphrased it in Captain America, when Steve Rogers fell the flagpole instead of trying to climb it in order to get the flag.
@@animationfan957 Love that Scene!
@Brent Thomson Yes! There was no eccentricity and cleverness to this iteration of Mulan.
this was like sex for my brain waves
Cartoon Mulan: has to train and use her critical thinking skills to climb the pole
Live action Mulan: just jumps to the top of the pole with no effort.
There wasn't even a pole to jump on. They did not include that.
@@vanessapham6914 I know, I was explaining how if LA Mulan was in the animated version, Disney would've done that
@@tntkff9901 yeah I was expressing my distaste for this movie XD
@@tntkff9901 this comment is particularly funny to me, cause i am spanish and " LA mulan" sounds like " the mulan" , with female article " la",and putting " la" or the male version " el" in front of a name in spain, is a very vulgar way( vulgar in the sense of used by people uneducated small village people , or..i don't know how to translate canis and chonis, but just think uneducated people from bad neighbourhoods) of referring to someone XD.
Why don’t we make a list of our favorite actual well written female characters? I’ll start: Akane Tsunamori.
I'm still sleeping and I hope I wake up perfect
If you want to better yourself, then Buy Jordan Peterson’s 12 rules of life......
you can listen to it on audible while you sleep.
Get woke
Then how you writing this comment
Id be satisfied with just staying in a coma
Unless you absorb your android brother and sister through your tail you won't
“Go watch Avatar: The Last Airbender.” I was waiting for that. Infinitely better than those 2 hrs I’ve wasted watching this sad excuse of a live action movie.
As a woman I am sick of the bland, strong female characters people push today. It IS more sexist. Women are people too. They have strengths and weaknesses. I want to see people. Not generic cardboard cutouts of characters. I had so many shows, comics, and video games as a kid that showed me so many kinds of strength in women! Physical, emotional, mental...everything! Women with kindness and anger and trauma and fear and cleverness and love! I don't need this weird crap. Just write characters...and here's a tip...if they would be boring and bland as a male...they won't suddenly be interesting as a female. I expect higher quality female characters. Not this nonsense.
THANK YOU!
It's more important to make a character interesting than to make them strong. My go-to example for this is Jane Porter in the 1999 animated Tarzan film. Is she a strong and empowered female character? Not really. She's completely out of her element in the jungle and does need to be saved by Tarzan on more than a few occasions. But she is such a fun and interesting character. Intelligent, caring, curious, impetuous, a perfect person to be the bridge between Tarzan and the human world. I just love her in the movie. On the other hand, you have Pocahontas. She's a strong and independent woman, but my God, she's about as interesting as a dictionary. Now, if you can make a female character who is both strong and independent but also interesting and enjoyable, that's great (e.g. Moana). But in a choice between strong or interesting, always go with interesting.
shut up.
👏👏👏
@@Christopher_TG Those are phenomenal examples! You are so right! I love Jane. I love so many others, Cinderella for her kindness, Tiana for how hard she works, Rapunzel for her creativity, and Mulan for her bravery just to name a few! Not everyone is an asskicking hero (though Mulan totally is)...I like showing you don't have to be that to be awesome...or in Mulan's case...you don't have to start that way. Though yeah....I take no issue when women are power houses (Toph from Avatar is literally one of my favorite characters of all time)...but that's not the only strength to have. Interesting should indeed...always be the priority. For both female and male characters!
Original Mulan: trained for weeks to become an incredible and skilled warrior.
Remake Mulan: she was already born with everything she needs.
Sounds like Rey.
@@pacoramon9468 I was about to comment the same thing. 👍
paco ramon Except Rey’s struggle was clear and emotional as opposed to physical.
Oh no
Not
Modern overly perfect Mary Sue feminist protagonist that isn’t allowed to struggle
Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s bad writing....
As a woman its incredibly insulting when writers think no flaws + magic = perfect female character. My favorite characters, male and female, are the ones I can see myself in. The animated Mulan is my favorite princess because she struggles at first. She is unsure of herself. She makes mistakes. She is believable and in a way I very much see myself in her so strongly. The new one is depressing and disappointing because it's clear from the start that she automatically doesn't have to work hard or struggle with anything in the slightest. Everything that made Mulan amazing before has been stripped away and in its place we get "she is strong and perfect and has magic so you have to like her."
Little girl watching the animated Mulan "I'm clumsy and there's so much I can't do(gymnastics, sports, dancing). Mulan couldn't do things either, but she worked hard until she could, maybe I could try."
Little girl watching live action "I can't do any of that. She was born able to do it, I wasn't."
Funny how every random person talking about the live action movies has a 100% better understanding of the original movie than the makers do.
When its the inverse, the original disney Mulan was truer to the Ballad of Hua Mulan. She was a normal girl, that wanted to protect her family and china because she saw her father would only get killed due to his condition, either an illness or a wound that healed wrong, and she couldn't let that happen. The animated movie may have had some creative liberties with mushu and the cricket, and the fact that Mulan had wanted to bring honor and grandeur to her family in a confucian society.
Even so its truer to the spirit of the original ballad, than the virgin chad wuxia live action disney made
That statement is not really that far-fetched. I mean Disney *JUST WANTS TO MAKE PROFIT*, and the current generation loves the remakes (if it did not it would nob become a cash cow as it actually is). The fans, being well...fans tend to know quite a lot about the story and dive deeper into it.
@@slevinchannel7589 why do you keep spamming that ?
Right the makers completely missed the whole point of the movie the cartoon and the original ballad
Disney: Nah, Mushu is too unrealistic.
Also Disney: LET'S ADD ANCIENT CHINESE MAGIC AND A BIRD TRANSFORMING WITCH.
I called it Medivh in my childhood
actually original rendition of mushu might be taken as disrespectful to the culture it belongs to. i have no problems taking it out since it serves no purpose to the story but to be slapstick comedic relief for the western audience at the expense of a cultural symbol, the character is treated as a joke.
The official story for this is that this movie was produced as a straight adaptation of the original story and not a remake of the animated movie, though that doesn't explain the witch.
@@ShadowOfTheKolkhoznik Don't clump my Warcraft together with anything Disney
Mushu would not fit this movie at all.
If you want to watch a beat by beat remake go watch Lion King.
The moral of the movie is “Be yourself... if you’re a super powerful warrior with special abilities no one else has.”
The Emperor has them
@@mmj3dx926 "Be yourself... If you're a super powerful warrior, with special abilities, only you and the Emperor of a giant Country, have."
"Be yourself, but only if you're perfect." Disney's morals in a nutshell.
Just like Pokemon
@@SakuraAvalon That was achieved through training and dedication.
I honestly didn't even notice that Jet Li played the emperor...LOL it makes sense now why they gave him an action scene and show that he can catch arrows
i thought jet li could save this movie.. and the sad reality was... he couldnt.
