Above is the latest trailer for Disney’s live-action remake of their animated classic Mulan. Speaking as someone who has consistently made my (fairly low) opinion of these remakes well known, I have to say that this looks quite good. In fact this is the first live-action adaptation that feels not only smart but necessary. It also looks like a film that lives and breathes on its own, independent of the source material on which it is based. While most people who go and see Mulan will be fans of the original, this trailer promises that it isn’t required. This film isn’t a shot-for-shot remake or a winky homage, it is its own beast entirely.
The film stars Liu Yifei as the titular Mulan, a young woman who disguises herself as a young man in order to save her father and defend her Chinese homeland. The cartoon featured classic Disney staples: boisterous songs, over-the-top characters, zany animal sidekicks. This adaptation will do away with all of that, instead opting for a much more grounded and realistic approach. Director Niki Caro has definitely embraced the supernatural element of the story (one of the characters transforms into animals after all) but she has seemingly done away with the light-hearted comedy and tone that made the original so popular. But that’s a great call and the right approach. If people wanted to see something exactly like the original Mulan, they should just watch the original Mulan. Instead, Caro and her crew are taking this legend and expanding and humanizing it. Smart call.
I hope Mulan is as good as this trailer promises. When you watch this preview and feel the potential of the final product, you realize that these Disney remakes aren’t necessarily a bad idea. They have just been going about it all wrong. They have been masturbatory celebrations of well-known property instead of attempts to dig deeper into the stories and look at them from different angles. If only all of the live-action remakes took the same approach that Mulan is taking. If only…
Mulan hits theaters on March 27th.
