Haha sometimes you just gotta make a video that you like. In addition to the problems you mentioned, there was no urgency or high stakes to the plot. In the original movie, Mulan saved the day, and then was discovered to be a woman and it created so much more drama by challenging the system. But in this rendition, she didn’t do anything noteworthy and just nonchalantly revealed herself, to which the captain brushed off and said ok whatever just go home.
Lol~ We got the dramatic music while she was riding her horse and letting her hair loose 😂 But yeah, the timing of the reveals and challenging the system really didn't land well and felt like it lost the greater message.
Exactly! In this one she also told the soldiers she would like to die when she revealed herself (as they pardoned her)... The whole point of going to the war was so everyone would live, obviously including herself. She's literally upholding the system in a more strict manner than the system itself does, and doing so to her own detriment. It's terrible
The Captain had such a... small reaction. In the original it was horrifying, in the new movie idk if they try to make the villains self righteous or what but they are so damn chill about big deal stuff. The rich, white horse guy that calls Aladdin a Street Rat... it's a through away line that's supposed to discourage the protagonist instead of a personal insult that makes him feels worthless. In Mulan, her soldier friends were shocked and we all thought she would get executed. In the 2020 Mulan.... ugh.
I’ve been watching so many Mulan reviews from a Chinese persons perspective. I’ve learned so much more by listening to a Chinese review rather than a western persons review. Another Chinese persons review mentioned how the costumes were almost too vibrant and how the colour blue in fabrics would have been too expensive, realistically fabrics were not that vibrant in colour in those days/time period. Another Chinese review taught me that her hair not being cut is more culturally accurate as men did have long hair back then, and cutting it would have been a modern western woman thing to do whenever a drastic change happens in their life. Another taught me that the original ballad did mention two rabbits but the movie still got it wrong about the gender of the rabbits. At the end of the day, Disney is an American company, no matter how much they try, they could never make a culturally accurate or respective movie adaptation of the ballad. I have watched the 2009 live action Mulan many times and I enjoyed that version. I’m against all live action remakes, there hasn’t been a remake that I loved so far. I wish we could just leave the classics as they are and create new movies from folklores around the world that have yet to be told. Moana and Coco were great, original stories, characters, culturally respective etc
@@bandotaku i mean that people talked about the movie like if it was the last desert's coca cola, but it's a very bad written cliché, and the twisted villain is forced as hell, and Imelda (the real villain in this movie) never get what she deserves!!! They where afraid of making a woman the villain I guess, because that twist with De la Cruz was sickeningly bad! And unnecessary, and makes no sense!! How he make a whole musical career with just 5 overused songs???? I don't know if that happens in the USA, but in Latino América that won't happen
Definitely sick of those. Disney movies somehow lost their magic :/ Okay maybe not with things like UP, Wall-E, Moana or Frozen - but those remakes really do lack that ...
@@DrJonTam Oh, right. I forgot Disney swallowed those up, too. Those guys working for Pixar probably worked on most of those 3D movies, too, even though some of the movies aren't even listed as Pixar productions. At least most of those still retain a bit of that old-school Disney magic....
LunaBianca1805 Yep, totally. Actually, Disney outsources a lot of their animation and then have companies sign NDAs. The bigger ones get to keep an identity like Lucasfilms, Pixar, Marvel, etc.
I find it deeply ironic (and also funny) that this movie was made to appeal to a Chinese audience but it FLOPPED. Babdly. Not to mention that making Mulan the Chosen One, it completely invalidates what made her character so interesting in the tale and the animated movie.
Yep. There were probably some artistic decisions that were made to appeal to the Chinese market (e.g. not showing how the Chinese military was wrecked) to pass Chinese censorship. Those laws have always been soul-sucking.
Isn't that the case for every unsuccessful movie? The studio makes it to appeal to a certain market or markets but if it doesn't, it flops. Or are you just pissed that there's now more than one market that studios will try to appeal to?
yeme tbh not really pissed.... just smh? that would be true if they didn’t choke on a 23 million box office in China and then the Chinese govt decides to censor it and not allow press coverage.
yeme it’s one thing to try to appeal to a different market and do it well, it’s another thing to appeal to a different market only to tick off the target audience you were trying to appeal to.