He can what now
Even Donnie Yen is here and he couldn't save this huge mess.
Jet li
Donnie yen
Gong li
Michelle yo
And this movie still sucks
@@fullmetalprism5249 Star power can't save a bad movie.
I honestly got so upset when Mulan was asked to lead the army. In the original, no one listened to her, no one cared because she was a woman, and only her friends turned to help her. In this film, it was such a fucking Disney Channel move where all the men suddenly go "I believe Mulan!" and suddenly she is being told to lead the army??? At the very least she could've sneaked back into camp and asked her "friends" (let's be honest, though, we were told they were friends even though it was barely shown) to help her, but she was given a whole damn army just because a few men decided this was a Disney Channel Original Movie and wanted to say "I believe Mulan!" and that completely changed everyone's mind so completely 180? Bullshit. I suspended so much disbelief during this film and I lost it at this cheesy and terrible scene, and that's not to say there aren't several other cheesy and/or terrible scenes in the film, before and after.
I agree. It MUCH more enjoyable to watch a character start at rock bottom and head for the top
Yeah, and bear in mind that this is supposed to be the more “realistic” and “adult” version.
They wanted to force in "believe all women" which is already a trash concept in itself, since people lie all the time. And even if the concept were sound, it was still a cringey, forced, sloppy way to do it. It was their way of giving a nod to SJW's.
"It's okay to have your hero be weak. That's where the bravery comes from."
Well said Doug
YES!!!! VERY well said indeed!
As a writer, I love this quote
Someone put that in a book of great quotes, he deserves it
"My opinion doesn't have to be your opinion."
Everyone needs to accept this statement.
yes.
Even when he’s wrong. Remember his review on Sonic? He was wrong on everything with that movie. It’s why it’s hard to take his reviews seriously sometimes.
do you see the irony in this comment? you are quoting something saying "people don't have to think alike" and then following it with by saying "everyone needs to accept this mindset!".
@@darkcylander you'd rather people didn't?
@@amateurishauthor2202 no, I just think it's funny how the comment contradicts itself
I know everybody has already said it, but Disney REALLY should stop making remakes. This quantity over quality mentality will be their downfall.
How? All the remakes are making them billion dollar films
@@nameisamine Yeah, but eventually people will get tired of it. Disney is gonna get a bad reputation and people may even stop seeing their films.
My name is Aminé do you know about the domino effect my friend? Or have you ever heard about one bad apple can spoil the bunch? How about planting the seed of one’s own demise? Sure they keep dishing out movies that make money, but the more mistakes they make, the more their competition will take advantage of it. Never forget these words my friend.
@@anthonytempura6130 In this case the intire thing is a bad apple, it just takes time until more people took notice that it is infact a bad apple
They're literally making them for the Chinese Market. That's why there have been so many remakes over the last decade as before Hollywood was banned in China. They get slated over in the west and not do well domestically but they rake up the cash in China as they weren't allowed to see the originals.
Disney remakes these days.
Younger brother Disney: Hey brother can I copy your project? You always get straight A's.
older brother Disney: sure, but change a few things so it isn't obvious.
younger brother Disney: *Copy, paste, add lots of CGI.*
later
younger Brother Disney: How the Hell did I get an F?! this is basically the same thing!!!
This should be a web comic
@@ScarletTaylor19 as long as I'm credited.🤣
younger brother Disney: *passes the class anyways*
@@slevinchannel7589
I agree with you on that. But it is not that Disney can't have mature theming. They have done that before. And let's be honest sex will never sell with Disney. Especially in this day and age.
It's the fact that we get remake after remake after remake of something that we already know.
I rather have Disney start on something new. Like Onward. I love Onward. It's new, it's funny, it's refreshing good story. Good chemetery between the actors.
I think the whole problem with the audience these days (I am one of them) is that we don't want the mature version because the originals are fine as they are. We want something NEW. The not copy and paste.
And I get that some "critics" take it a bit far with some of their criticism on, for example: the movie is not historically accurate, or the logic doesn't make sence. Or it's not feminine enough.
I have a history degree and I am going to be extremely honest and wouldn't give a rats *ss about historically accurate. I just want to enjoy a fairy tale. Like disney (and I mean Walt Disney) intended.
@@triforcemaster.5560
And everyone is wondering why.
i was so upset they took out the grandma, she was my favorite to quote - “do you want to stay forever?!” fav
Same, basically any line out of her was comedy gold.
"Who spit in her bean curd?"
Lol! She was my favorite character
"Now add a cricket"
"Just for luck"
"And even you can't blow it"
@@lonebattledroid4474 mulan didnt blow it, the cricket made her do it 😂😂😂😂
“Woo sign me up for the next war!”
Even Po, the dragon warrior, had to train to use chi (for days, yeah, but he had to) and here, Mulan goes like: Chi goes brrrrr
yeah and po dealth with more than just training chi....
he was treated as this loser who just randomly showed up had no power and was shunned by the other warriors.
but did he give up??? hell no. he was like i will try my best to fit in.
@@miciso666 That's Right!
He was just a lazy panda working in his adopted father's restaurant, he is clumsy, he can be annoying to his friends and can be stupid, but he took years to master the power of chi from Shifu (and Oogway to a lesser extend), and he uses it with responsibility when something is in extreme critical danger, something that the 2020 Mulan film doesn't.
Hell, Kung-Fu Panda did the “gifted protagonist” better by showing that Po had to still train, and Shifu having to find a way to make training easier for Po to understand, i.e. by incorporating food into Po’s training.
And even then, Po still gets nearly beaten by Tai Lung.
his thing was actually explained well by Mat Pat. Here is Mat's argument: Po was heavy BUT unlike normal pandas whose diet is only of bamboo which has 0 nutrition, Po was eating protein, lots of it. He was "fangirling" over the other martial arts. The guy was half-trained (by himself) and half had the physical properties by himself before he ever started training under a master.
'98 Writers: See girls? Even if society tries to hold you back, its up to you to get what you want and improve through practice and perseverence!
2020 Writers: Uuuh i dont know kid, if you're not born a natural martial arts master or have supernatural powers, why even try?
I have four major complaints about this movie:
The conceptualization of "Chi"
The actress playing Mulan and the real life controversy around her political beliefs
The character of Mulan being a Mary Sue
The witch antagonist.
