Board 8 > Watched the Mulan remake (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Inferior to the original in pretty much every way.

They ramped up the seriousness and removed all cartoony elements, including the songs, and there are now basically no side characters. Remember the big guy, the skinny guy, and the short guy from the original? Remember the love interest and the weak-willed bureaucrat guy? Remember Eddie Murphy? They're all removed and replaced by "scared fat guy," "old mentor guy," and my personal favorite character in the movie, "guy." Even the villain is more boring than the cartoon guy, and I remember the cartoon villain being the most boring guy ever.

There's also so much emphasis on chi now? The explanation for why Mulan kicks ass is that she was born with super chi powers, not that she's just an underdog who learns how to fight, and people keep talking about how chi unites the universe or whatever. It's functionally the same as the Force.

There are a few interesting cinematic shots in the movie where it uses empty space to emphasize her isolation, but that's like 5% of the movie.

Of the live action remakes, I'm putting it as Aladdin > Lion King > Mulan > Beauty and the Beast > Dumbo, haven't seen Cinderella.

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That chi emphasis sounds like Chinese government influence, they've been really big on promoting traditional Chinese martial arts (which have an emphasis on chi) for the past few years. Look up the story of the Chinese MMA who keeps destroying martial arts masters and how the government punishes him for making the traditional martial arts look bad.

Also you forgot to include Live Action Lady and the Tramp and The Jungle Book in your ranking.

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I felt like there was so much less meaning to Mulan going out & fighting for her family here. I thought it was werid how she just suddenly had all the armor on and that's it, she's going now. No other preparation or anything. And she was really unconvincing as a man too, I didn't really buy it that no one could be able to tell.

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WazzupGenius00 posted...

Also you forgot to include Live Action Lady and the Tramp and The Jungle Book in your ranking.

I didn't see Jungle Book, but I had legitimately no idea they remade Lady and the Tramp.

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an: probably because the concept of the force was based on qi

Lady and the Tramp was straight to Disney+

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Live action lady and the tramp as in realistic looking cgi right

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Whats next, a live action dramatic take on Lilo & Stitch
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Is the I'll Make a Man Out of You montage in it at all?

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Jakyl25 posted...

Whats next, a live action dramatic take on Lilo & Stitch

Give it 10 years.

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I cant wait until they run out of other movies in the canon and have to do a live action Home on the Range
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I have heard this compared to the Shamalaymalan Last Airbender for awfulness.

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Jakyl25 posted...

Whats next, a live action dramatic take on Lilo & Stitch

...Yes? It's not literally the next Disney remake on the schedule, but it was confirmed a while ago and should be released in the next couple years.
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Menji posted...

Is the I'll Make a Man Out of You montage in it at all?

He forgot to mention no music numbers at all. So... Nope.

I haven't seen it, but this movie just seems really joyless and I don't have any urge to watch it. The only remake I had any interest in watching was Aladdin and I had a fun time with that. Beauty and the Beast was fine when I saw it. But just fine. I didn't even know they made a live action Cinderella.

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Xeybozn posted...

...Yes? It's not literally the next Disney remake on the schedule, but it was confirmed a while ago and should be released in the next couple years.

PFFFFFT LOLOL
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UshiromiyaEva posted...

I have heard this compared to the Shamalaymalan Last Airbender for awfulness.

Absolutely not. It's not good, though.

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Calling this a remake feels weird to me. It's more another interpretation of the same original story. Like, none of the Sherlock Holmes adaptations are remakes.
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Menji posted...

Is the I'll Make a Man Out of You montage in it at all?

At one point, a guy says that to use chi, you need to be tranquil as a forest, but on fire within, and Mulan carries two pots of water like she did in the cartoon.

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Anagram posted...

Absolutely not. It's not good, though.

I also assumed that was going to far.

Seems more like Scarlet Johansen GitS from what I've seen.

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https://twitter.com/wwarrior_1/status/1301990864647057408

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I forgot about the phoenix

this movie

are phoenixes even a part of Chinese mythology?

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a disney live action remake was boring, I'm shocked

Forgot to say that Jet Li is a wet blanket. I know hes going for majestic stoic warrior-King, but he just stares into the camera and says his lines with no emotion.

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Anagram posted...

I forgot about the phoenix

this movie

are phoenixes even a part of Chinese mythology?

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Anagram posted...

I forgot about the phoenix

this movie

are phoenixes even a part of Chinese mythology?

Sort of. Not really a phoenix per se, just the western folklore thing we immediately associate it with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenghuang

Apparently from what I've read it makes more sense than Mushu because dragons are typically associated with the emperor.

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Anagram posted...

are phoenixes even a part of Chinese mythology?

Yes and no. There is the Feng Huang which is the queen of the birds and is associated with the empress and tends to end up with thematic connections to the western phoenix regardless of merit.

Then there is The Vermilion Bird or Zhu Que which represents fire/south/summer and is an immortal bird covered in flames. This, however, is not a phoenix.

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NFUN posted...

Gonna level with you, I forgot all about Ho-oh.

Murphiroth posted...

Sort of. Not really a phoenix per se, just the western folklore thing we immediately associate it with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenghuang

Apparently from what I've read it makes more sense than Mushu because dragons are typically associated with the emperor.

Interesting, thanks.

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SovietOmega posted...

Yes and no. There is the Feng Huang which is the queen of the birds and is associated with the empress and tends to end up with thematic connections to the western phoenix regardless of merit.