In Chosen One, main character has no say in what he will do. Mulan makes all decisions about her own life on her own. That is the point of emotionless face. You hide your emotions, so people don't know, what emotional appeal works on you, and cannot influence your decisions. Same with high morals. Pure individualism (in decision making) requires, that you make no mistakes, that people can call you out on. And if you have some insufficiencies, you have to be one, who points them out (it was her decision to show, that she is woman), so it cannot be used against you. Other people like that can see what you are doing though (witch), and point out, if there is something, that you still didn't let go (yes, Elsa, Rey and Kylo are similar, and all of them have to "Let it go"), in order for you to be in full control of your life, and not others. She had the goal of saving her father, and winning a war. Tradition was in her way of saving her father. And without her revealing, that she is woman on her own (it could happen at any time, that is, why she is always stressed), she wouldn't be trusted, and able to save the emperor. The movie makes sense, it just doesn't explain properly its motivations, because it is presumed, that people will have this knowledge. Just like everybody else, it presumes, that all the other people are just like them, and have the same philosophy, that doesn't need to be explained. And she shows emotions. A lot. But you have to know what to look for. Honghui is not the same, but is a kindred spirit, so he feels connection, and he keeps trying to crack her open.
"If you're gonna bring supernatural elements anyway why not Mushu?" -- Yes! Exactly! And also if disney hired the right scriptwriters that had exposure to chinese literature, maybe, the film could have turned to wuxia. Mushu could have been included in that perspective, and chi...? It's qi (for me why does it have to be translated as chi)! I'm having qi deviation from this remake. The classic is still the best! No one's going to change my mind on that!
@@DrJonTam Ah, I didn't think of that one. They do tend to butcher asian names, and they're excused... i suppose. Still, chi is... soooo different to what qi is when one takes up studying the language.
I didn’t like that she was basically a superhero from the start, there was no development no hard work to achieve and no journey. It seems as if they used a superhero movie formula and applied it horribly to this movie.
What's worse is: 1. The director stated in an interview "Mulan is not a superhero" 2. Even superheros such as Spider-Man have journeys where conflicts develop their character for the better
When she was made to suppress her powers, it immediately reminded me of Captain Marvel. And when she chose to be "true to herself", unleashed her powers, and solved the entire problem single-handedly- yeah I've totally seen this before. It's like nearly every "strong female character" in Hollywood in recent years has to follow pretty much the same formula.
In a way, that's more racist than anything... what were they thinking, saying, "Hey! The meme presence of a vaguely Chinese looking actor's gonna totally make our movie automatically good! Look how woke we are!"... money blinds, I suppose.
It would've been super interesting if they'd just cast chinese actors AND writers and done the whole thing in chinese with subtitles. I can order food in China and ask for directions and talk about our family's relationship regarding our dog (thanks to weird chinese lessons) and would'nt understand a word, but it would be an amazing aproach. A lot of movies are only in one language and have subtitles, that can actually work.
@@Grishhak I second this. Watching Bollywood movies and understand them by reading subtitles don’t stop many from around the world to enjoy those movies. For one, these kind of movies got layers and richer in culture, language, etc, that you are really transported into their world and BELIEVE the stories that they are telling. Not everything is about western interpretations and only told thru their lenses.