How this movie illustrates the idea of "Chi" is just.... They treat it like it's The Force from Star Wars (well, let me backtrack, it's similar but not exactly like the force) when really the entire concept of chi in Chinese culture is more akin to just "life energy" or even just blood. Yes you can cultivate it and nourish it and balance it and grow it stronger but it's not a thing that some people have and some people don't. It's not some sort of secret ability to unlock within yourself and it's not some mythical power that will give you superhuman strength. The idea is that it's just a natural thing everyone has within and how you choose to grow it and nurture it and cultivate it affects who and what you are as a person and spiritually. The misunderstanding of such an essential part of Chinese spiritual philosophy just left me like "yeah, a foreigner who didn't do their research wrote this". That entire thing about how warriors have chi and it's not for a woman and so-on. That was a huge strike against this movie and they bring it up constantly and don't really do much with it.
The actress I have problems with because of the whole thing with her supporting police violence against Hong Kong. I think that isn't a major surprise. Disney just kissing up to the CCP because China is their biggest market is the rotten cherry on top of that shit sundae. The Uighur Concentration camps also didn't do them any favors either.
Doug, you went pretty well into the whole reason Mulan is now a Mary Sue. She is badass and adventurous from the beginning. There's no struggle, no conflict, no great realization of what she has to do even if she doesn't want to. Yeah, I get it Disney. Rah rah female empowerment and fighting against gender roles. But MAKE HER FIGHT FOR IT. Don't serve it up to her on a platter by having her be badass from the beginning. I refer back to a favorite quote of mine I heard from one of my favorite metal bands songs. "Only through the test of fire is iron forged". This is just Boom! Forged iron out of nowhere! There was no struggle, no realization, no test of fire. In the animated series Mulan realized that she wasn't strong enough physically to get the arrow from the top of the post. So she had to shift the perspective. She chose to approach the problem with intelligence and guile and not brute strength. That's character growth you showed in minutes. Here you have almost 2 hours to work with and this is the best you could come up with? Just giving her everything from the start? Disappointing! Shame on you movie. Also she lacked emotions! Again as you got into yourself. The actress didn't really have fear. She didn't react to anything. What growth is this character supposed to have? How can I CARE about her?
Finally the witch Xianniang. Witches have a sort of different stance in Asian cultures as opposed to European cultures. First the name "witch" is a very western concept and is not appropriate for the setting. In many eastern cultures often people with magic powers are revered and respected. The entire idea of a witch being evil and reviled just doesn't jive with the setting and mythos of China and the Mongolians. Maybe instead of human she could be something mythological like a malicious spirit. That would be interesting and explain a bit more why her magic is bad and why she has magic in the first place. Second Xianniang could have made a compelling villain if she was given more chances to shine. She mentions that she could kill Bori Khan in a breath. COOL! That's an interesting angle. She could have been the greater scope villain the entire time! That would have been a great unexpected reveal! But no, she stays the subordinate. A lot of stuff like that gets set up in the movie and then falls to the wayside and It feels like a wasted opportunity.
The "Strong female character " has become as much of a cliche as the "Damsel in distress" honestly
Very true!
It took the "Damsel in distress" decades to become a cliche. For the "Invencible female character without effort" it only took 6 years.
@@SiameseCats4ever and they irony is that many female characters that are said to be damsels in distress for example Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White etc are far more interesting and likable then most of today's " Strong" female characters
Its an established archetype in movies nowadays. The Hero's Journey is being phased out because women are perfect and don't need to struggle and grow as characters.😒🙄😔
@Stripey Arse...or a character that struggles in order to grow and become a more developed character
Critic: "Disney ruined Mulan LONG before that remake ever comes out."
Mulan 2020: "you dare oppose me mortal?"
GOLD
@@-12Sided He didn't say the original ruined it. He just said it didn't capture all the spirit if he thought it would work.
@@thefirstbourne149 He's was referring to mulan 2 to y'know.
The FirstBourne They’re referring to Mulan II.
@@prayingkabutops1392 I guess the fact people forgot about it shows how bad that really was.
The problem with Mulan 2020 was that it wasn't true to it's heart.
Didn’t it come out that Disney filmed near the re-education camps and thanks the organization that runs the camps?
Yeah why on earth would they do such a horrible thing like that spend millions of dollars on a movie near people who
are getting their culture taken away where they are most likely suffering maybe even dieting and Disney’s like oh I’m gonna give honor to China with this remake like honestly Disney!!!!!!!!!! You used to be a company people looked up to and admired for their inovative colorful stunningly hand drawn takes on stories of folklore and legend now they are just as greedy as their villains
Being female myself, I am so sick of this “hurrhurr independent strong woman” narrative that is used as a selling point. I loved Mulan as a kid and I still do now. I like that she is a bit of a dork sometimes. I like that none of her achievements were served to her by the plot just because she is a strong female lead, she worked, and where she couldn’t win physically she used her wits and taught her fellow soldiers to do the same. The thing about the animated Mulan is, she was not a “strong woman tm” (and especially not at the expense of male characters, Shang is easily my favorite Disney male character and the sequel does not exist) she was, first and foremost, just strong, and that was more than enough.
It's not like with male protagonists that we never see an internal or external struggle. Part of life is getting through challenge and adversity. Disney obviously doesn't believe in that anymore.
@@ausername8699 evidently all Disney believes in now is money and anything they can use to get more money. These remakes are playing on nostalgia and not to be 'that guy' but I've never been more happy that I never fell for this crap.
It's just a shame so many others keep letting Disney continue churning out remakes despite them being bad or meh at best.
100% agree. Glad you didn't get shadow banned by TH-cam for sharing this. My comment was shadow banned for sharing the same opinion.
Honestly ever since the director of the Harry Potter films admitted Hermione was his favorite character I've suspected this "perfect woman" treatment comes not just from Hollywood's cluelessness over what actual feminism is but actually is another version of the male tendency to turn women themselves into fantasies, only with a slightly more self-aware man trying to reformulated that to be less criticized by female audiences.
sequel doesn't exist, fair enough.
I thought that Mulan "the animated one" was STRONGER BECAUSE she was never yearning to fight. HELL she was not even trained! She sacrificed what she wanted to save her father. She never wanted to be a perfect bride but she seemed to just want to find her thing. This new one had her like a tiny soldier on day 1 and that was BAD because it makes you as an audience member question her true motives for fighting in the first place and makes a "scary sacrifice to save her family" more into a "YA! I get to go do this now!"
It would be like if Simba in the Lion King as soon as he reached puberty was like "I KNOW SCAR IS BAD! GONNA GO KILL HIM NOW! NO EMOTIONAL GROWTH NEEDS TO HAPPEN!"
As someone who has read a few recent Chinese fantasy novels the natural born Chi warrior thing is so prevalent I wouldn’t be surprised if it was state enforced that all fantasy stories produced in China has to have Chi warriors.
@@williamhare4456 Could be!
EXACTLY! Mulan had no reason to _want_ to fight. Her whole schtick was that she was a good person who cared about her father's life. That's honorable. This shit isn't.
