Mulan (Niki Caro, July 24, 2020) Movie • Page 9

sounds like this is on par w/ pete's dragon and/or christopher robin (which i haven't seen yet fwiw)

 

Agreed. I really liked “Pete’s Dragon.” It’s in line with that for sure.

 

Ok, but, how does it work as an accidentally queer story (compared to the animated one)?

 

Well, now, that’s not an encouraging comparison.

 

positive reviews: stands on its own, more mature/somber tone, entertaining throwbacks to some of the songs without actually using them, acting

negative reviews: zero-to-few(?) songs to sing, not the preferred amount of humor (lesser than usual)

what reviewers can't seem to agree on: quality of script

 

It's a valid criticism about the chi. But it's much, much better than "Skywalker."

I don't really see how someone can complain about no songs. It would have made zero sense in a movie like this.

 

I don't know if I'd consider having "chi" determining power to the situation from TLJ to TROS in which Rey was a nobody to blood-related (even in TLJ it was how much of the force that Rey could focus on that gave her strength). I see where they were going, but it's a common theme to have the protagonist dive into whatever power source they need to. TROS is due to blood relations, Mulan's chi isn't. It just sounds like they are adding more eastern power types (a person focusing on their chi to gain power) found within manga and other wuxia films. But, comparing it to TROS definitely makes a good headline, so I can't blame them.

On the other hand, I don't think this film needs "chi" because no other version of this tale has it. Lazy, sure. Not a similar situation to TROS, however.

It seems that critics can't determine if they want Disney to play it safe and cater to purely nostalgia (which it seems that they do in subtle ways) or to try to give this film its own unique tone.

 

I can see that, though on the other hand including the songs of the original Disney’s Mulan would have provided additional justification to the this version’s existence alongside the several (including pretty recent) actual Chinese live action Mulan movies.

 

The chi stuff is ultimately lazy and unnecessary.

 

That's fair. I just think after seeing the musical versions mostly fail in "Aladdin" and "The Lion King," it's best: A) Not to make this movie longer than it already is and B) Not try to top the sequences in the animated version, all of which are already great and lively and I don't think could be made better in a live action setting.

 

I liked Aladdin personally

 

The vibe I got from the review (without having seen the movie) is that being so indebted to the songs without going that last step was distracting. Which, I can understand. I’ve been team “don’t sing in this” all along, & I thought the instrumental “Reflection” in the marketing was great, but that “make a man out of you” dialogue in that trailer didn’t sit right. Hopefully I don’t have that same problem watching the film.

I’m definitely curious how the chi angle feels to me. And, I also hope I connect to Mulan herself.

 

And, I very much so didn’t like Aladdin as a whole, lol. The awkward humor at times worked really well (especially since the live action recreation of animated visuals often felt genuinely awkward), & it was less bad than I expected, so my experience seeing it on a field trip with youth was mostly positive. But, I’d still use it as evidence that live action remakes are a mostly awful creative exercise.

 

I didn't like "Aladdin" for several reasons, but my hatred for latter-day Guy Ritchie and his terrible use of slow motion and speeding scenes up played into it pretty well. It was more enjoyable than "The Lion King," which I consider one of Disney's worst in the past 20 years. Just no reason for it to exist besides padding Disney's wallet.

 

Happily sat that one out. The trailers alone we’re enough to make me sad.

 

I didn’t grow up with the animated Aladdin like I did with The Lion King and Mulan, so the live action film never peaked my interest. I do remember watching clips and thinking the singing was horrible. More often than not the singing is just going to please fans of the animated film while causing new watchers to cringe.

I am actually interested in a Disney remake that doesn’t make all the stops down nostalgia lane. A few of my friends have already said they won’t watch Mulan due to the absence of Mushu, but I think trying to shift the tone is exactly what all of the live action films need. I’m glad this one apparently tries.

 

(tbh so did I, it didn't change my life or anything but it was beautiful and I was entertained)

 

Aladdin was so fun and had great leads (minus Jafar, kind of) and Will Smith surprisingly killed it.

 

Sitting at 81% RT score. I would not have expected this to have a higher score than the latest Nolan blockbuster.

 

Gonna download it as soon as I see it floating around the web.

 

Think we're watching it tomorrow as a house

 

It’s out to be download for free on the typical sites to anyone that wants to get it that way