The wildest thing about this Mulan and Disney's claim that they wanted it to be representative of a specific culture is that they just... didn't... hire somebody from that culture. Like they sent away people/teams to go do research in museums in Europe or go have a holiday somewhere which speaks to the absolutely disrespectful level of concern for actual representation (that is to say: no concern at all.) The money spent on having these people travel for their research would have been better spent finding, hiring and working with people from the culture they wanted to represent, with an intimate knowledge of the story they're trying to adapt, who could surely provide them with accurate information of what they want to adapt and how best to incorporate it - perhaps even give them an inspired take on how you might adapt some of it to still appeal to the Western audience while still remaining respectful and conscious of the source material. But nah. The reality is this Mulan was never meant to be about representation: it was about Disney's idea of being perceived as a company that cares about representation. I have learnt more about the culture they claimed to want to represent and more about the story they were adapting in the two hours I've spent watching native Chinese dissect where the movie goes wrong (as well as the tiny places it goes right) and I think that speaks to the level of contempt Disney actually has for respecting cultures they want to be seen as representing.
It seems Mulan could have been at least passable if she didn’t have super powers. The moral of the story went from “work and achieve your goals” to “you’re either born special or not”. Like, I get that if it’s a criticism of capitalism and that sort of deal, but it’s not good for an aspirational children’s story
@@DrJonTam hmmm I don't remember it in my favorite Gundam series. G Gundam xD I actually don't know how to spell out the main protagonist's name. Google is so useful. Lol
You know it's written for the "chinese aesthetic" when they start off with the classic honor and chi introduction haha. This movie to me, as an Asian, felt like another Asian movie for white people :( But loved the video, your thoughts were really interesting!!
I seriously wonder what's with the white obsession with Asian honor... it's like Asians can't live without their honor? "I must restore my honor" - A Certain Banished Asian Prince
Honestly, you'd think we all operate under Bushido 🙄 OH wait, you mean they aren't they all the same? Completely doing whatever to another culture and claiming it as authentic. I was under the impression that they understood that blatant white-washing is a no no in today's social handbook. You summed it up so perfectly: Asian movie for white people
This is fascinating to me. So many Chinese perspectives. Thank you for educating me. As an American, I feel kind of embarrassed honestly. I also have a daughter and I don't think this is a positive message. It's frustrating. Well, I guess Disney thought the Chinese Chinese people deserved their own version of Rey. Congratulations!!❤
Rey was not nearly as bad though. And the 3rd movie actualy gave us explenations so she is no longer a mary sue. the second movie mostly created that problem, third movie fixed that (she also lost a fight in the 3rd movie). People can diss Rey all they want but she still felt like an actual character to me (that yes could and should have been written better, but she is not nearly as bad as people make her out to be.) This Mulan is much MUCH worse. In every single way. Rey had reasons for her powers, and her powers made sense to the context of her story. Mulans powers make 0 sense to the context of HER story. Rey had much more personality and life to her. Mulan was wooden all the way trough. Rey had a real character arc, Mulan really didn't. Etc. I love Rey, I love Captain Marvell. Maybe because I grew up in a time where female super hero's could not just be the cool op main character then males could be. And now female leads are becomming more commen and people complain when they are just OP instead of more devolped but like it's ok to have a few OP female kick ass characters just for the sake of them being kick ass because again, male main characters had this all the time withoud nearly as much ''gary stu'' complaints flying around so I feel like there are double standards here. Rey and Marvel can work as role models still, they do. Because both movies with these ladies do show things worth rooting for. At least they did to me and i feel the hate (not the critism) is not justified there. Mulan life action is a whole different ball game where everything is bland and meaningles. More so because Mulan is not the place to have a kick ass ladie for the sake of having a cool movie with a kick ass ladie as the main character. Mulan is not that kind of story and desserved much more attention. I would have loved a life action of the animated movie done right because I loved how the message was that she failed as a ''perfect women'' and failed as a ''perfect man'' and thrived as herself. I'm aware thats not the actual focus of the original poem but honestly i feel the story is stronger for it. I'm never a fan of ''culture'' when said culture is sexist or racist or otherwise negative to a group of people by default and many older cultures are not friendly to women and their roles in life. That being said if they had gone the more ''realistic'' route of her just trying to save her dad even with her doing just fine in that bride part purely for love of her dad, and she succeeded in the same ways as in the animated movie (smarts not magic) I could have loved it as it's own thing. I'm cool with disney doing something different from their animated movies. But if you go different do it right. This Mulan was neither what classic movie nostalgics wanted, nor what those who would have loved a more realistic take on it ( a war action drama withoud any sort of magics or witches and what not) wanted. How could they mess up so bad I will never understand. Everyone on the planet seems to understand making Mulan have powers is a horrible idea and undermines the meaning of either the poem or the animated movie.. Like come on disney.. do better.