I hate that they went with the Chosen One storyline. I understand it’s popular in Chinese fiction, but that’s not the appeal of Mulan! She’s an ordinary girl who becomes extraordinary because of her skills and strength. Again, I know they’re just pandering to the Chinese movie market, but I feel like everyone and everything else got shafted because Disney wanted to make more money.
@@thoughtsofaleo2916 I would be willing to bet that Disney pandering to the Chinese market explains almost if not ALL of the remakes. :( They are too similar.
Disney filmed this movie in concentration camps. Definite dishonor
A remake movie about dishonor while dishonoring the original about dishonor.
*wow*
Yes this movie dishonored the honorable honor of the original which must now avenge its honorable honor by dishonoring the dishonorable honor of the remake, thus restoring its original honorable honor.
@@tragicwitch That's a lot to process.
@@chasehedges6775 HONOR!
@The Phantom I understood that reference
Disney has forgotten how to write female characters.
Disney has simply forgotten how to make movies.
Disney has forgotten how to write. Period
Oh come on, Disney still has great movies as well as great female characters nowadays. Not ALL of them, but still great ones nevertheless
@@psychonautmaddy7409 which?? Honestly none of the new ones are good, the best ones are pixar characters and disney don't make those
MaidenofBagEnd they haven’t really come out with any recently. You could say Elsa and Anna in regards to Frozen II but that was a sequel so those characters were already written.
The reason Mulan was so inspiring was because she was a completely ordinary woman. She had no "Chi", no amazing acrobatic skills, and was presented as a rebellious, clumsy, forgetful and lazy teenager. As much of a misfit as Mushu.
But when tested, she showed her best qualities: love for her family and an enormous amount of courage. That set her on a journey to save her father, and ended up saving all of China and the emperor.
Disney's new take on her story was just beyond terrible.
Growing? Pfft, she didn't learn anything from those men trying to train her. Nah, she doesn't need them, they're just misogynistic pigs. They just needed to shut up, step aside, and let her do what she already knows how to do. Disney made the same mistake Captain Marvel did: the reason the female hero is not kicking ass from the start is not because she's not ready or because she's flawed, it's because she's being held back. She just needed to realize that she's already a-w-e-s-o-m-e.
It's sad. She had such a perfect character arc. They threw all that down the drain by giving her magical powers. It's like Disney was the same as those men in the chinese army and didn't think an ordinary girl could do what Mulan did in the original movie. The only way she could was to give her some superpower.
It blows my mind how they didn't realize that being ordinary is precisely what made Mulan inspiring in the first place. It's what the story was about! A regular woman who rises above her environment's limitations to do good.
We've seen that formula create amazing characters many times before. Po from Kung Fu Panda is one of my favorites, and he said it best: "There is no secret ingredient". The secret ingredient is simply believing in yourself, no matter the odds. That is what Mulan taught us.
What a disappointment. They brought dishonor to Mulan, quite ironically.
But what's even more disappointing is that Disney keeps. Making. The. Same. Mistake. Over. And. Over. Again.
It's a lot like why people love Luke Skywalker in the Original Star Wars Trilogy but are totally cold to Rey.
They should just stop with these remakes. They're nothing but cash cows
And they will do it again because they have enough money for centuries
Disney is the ultimate Disney villain.
Yep. From Star Wars to this. PC culture at its finest.
The endorsement of Uighur concentration camps in the credits makes spending money on this not only a waste, but an immorality. And the ironic thing is that despite being more Mary Sueish, she's actually more submissive towards the patriarchy. She excels by being a better macho than by outwitting them, doesn't hug the emperor as a sign of genuine grattitude towards a fellow person, and they leave ambiguous wether or not she accepts a position in the government because of course, CCP can't tell their people that not obeying every last wish of the emperor is ok.
Hey, remember that weird little string of hair that was always in Mulan's face? Fun fact! The animators put that in to show that she was imperfect, and okay with it on a subconscious level!
That teeny tiny detail, did more for our protagonist than the whole remake.
Oh wow! I never knew about that!
YES! I loved that aspect of the original - and then her adding that strand of hair in the dress up scene just made me think that she was okay with her imperfection. But in this movie, she’s already perfect so of course she won’t have a hair in her face.
Kinda like Azula.
None of the '90s Disney Princesses were perfect. Not by a long shot. When they screwed up, they screwed up big time.
I think you’re thinking too much into it kid lol
I feel like Walt Disney has been rolling in his grave so much that it's causing earthquakes
You’re right 😂
Your profile name is where Walt Disney is.
Welcome to California, eh?
@2023 Brayden Langford
No, I think Walt would have a problem with this remake as well. While we don’t know what he would’ve thought of the original film, I’m willing to bet that he likely would’ve preferred it over the remake since he was known for prioritizing audience engagement with his stories. He wanted movie goers to connect with the characters presented onscreen, which is one of the reasons why his first feature film was such a success to start with, and still is to this day. A film with little-to-no emotional investment would’ve been of no interest to him.
100% Everytime one of these 'new' movies come out of the Disney Company, because it is a company overlord now that I believe with my whole being Walt would be so disappointed in what his legacy has become, I have the same thought that Walt Disney The Man would Hate all these movies that have been getting churned out in His Name for purely cash and nothing else. Disney movies have lost all their heart and it's all sales to them now. All the heavy lifting is being done but Pixar now, ironically...
*"A flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."* They are missing that!
"Just wake up perfect! Like Alice in the new Alice in Wonderland movies, or Belle in the new Beauty and the Beast, or.."
Me: ...Rey?
At least it wasn’t Mulan 2
What Disney used to show: Overcoming your struggles and improving yourself and the world makes you a hero.
What Disney shows now: You can be a hero if you are already super good at everything.
reminds me of how people usually write isekai stories
Remember Hercules? :"(
I'll go almost anywhere to feel like I belong!?
You got it wrong, you can be a Disney hero if you’re a “strong” female character!
*MARY SUE 100*
@sc2, Della Duck (a flawed character in the Ducktales 2017 reboot who learns to grow and be a better mom) destroys your argument.
2020's Mulan: The Woman's Tutorial On How To Be Perfect.
Lesson one: Just wake up perfect.
Rest of the lessons: IRRELEVANT.
“I woke like this”
@@BrassFeline You have learned well, wise Student. *Bows in Respect*
I think the thing it really pissed me off it's that they give the line: "Why is Mulan any different?" to the not-Shang guy instead of freaking Mulan. Like seriously guys? And only then the guys join Mulan...
Holly Golightly ughh I was so mad when not-Shang said that line instead of Mulan
Me: Contemptuously pauses this movie when Mulan's dad hugs her and doesn't say it
Me: Passionately recites in my best OG Mulan-dad voice, "The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter."
