ALARIS' REVIEWS

12th December 2010
Mulan (2009)

Wow. What a joyless movie.

Sorry to start on such a frank note, but I thought I’d save you the effort of reading a lengthy critique if depressing violence isn’t your idea of a good time.

I’d been looking forward to watching this movie for a while, because the story of Mulan is one of my favourite Chinese fables. The kernel of the legend goes like this: in fifth century China, a young Chinese woman – Mulan – secretly takes the place of her elderly father when he is conscripted to the army. Disguised as a man, Mulan fights on the battlefront for several years, before returning home to a quiet life.

There have been plenty of interpretations and elaborations on the legend of Mulan, and it’s a story with plenty of dramatic potential. This epic, live action version has a cast of thousands and a generous budget, so it’s a shame that Mulan is such an emotionally desolate film. I know war is hell, but watching a movie about war shouldn’t be.

Mulan spends most of its time lingering over agonising and unnecessary battle scenes, wallowing endlessly in the misery of poorly defined characters. There is little warmth, no humour, shallow camaraderie, and less emotional range than an avocado. Wei Zhao impressed me with her lively, nuanced performance in Red Cliff (2008), but as the title character in Mulan, her only expression seems to be one of grief stricken nausea.

Mulan doesn’t need to be a musical romantic comedy like the Disney version, but it does need emotional cadence, contrast, rhythm. I make this same complaint about any movie that holds the same note for the entire piece – to paraphrase some Whedon series, that isn’t music, that’s just noise. You need humour to temper the grief, intimacy to contrast the brutality. In a film as unrelentingly maudlin as this take on Mulan, you need a little joy.

Unfortunately, Mulan becomes just another film about the ravages of war, the brutality of battle, and the necessity of sacrifice. It’s a waste of a good legend, because Mulan isn’t just another tale of war, it’s a story about a woman’s valour. Regardless of what she might have accomplished on the battlefield, her story is one of courage, conviction, and honour. In a world where tales of valiant men vastly outnumber tales of valiant women, the story of Mulan matters.

This version of Mulan turns an inspiring epic into a generic, uninvolving war tragedy. To see how you can combine tragedy with warmth and a splash of awesome, see John Woo’s Red Cliff.

Verdict: A depressing, flat, period war drama.

If you like Tae Guk Gi (2004), you might like this.