a nice video to shed some lights on the history of Mulan and its importance to Chinese, as I'm not chinese, I can only imagine the pain you feel seeing a respected legend being reduced to basic "inclusivity matters" story for profits. I only pray Disney would write better script for Raya and not going down on this ignorant path of what southeast Asia culture and legends are.
I read the original Mulan Balad, I'm busy watching the 2009 chinese film and I considered it a masterpiece an so underrated. I enjoy this video and how professional you are on the topic and the culture.
This is really a great addition to the Mulan discussion. The use of personality traits to analyse both versions really showed what the live action lacked. And the point of the actors using their non-native tongue really does affect the acting!
I haven't seen it yet but it's definitely been everywhere on my feeds and sparking an interest. Firstly, I love hearing the proper pronunciation of everyone's names! Secondly, I would have never made these connections and feel much more Mulan educated ;) thanks
I really appreciate this review and it's quite obvious how little regard the creators of this adaptation had for faithfully recreating Mulan. It's just a shame hundreds of millions were spent on something like this. I mean, it honestly seems like the movie's definition of "Chi" came out of a cracker jack box or something...so much for being "historically accurate (their words)."
@@DrJonTam When you write it like that, it makes me think of Star Wars... which come to think of it hasn't had such good reviews with a lot of the new ones too. Is it because Disney owns Star Wars too? 🤣
I'm not sure if this is a defense or offense but I just want to throw out there that Lui Yifei may or may not be a good actress. In a review by Xiran she had a clip of another director that said she is a pretty actress and wants to be a pretty actress. She's afraid if she emotes with her face it may look less pretty and so chooses not to emote with her face. correction: it was a review by Amy Ang
The general consensus among the Chinese when Liu was casted was a big meh. I don't think there's a Chinese person out there who genuinely thinks that Liu Yifei is known for her acting chops. She has always been known to be a vase, and most of her roles in the past decade or so reflect that. She speaks English, is American, and has connections. That's probably the main reasons why she won the role.
The really confusing thing is, if they had entirely Chinese cast anyways, why did they not just have them speak Chinese and just put English subtitles on it?
They'd have to have someone write a script in Mandarin first of all. Then they'd have to translate it. Would they be using modern conversational Mandarin? Or would they make it fit the era and have them use ancient Mandarin with the more poetic sort of dialogue you would tend to observe in period dramas? Considering how much they butchered this, I don't think it's a stretch to think that they would have butchered the Chinese dialogue regardless if it was modern or ancient Mandarin. In any case, it's additional costs, we wouldn't want them to ruin their profit margins, poor Disney.
@@doryfishie2 That is something Chinese writers do as a job all the time. Not so complicated. There are hundreds of dramas and movies set in ancient China. (And some are very good). Hiring local writers, translators and actual experts on Chinese culture would hardly have been significantly more expensive than sending Americans to Europe and around China researching something many Chinese people could have told them right of the bat
Love this video, especially from a Chinese perspective. I'm an anthropology student and definitely learned more from you and other Chinese review channels rather than from the Western perspective.
@@DrJonTam I really like the works of David Graeber (R.I.P 😔) and Daniel Miller. Both are very good, but I more so lean towards Miller nowadays, since he's done exceptional research on the consequences of consumption (materialism), as well as digital anthropology (social media). But Graeber's works are exceptional as well with societal issues. I've yet to read his book "Bullshit Jobs" which sounds very interesting. Miller's works really connects with me since I'm trying to be a more ethical consumer (not buying from fast fashion but rather ethically made sources, only buy what I need, etc.) and deleting some of my social media accounts since I've realised it's ruining my mental health (and many others). How about yours? I'm only in my second year in my bachelors degree and am interested if you know more anthropologists that I have not heard of yet 😀
@@mnicole96 I'm honestly a sociologist by training so the people I follow are more from before there was a clear delineation between sociology and anthropology. I love the classical anthropology because that was back when they could do research fast and loose without all the ethics restrictions. Makes for much more interesting findings don't you think?