This is how I summarize the descent of Disney's princesses:
The remake versions are Strong Female Characters™
The originals are *women*
Correction my friend
Originals: *Women* with personality
The originals were characters.
Good point, their effort to make, “strong female characters” takes away that character’s humanity.
@@silverblade357 Such a true statement.
They where once more than Strong Female Characters, they were characters. Character who were believable, had personality, were likeable AND just so happened to be women.
I feel now and days film over glorifies female main protagonists, when if they want equality they should just treat it like its something regular and normal.
*Let the film speak for itself!*
I really missed the line “A life for a life. My debt is repaid”. That was so damn impactful. But instead we got a scene where the captain was literally “I will execute you right now” to 15 seconds later “ok mulan, you cool. You lead us into battle”. Btw sorry in advance for this super shallow comment, but I really wanted an eye-candy Shang 🥺.
yeah same i was like where is shang???? instead we got a shitty version of him.
and a real life cricket.
the whole i saved your ass... you owe me. was so awesome.
instead we get the whole : o you where badass you lead this army then wise ass.
If Godfrey Gao had lived long enough, he would've been the perfect Shang tbh.
天滅中共
Don't apologize. Shang is the hottest Disney guy--would have been kind of nice to see some of that translated.
I hate the "reason" they cut him out! Shang and Ping became bros in arms after the empowering moonlit conversation ("I think you're a great captain") and that avalanche rescue. I don't think that was an abuse in power and rank. That was equality!
I'm starting to think that the Disney remakes are the new "Bat Credit Card" for our good Mr. Walker.
Disney Live-Action Twist: Live-Action Hercules will start out as a wimpy boy.
Seriously it's like Disney's forgotten about character development. Hercules was the world's most powerful man but they were able to give him a believable and even relatable struggle.
To quote "Yahtzee" Croshaw: 'What does matter is the characters at least be interesting to watch, and these aren't.'
Can people these days just stop making Mary Sue characters and calling them progressive. You’re only doing the opposite. This only makes companies look more out of touch.
As it turns out, they most absolutely CANNOT stop doing that.
I don't know why Doug is Bashing Mulan(2020) while giving Rey from Star Wars a free pass. They are exactly the same character.
@@Guy-cb1oh I think a lot of people are willing to overlook it because Rey isn't an obnoxiously smug character like Captain marvel. She doesn't talk down to Luke in the last jedi like certain other mary Sue's would. Rey's personality is fun and is one of her better traits. Unfortunately you can't get invested into her because she's perfect at everything. I haven't seen Mulan 2020 and don't plan to watch it. But can anyone tell me if she acts smug? Is she at any point in the movie going "This is to easy" or some shit like that?
I agree 100 %. I hate the Mary-sue characters, I really do. Because their EVERYWHERE! Every now and then one might be nice, if done right. But you can't have them be the main character in every dang movie. Sorry for going on a rant, but I had to get that out.
@@lukerojas9474 Not that I remember. Mulan's pretty decent in the movie.
"Dishonor on you. Dishonor on your cash cow." The best critique ever of the Disney live action remakes.
Alternate title: Doug experiences a slow psychotic breakdown for 30 minutes.
So, I just watched the Mulan 2020 movie. This will have spoilers so be warned.
Now, this is going to be an unbiased review, where I will ignore the fact that the main actress supports police brutality in Hong Kong.
So what do I think of this movie?
If I could describe one word to this movie, its that it is very Soulless.
The only character that I genuinely liked was Donnie yen of course.
Now, to get to the meat of this movie on why it felt soulless, let’s look at what the animated movie had.
Mushu.
The Exclusion of important characters.
Mushu to Mulan was like what the Genie was to Aladdin.
or Timon and Pumba was to Lion King
Yeah, Aladdin and Simba were the main characters. But what made the movie went from “good” to near masterpiece was because of Genie, timon and Pumba. Their charming personalities and wacky content made the movies they were in from “good” to near masterpiece. If those characters werent in the movie, then the movies probably wouldnt be well-liked.
Same with Mushu. Mushu brought the spark and energy that Mulan needed, which is why Mulan is genuinely a great film.
Now, I understand that this movie is trying to be a movie about the real Mulan, and not the animated Mulan. But….. it has the same story elements as the animated Mulan. This movie is like a combination of the 2009 Chinese Mulan movie, and the Mulan cartoon. As a result it feels weird.
Mushu, a great and likeable character, turns into…. a phoenix that acts as a map for Mulan.
This movie also did not have Captain Li Shang from the animated movie.
Li Shang was probably my favorite character. He was the perfect example of a male side character in a female led character done right. He was developed, had a likeable personality, and was very charismatic.
Li Shang was split into two people, but those characters were kind of boring.
The second problem with this movie is
2. The Lack of Music
Now, i understand the director wanting to make it realistic, after all warriors dont just randomly sing out of nowhere.
However, the problem with this is that the movie was boring.
I am sorry, but like I said, this movie is trying very hard to be accurate to the real Mulan story, and seemingly copies the 2009 mulan movie in china.
But this movie also tries to lighten the tone and just slap a Disney label on it. See, the 2009 Mulan movie is actually more accurate imo.
But when I was watching this movie and seeing how this movie is trying to resemble like the original animated movie, I got bored and realized part of my boredom was that there were no songs.
I think what made the live action movies remakes at least more bearable to watch were the songs because it could keep me interested. This movie doesnt have the Who I am song.
But most importantly, it does not have the top 5 best Disney songs of all time “I’ll Make a man out of you.”
Finally, the reason why this movie wasnt good
3. The villains
The animated mulan movie had a villain name Shan Yu.
The villain was not developed, but he was menacing. Seriously, the animated movie had darker themes than the live action.
In the live action, heres the problem. There are two villains.
What made Shan yu threatening and menacing was that he was the main villain. But in this movie, we get two villains, and as a result the villains dont feel developed or memorable.
Seriously. this woman sides with Mulan in the end because she’s “a woman” or “Female empowerment.” or something.
Like no offense, but if you’re going to betray your partner for the opponent simply because the opponent is a “woman”…. that’s not going to be satisfying.
One more thing.
4. Mulan
This is really personal. Because believe it or not, Mulan is my favorite Disney princess. No, its not because she’s Asian.
Mulan was my favorite because she ws relatable. She was the underdog.
Mulan was one of hte few characters who had flaws and lost battles. But she did whine and complain like a good girl? No, she sucked it up, overcame many challenges and became a worthy warrior. She proved that she didnt need to have masculine features to be a warrior, all it take was hard work and perserverance to achieve greatness.
So what did this live action do? Well, it made Mulan the Chosen One.
So what happened was they turned Mulan, a beloved Disney princess into a Mary Sue for their live action movies, like rey from star wars.