Then there is The Vermilion Bird or Zhu Que which represents fire/south/summer and is an immortal bird covered in flames. This, however, is not a phoenix.

But neither is associated with rebirth?

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Anagram posted...

But neither is associated with rebirth?

Neither are, no. They've got their own identities and symbolisms. But lots of english people know what phoenixes are so the marketing practically writes itself.

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Question is, what do they call it in the Chinese version?

Very easy to see them swapping out the name.

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More like Boo-lan, am I right?

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Anagram posted...

I didn't see Jungle Book, but I had legitimately no idea they remade Lady and the Tramp.

Just do yourself a favor and put Jungle Book at the top of the live action list. No clue about Lady and the Tramp though

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Anagram posted...

Of the live action remakes, I'm putting it as Aladdin > Lion King > Mulan > Beauty and the Beast > Dumbo, haven't seen Cinderella.

Why is Lion King so high? And why is BatB below even Mulan?

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SovietOmega posted...

Neither are, no. They've got their own identities and symbolisms. But lots of english people know what phoenixes are so the marketing practically writes itself.

Okay. I was thinking they chose phoenixes because Mulan dies and stops pretending to be a man in this movie, but apparently not.

TheRock1525 posted...

More like Boo-lan, am I right?

I made this joke, but went with Poo-lan.

redrocket posted...

Why is Lion King so high? And why is BatB below even Mulan?

Theyre all bad. I could honestly put any order as lon as Aladdin is on the top and Dumbo on the bottom.

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Does Aladdin break into ok territory at least?

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Jungle Book and Cinderella are the only good ones do far. Jungle Book in particular is a legit great film, and the best live action Disney branded film since... the original Mary Poppins? Its really great. Going from that to The Lion King was one of the biggest dips in quality for a director Ive ever seen.

I had actually heard largely positive things about Mulan. It definitely looked better than most, and different from the original which is vital. The Lion King repeats the original and is all the worst for it. So I was interested in this one.

Also dont forget Alice in Wonderland (ugh) and Maleficent (also ugh). Watch Jungle Book and Cinderella.

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good lord, I don't have a lot of faith in the disney live action remakes, but I had hoped this would at least be not-terrible due to not just carbon copying the story and Mulan being more flawed than the renaissance movies they had done previously.
But here it seems they took the already lame supporting cast and replaced them with even more boring versions, made the main character a Jedi chosen one, and then turned it into a CCP circlejerk.

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redrocket posted...

Does Aladdin break into ok territory at least?

It's the most visually interesting, even if it's still kind of bad.

One thing I realized about the new Mulan is that the cartoon version was like an underdog everyman who works hard to be great, whereas the live action version is just born important due to her chi, and everyone fawns over her and is like "dude you kick ass."

My point is that the movie is bad.

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This whole topic, and nobody has mentioned the witch, who is basically the second most important character.

Also she sucks.

But I can't help but think she'd be cool in a Mortal Kombat movie, even though those suck too.

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I've seen worse. Liked some of the action a lot which I guess is what happens when you have Donnie Yen and stuff

Didn't like how humourless it was, but I don't have enough attachment to the original to be outraged by it.

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The kids loved it. I thought it was okay but its not like the cartoon was a favorite of mine.

Of all the remakes, Petes Dragon And BatB are the ones I liked. The kids tend to like them a lot though I think the movies tend to run a little bit long.

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TomNook posted...

This whole topic, and nobody has mentioned the witch, who is basically the second most important character.

Also she sucks.

But I can't help but think she'd be cool in a Mortal Kombat movie, even though those suck too.

The original Mortal Kombat is the best video game movie ever, you shut your mouth

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I thought we're boycotting Mulan so we don't get stuck with huge streaming fees

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So, uh, there might be more reason than high streaming fees to boycott Mulan.

Apparently it was filmed in Xinjiang, where there are concentration camps and basically everything horrible that violates human rights that go on, and Disney thanks them in the credits.

And the main actress also supports the Hong Kong police as well and said that the cops should have killed all the protestors.

I wasn't going to buy it anyway, but this makes me more inclined to never watch it.

Edit: Here's an article. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/07/why-disneys-new-mulan-is-scandal/

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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

So, uh, there might be more reason than high streaming fees to boycott Mulan.

Apparently it was filmed in Xinjiang, where there are concentration camps and basically everything horrible that violates human rights that go on, and Disney thanks them in the credits.

And the main actress also supports the Hong Kong police as well and said that the cops should have killed all the protestors.

I wasn't going to buy it anyway, but this makes me more inclined to never watch it.

Edit: Here's an article. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/07/why-disneys-new-mulan-is-scandal/

TheRock1525 posted...

More like Boo-lan, am I right?

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MajinZidane posted...

I thought we're boycotting Mulan so we don't get stuck with huge streaming fees

Cheaper than bringing the kids to the theater! And they can obsessively re-watch it.

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neonreaper posted...

Cheaper than bringing the kids to the theater! And they can obsessively re-watch it.

Well, yeah, I think he was saying in comparison to other streaming movies. Like, Trolls World Tour was $20 instead of $30.
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You couldn't pay me $20 to watch Trolls World Tour LOL

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We also only had Trolls 2 for the weekend.

I prefer the theater experience but this all seems fine for 2020. When we go back to normal I wont care as much either way


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I got about 40 minutes in to this movie last night and got bored.