2/17/21 - Mulan (2020) - 3/10
Is this a kid’s film? Sure, but that doesn’t mean it has to be so distinctly mediocre. The most basic story is wrapped in unceasing spectacle, but it is all bluster and buffoonery. Not a single element makes much sense, there really isn’t any character or relationship that stands out or bares fruit, and it functions as being a draining unenthusiastic endeavor. It is numbing action drivel, without stakes or drive, and unlike the best of the genre, it doesn’t impress visually, colorfully, dramatically, or spiritually. It has impressive costumes and even some its singular shots are finely honed, but the film itself is the dullest of blades, unable to cut tissue, let alone the binding of cultural mores or cinematic ramparts.
The introduction of xianxia (Chiniese high fantasy) into it turns her ‘qi’ into a superpower. She is a literal magical being, fighting a “witch” (I don’t think the cultural significance of Western witch translates the same, but we will set that aside), and she becomes the Chinese Rey, savior of the galaxy/kingdom. I have never seen the original animated version, but I am under the impression that she was tactically advanced and a brilliant soldier, not a gravity defying, phoenix powered, perfect being. It’s not that it can’t go in this direction, It just felt so holier-than-thou, uninteresting, and downright dour. There was no emotion, struggle, and certainly no levity. If they were going to bring in some crazy magic, maybe a wise-cracking dragon accomplice would have been a good idea.
Honestly, it is such a slog to get through. Perhaps it has basic Confuscian principles for virtuous living, but as a film it was simply so impassive and inert. Even in its costuming, which is good, it fails to pop as it could, blending into its desaturated total color palette… Yeah. I didn’t like much of anything about this film.