Mulan in the live-action is nearly perfect, she succeeds almost all the time. She is the Chosen One, she is destined to defeat the bad guy. When you tell me it was her destiny to defeat an invading army, I am sorry but I lose interest in the character.
In conclusion, this movie wasn’t memorable. It was boring. I am officially over the live action hype train. No, its not because its led by a female individual.
Its because this movie felt boring or souless. It was way too long, didnt have heart in it. This movie didnt have any memorable characters, dialogue too long, and lack of developing villains.
Review for this movie: 4 out of 10.
4/10 feels really generous imo. i have not seen this movie (and refuse to) but from the bits in the reviews that i have seen, this movie has more "magic" per scene than _anything_ in the old one, this move from what i can tell, is a 2 at best.
Actually military songs have always existed, so they could have kept the songs.
It wouldn't have redeemed this trash, though.
“Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.” Neil Gaiman
Also I completely agree. We need more flawed women in our media.
The media is afraid of the small population of loud neo feminists who take any opportunity to formulate a movement against it.
Basically cancel culture prevents any real portrayal of humans, specifically minorities and women.
lasarousi I don’t think that’s the case. I think Disney just sucks at doing female leads these days. I think they assume people want OP flawless women characters and that’s not true at all.
@@rootbeer543 i think it's both.
@@lasarousi How did that happen? And of some of the more vocal anti feminists who send mixed messages?
Why would you want three dimensional female characters? Isn’t being strong, independent, and not needing no man enough?
As a woman, I didn’t wake up perfect so I can’t relate to the remakes. The original Cinderella, Mulan, Aurora, etc were interesting and complex...and they’re from years ago.
TheBobBrom wait what they gave her magic? My gf is Chinese (as in born and raised in China.) and is hyped for this if she finds that out she’s gonna be livid....
TheBobBrom oh my gf is gon be pissed...
Absurd Turk well I mean you can right strong characters but give them psychological problems.
Korra is a great example of that. She’s a master martial artist and can beat your ass ( unless your a main Antagonist.) but most of her issues can’t be solved with brute force.
Skybreakers series I have a similar figure. It’s not that unheard of. If real women should be respected, we have to acknowledge ALL body types are real.
@UCVvfo43kV1ejnAtMi3z16LA South Korea apparently tried to do that with Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarves, but they got bad publicity and got backlash they didn't deserve.
You think they made Mulan so stone-faced because of the Asian "Emotions bad, Indifference good" stereotype?
@Dakota Terry Being fearless means you can't show emotions?
Nah it's more to do with the actress' acting chops. She is an A list actress in China, but not bcos of her acting skills.
Nah, LiuYiFei is a well-known actress in China, with well-known bad acting skills.
@Dakota Terry oh...okay I guess that makes more sense then :P
"Asian view no-emotion as bravery" isn't a thing. Not in the way it was explained here. If you ACTUALLY watch a lot of Asian medias, emotions never contradict bravery. The "silent badass" "introverted hero" trope is more prevalent in western story. And it's not exactly the opposite for Asian mindset either; emotion and bravery aren't connected. So you can see all sort of combination of low/high emotion and bravery.
As you said once, "they're doing it wrong: they're making a female character who's strong, what they should be doing is making a strong character who's female"
apparently, nowadays girls don't have to be strong, they just gotta have superpowers
@BullfrogWisdom bruh what's your problem, all characters require exactly the same amount of care, and that's to say, all of it
"Phone you be quiet I'm mad and I'm gonna talk about this." I feel that.
Original Mulan: "Let's show the struggle of being a woman in a man's world."
Remake Mulan: "So who needs narrative tension anyway!"
Remake Mulan: “Eh, just give her super powers”
mechazoic Which technically aren’t even superpowers, they are subtle superpowers.
The Original was overpowered
In "ancient china man's" world.
From where the Legend comes from
My opinion is - this movie is the worst disney remake of all the time. It's just bad...it's boring... it's damn mary sue.
I’ve read the source material and she’s a “merry sue” there too. I agreed it’s a bad movie, but Mulan 2 is far worse. Forgot that existed didn’t you?
Mulan wasn't just a movie in the children's hospital I basically grew up in. As children we faced illness, surgery, loss of limbs and even having to confront our mortality and that of our friends. I saw the only other person with my rare disorder lose his legs after years of painful surgery and dealt with the fear of losing mine and the guilt that I didn't. I attended memorials for 3 friends before I was 9 years old. And I was lucky compared to many of the others. When Mulan came out the parents and nurses got together and field tripped those of us who were able to go out to the theater to see it - several times. When it was released on VHS they got several copies for our theater room. I didn't realize why it meant so much to us or the adults around us at the time but it imprinted in us that it didn't matter if we weren't as strong as those around us, that we faced something that we may not come out of, we have our own gifts and allowing ourselves to grow and utilize them meant we COULD surpass whatever perceived limitations we/others felt we had. To take that out is to take the heart out of the film. What's the message? If you're perfect don't be shamed into hiding the fact you're perfect? Wtf? That leaves out, I don't know, literally EVERYONE.
OMG 😢
I hope you're doing okay now! I can't imagine.
Well, I wasn't a kid, but around 5 years ago I developed Ulcerative Colitis and ended up in the hospital quite a few times in 2016, and Disney films were my escape between that. I did though also develop some infections as well.
2020 wasn't a good year, but 2016 was the hardest year of my life by far.
During the next couple years though, I got the two-part surgery and in a much better place. Though I still have to take some meds for the remaining rectum I have left.
I will give the original villain this, he at least acknowledges Mulan as a soldier. When she reveals herself as the destroyer of his army, he doesn't sneer and call her a mere woman, he acknowledges she is a warrior. This keyed many of us who watched him into how Hun culture worked, where women were treated better with them than our heroes culture.
I would have loved to see the different cultures but alas we I didn't
Exactly! Having the antagonist in the live action be a sexist dick just made me like him less and didn’t make him unique at all?! In the original, it’s cool to see that he acknowledges her and her strength and doesn’t care that she’s a woman - here, what’s the difference between him and literally everyone else in China that is also sexist and doesn’t think a woman belongs in battle?
*The Soldier from the Mountain....*
@@notavailable8201 Yup. While Chang, the Advisor and the Chinese soldiers were embarrassed to have been saved by her, this man only sees an enemy to be vanquished and attacks her like her would any other opponent. Not sure if that was intentional, but damn if it doesn't add to his rather limited character.
@@notavailable8201 While reading this thread, that line popped in my head. The look of realization on his face as he realizes she's the one who decimated his army, and then the rage at potentially losing to her again. Man I loved him, loved the way he was killed, loved how the fight went (because Mulan was not going to win a physical battle with him)
Is a character really strong if they’re just... strong? If they don’t have to overome anything? Of course not.
For example. The Hulk isn’t a good character because he’s big and strong, but because of the emotional and psychological struggle of Bruce Banner - and also because the Hulk is basically a scared kid unable to understand why everyone is trying to hurt him, therefore lashing out in fear and rage. And Spider-Man isn’t made interesting because of his powers, but because of his guilt and his sense of responsibility.
aka The Superman Dilemma: how to make a character compelling and relatable when he/she is OP
Spiderman is one of my favorite characters of all time. Why? There is vulnerability in him along with his power.
Goku is a good character... because Goku.
@@mandenakis The challenge/goal is to play off their strengths/weakness.
strength has nothing to do with how good a character is. its how the character is that matters. struggle is one way to do it, but its not the only way. people like to belive that mary sues and gary stus are bad, they arent, they do, however, need more to compensate.
To quote the NC "Man, you really don't appreciate a character until you see them botched."
*coughing* Mulan 2
@@Jesup1204 my ranking
Mulan orginal
Mulan 2
Mulan remake
“Wake up perfect!”
Yeah, I think that’s why I don’t care for the live action remakes.
The 2020 mulan is not a remake of the 1998 mulan . Its an alternate adaptation of the original tale .
He has returned...
...Red face Doug. Now that’s a face I haven’t seen since the Lion King review.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Every journalist ever: "This movie is stunning and brave. That is why it is perfect 7000000/10"
@Seth Belfort its sarcasm as to the new direction they are taking
@Seth Belfort Because movies like this are not written for real people. They're written for the media - specifically and solely to lovingly caress all of their social justice buttons. Strong independent woman? Check. Minority? Check. Defies patriarchal society? Check. Shows up all those darn men, and makes them look like idiots? Check. You can tell this movie was made as a sop to the media crowd, who will indeed write plenty of fawning articles and reviews about what a 'great work of art' this movie is. But who do not have sufficient numbers or influence with the people to make the movie any money.
@@DeathReviews bull's eye
The effects weren’t even that great. Am I the only one who is annoyed that the phoenix looked like it was made out of paper?
@@E3WEINER Jeremy jahns made a review and he said: " In the 5 months hiatus didn't you have time to fix the effects?"
Not gonna lie, but these Live Action Disney Movies make their animated sequels masterpieces compared to the live action ones!!!
I think that's main objective
IMO, the best live action remake was Jungle Book because it at least tried to expand and take risks.
"YOU BLEW IT, AGAIN! AHHH!!"
- Honest Trailers
"Even in the 90's, the original is much more honorable than you."
I read this in Iroh's voice
@@gerstein03 me too
No original hand drawn animation, do not sully your legacy. So this is how the live action remakes react in box office bombing? Disgraceful.
Mulan sequel spoiler: We'll get Harrison Ford delivering the line "That's not how Chi works!"
I also heard that she would kill the villain with a Kamehameha
And then we find out that Mulan is a Palpatine, and has a kissing scene with Little brother.
then he'll pull an Indiana Jones and just shoot the bad guy
@@gabrielmutombo7078 And the kamehameha is her flying along the beam and crashing into the opponent (DBZ evolution).
@@gabrielmutombo7078 And instead of the Kamehameha at least looking cool, it'll instead turn Mulan into a screensaver.
*OH, NO! SHE'S TURNED INTO 3D PIPES!*
Y’know, this movie made me cry
by testing the limits of how much dishonour it can rain on my favourite Disney Princess
"Be quiet, phone - I am angry!" I'm sorry. Even when he's not scripted, he's funny!
Nostalgic critic:"Dishonor on cash cow dishonor on Disney remake"
Me:isn't that the same thing
Disney hater
@Brian Babin Disney hater
I didn't realize Frozen was a Disney Remake.
@@changsiah2 how
Roberto Iglesias-Sanchez yea he calls anyone a Disney hater
This felt like a remake to Disney's Hercules rather than Mulan lool.
Dwayne Johnson, 'Rock' way ahead of ya! There is a new Hercules live-action movie, just not by Disney, & it works.
Agree. Shuned because of the power, then became a hero.
That moment when The Lion King remake from last year is looking like a masterpiece right about now. 😏
No, it’s bad, but it’s not as bad as Lion King. I’ve read some of the ballots and Mulan was kind of flawless there, but they do at least explain how she came to be so “flawless”
*Actual Strong Female Protaganist*
Disney: 🎶 I'll make a "Sue" out you🎵
Never gonna fail a challenge
Say good buy to well written characters
Boy I have never lifted before
She just lifted a bolder
Hope I get some toys
Now I really wish that I knew how to write
Actually in the original ballad, she already knew how to fight before she was enlisted in the army, plus she fought in it for 12 years
Mulan Sue and the chinese propaganda factory.
@@pacoramon9468 Unlike Willy Wonka's factory, they have a red river instead of a chocolate one.
@@iamchristian1129 Knowing how to fight don't make you a soldier. What many Americans forget is that techniques are only minor part of actual combat training.
Doug: You be quiet phone, you be quiet! IM ANGRY
Phone: I'm just doing my work (sad phone noises)
You literally just made me feel actual sympathy for a telephone (even if only for a second)
Phone: 👍😿
The timing there was perfect
This sounds like the pitch meeting for The Emoji Movie...
Sad phone noises 😂
“Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your CASH cow!”
I loled.
I cried when they skipped over the hair cutting scene.
While the hair cutting is symbolic, it actually doesn't make sense in Chinese culture. They had philosophy that every part of your body should be respected and never cut it. Cutting your hair would mean you're an outcast. Which I guess that's what the animated movie was going with. However, if Mulan were real and cut her hair she would be considered very suspicious to the other soldiers the moment she arrived.
In summary: They made Mulan a Gary/Mary Sue character and destroy most of the original movie’s charm and story as a result.
She became Mulan Sue.
Not just the charm, but the Chinese culture in general. The explaination of the phoenix with the rise from the ashes cliche is dumb, and witches never existed in ancient China too
You can ovbiously see that the script was written by white people, with no knowledge of the culture in general whatsoever.
collaterale1 I think there are shamans or sorcerers. I guess that is a big difference. Lol how do you feel about the witch character in The Forbidden Kingdom? Also starring the Mulan actress?
To me Mary Sue is someone who always needs to rescued. So not Mary Sue. But instead... somehow even more bland. "I can do everything Barbie".
That's what I LOVED about the original Mulan. She WASN'T a perfect, strong, female character from the start. When we first meet her, she is FLAWED. She is clumsy, she is late. She is forgetful. She's a bit lazy (making her dog do the chores). She utterly failed to impress the matchmaker and bring her family honor. She sasses off to her father. But then, she CHOOSES to become a soldier and take her father's place in the army to restore her family's honor. And even when she joins the Army, she's STILL flawed. She's knocking over the rice pot and not meshing with the other troops and failing at the training....but she's TRYING. Shang tells her to go home, and yet, she CHOOSES to try and reach the arrow one more time....and she SUCCEEDS at it. Over time, she gets BETTER at the training. SHE'S the one who AFTER they learn her secret, she CHOOSES to finish the mission and save China. She tells the other troops that the Huns survived. And then SHE'S leading the troops into battle to save the Emperor USING those clever techniques that she picked up in her training. So in the end, when the Emperor restores her honor, you feel like that is EARNED. And you also feel it when her father hugs her and says the greatest honor is having Mulan for his daughter. THAT is what a strong, female character IS. She didn't NEED magic or Chi to help her win the day. She relied on her own strength. I RESPECTED her for that.
Agree!
Well said!
I totally agree with you.
@@ztrike4402 First, define "THIS". Second. since you ask "Do I really have to write like THIS "so frequently" I assume you have read my comments before this one. I just can't tell if you are impressed with what I have to say or if you are annoyed that my comments to the Critic's videos are usually long and verbose. lol
@@ztrike4402 yes
"No you be quiet phone!" lmao
To summarize the problems:
* Chi is basically treated like a superpower, and thus Mulan becomes an ersatz superhero.
* Mulan is so naturally gifted at combat that her training montage falls flat, because there is no progression, no struggle to prove herself. She doesn't need to prove herself to the men, because she is already better than them from the start.
* Since there is no real struggle for Mulan, who is practically divinely gifted, it is hard to connect and empathize with her as an audience. It is hard for girls to relate to someone who never has to struggle against a male dominated society in the first place.
* The movie is much more serious, so it made sense to discard Mushu in that regard. However, there is no one to replace Mushu as a close friend and confidant.
* Yifei Liu is a bland actress with no presence in the role, but the character itself is written too guarded for most of the movie to give her much to work with anyway.
* Mulan's romantic interest is downplayed to the point of being practically platonic, removing any LGBT subtext from the original cartoon. Presumably this was done to get past Chinese censors, to show there was absolutely no gay coding in the movie.
* The romantic sub plot and songs are removed, but there's nothing in its place but sheer spectacle, looking visually gorgeous but lacking personality, making the movie feel hollow.
* The serious tone of the movie make goofy battle scenes in the second half of the movie feel jarring.
* The enemy's super power of wall running makes the normal Chinese army look weak, and also makes Mulan look ludicrously overpowered, since she can wall run as well. Mulan not only has to save the day, she has to do so single-handedly.
* Mulan's reveal as a woman, which involves plenty of overpowered superhero moves, make the enemy think she is a witch, which is rather ironic considering they have a literal witch on their side.
* Mulan being so overpowered takes away any tension or drama, since she is never in any real danger. She is basically a One-Man Army, not just a competent soldier among competent soldiers.
* Mulan's reveal is treated as a celebration of feminine power, but this is done exclusively through combat, which is coded as highly masculine, undermining the message of feminine empowerment.
* Claims from director Niki Caro that this isn't a superhero movie are blatantly false, as the very interview where she claims this shows footage of Mulan doing just the sort of things she is claiming are not in the movie, like wire work making Mulan fly through the air and adhering to the laws of physics.
* Mulan's godlike abilities make her rejection by the army after her reveal all the more ludicrous, because she already single-handedly saved the nation at that point. Mulan is so powerful, she doesn't even need the Chinese army at her side, which rather undermines the plot point that the army needs to accept her being a soldier in order to win.
* The symbolism with the phoenix is rather overwrought, and feels more cartoonish than the actual cartoon.
* The witch on the villain's side is a more interesting character than the villain, but also Mulan herself. Xianniang is the only character with an actual character arc.
* It is not as bad as the soulless Lion King remake, but it falls short of its ambitions. It is inferior to the animated version, and also does not work on its own terms. It tells its story poorly, and mixes in genres that undermine the messages it is trying to convey.
Kung fu Panda 3 taught me more about chi than this movie.
Agree
Ironically Paws of of Destiny eat it on appetizer. It is true KFP3 0_0
I haven't seen that movie. Is it good?
@@theravenscout4569 It isn't bad, but it is definitely weakest from trilogy.
Jenny. It's good. Probably the weakest of the 3. But still an good movie never the less. All 3 Kung Fu Panda movies are really good.
I just avoid the Disney remakes at this point. Haven't seen the lady and the tramp remake and I'm definitely going to avoid this one.
I am at the point where unless it is an ORIGINAL CGI animated movie or "I wish" a hand animated Disney movie I am not going.
Disney hater
Lady and the Tramp was garbage. I know it was a movie made for the streaming service, but it does feel so cheap, like a regular tv movie... from like 2005. Not to mention they made it politically correct, switched a dog´s gender for no reason, and switched the siamese cats and their song... i know the siamese cats it's kinda diffcult, but lord they look terrible and the new song it's also terrible.
Ever since I realized they took out the empowering message in Beauty and the Beast and made it ACTUALLY about Stockholm syndrome I lost interest completely and I haven't seen any signs they've treated any of their stories with any more respect than that. Lately I've been buying as many of the originals as I can, shouting with my money
@@changsiah2 Is that supposed to be an insult at this juncture?
People should just watch the Chinese movie "Mulan: Rise of a Warrior" from 2009 instead. I saw it back then, so it isn't fresh in my mind, but I think that that's probably what a lot of people were wanting from a non-animated, dramatice version of the story. I believe that it is truer to the actual legend as well. Would be cool to see you review that and compare. :)
As a Chinese person, this movie's depiction of Chinese culture was so laughably bad that I fail to see how this was any improvement on the authenticity of the original animation. This is embarrassing considering that the live action's main objective was to be better at portraying Chinese culture in order to impress the Chinese audience.
"A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat." Not anymore! Only a super, perfect, magical grain of rice foretold by fate can do anything in this world. How could they ruin the original message of Mulan so much?!
Because the current year "talent" is hired for their partisan politics rather than their creative prowess. They believe the absense of fun automatically makes the movie deeper, even if it just makes it boring. They believe subverting expectations automatically makes writing brilliant, even if there is no worthwhile payoff. They believe strength of character comes from plot armor, perfection and what amounts to invincibility. They believe they can make ART based on checklists and committees. That is why they fail so hard so often.
"Four ounces can move 1,000 pounds." I feel like you're wrong, but I don't know enough about science and physics to prove it and argue.
@@thrackerzodthefandomnerd4267 I'm not sure if you're joking or not. That was a direct quote from the original 1998 Disney animated Mulan movie. The Emperor says it to the general at the beginning of the movie.
@@bigfanmxtx4569 I was giving the new version of the old quote and then my thoughts on it. Did you not actually watch the new Mulan?
Wow! That's a perfect summary right there!