Ah ok I understand. By classic anthropology, do you mean the early to mid 1900's? And sorry in advance if my English sounds kind of confusing, it's not my first language lol. I do understand where you're coming from concerning the ethics restrictions, without those we wouldn't have interesting findings that we study about today. It still kinda breaks my heart that there were a lot of anthropologists at the time that worked under colonization organizations to be able to study about other societies, then report their findings back to their superior for (a lot of the times) political advantages. And consequently, some countries to this day still suffer from neo-colonization. I dunno, I might have a softer spot for these since I'm from the Philippines (but was born in Iceland and still live there), and our history is having been colonized by both Spain (lasted about 300 years) and the U.S (48 years). And Philippines still suffers from neo-colonization to this day, a similar pattern with other countries as well.
María Nicole Zanoria Baldelovar Yep, anthropology does have a tainted history and neo-colonialism was a global problem at the time with ramifications to this day. I remind myself that the only way to look is forward.
I'm ABC and your breakdown of this movie was really good. Thanks for incorporating cantonese in this and doing the comparisons. I think they made the live action mulan's character "flat" because of how Americans perceive the Chinese as "one dimension,obedient, agreeable, safe, etc"- and i think that led to their downfall because someone like me was expecting the live mulan character to have the same leadership qualities and strength to lead her army to battle. Her character development in the movie was quite lackluster and did not ignite that same flame i felt inside of me when i was watching 1998s version.
What is sad that this movie could have been good. I really hoped Disney would try and bring the "legends and myths" of Mulan to life and to a wider audience with a splash of chinese art and paintings to bring it to life. I was fine with the "No mushu/no songs" angle as long as they were gonna give us something good. Yet, its disappointing to see the remake become a 90s martial arts movie with techniques from Kung Fu Panda. And even more disappointing another "chosen one" narrative. In all seriousness, was there even a "witch" character in Mulan's legend? Plus, most of the Chinese audience didnt even like this movie. Disney knows how to piss everyone off.
Well in all fairness Po in Kungfu Panda was a "chosen one" as the dragon warrior but the writers still existed everything better. Plus his story wasn't Mulans story. We all know Mulan 98 relied on determination hard work and she and Pi had that in common
Tbh the only Disney Live Action I like is "Alice in the wonderland" (just the first one) and Cinderella, the rest of them is so... Soulless. I thought The Lion King live action was bad, but my f*ucking God, Mulan took the prize of being the worst Disney live action
I haven’t watched this yet but I keep watching reviews. You did bring up a really good point about languages. I mainly speak English and my Cantonese is pretty awful. I learned Japanese and I am super polite in Japanese. That could have added why the result is what it was. I guess the Chi part really became like the Avengers.
Choco Robba 👍 I’m super polite too in mandarin and speak much slower so I come across as a very serious person... Kind of like your Japanese. Makes sense since 2nd language learners learn it the formal way
The whole chi thing just confused the heck out of me. Did no one on the writing team watch a single Wuxia movie? I have never seen chi represented as something you innately have control over, but something you have to cultivate through hard work and perseverance. The idea of making chi into something like the force from Star Wars is just so incredibly baffling. Edit: Changed 'fantastical martial arts movie' to Wuxia because my brain was not working last night and I couldn't remember the term for it.
This is my favourite review of Mulan, not only because of the perspective you possess of having significant knowledge of Asian and American cultures, but also how you apply a different standard of reviewing leadership using personality traits, and the interesting point of orientalism that you bring up! I really enjoyed this review and the perspective of this review.
Really good insights! Thank you! I found this from your Shang Chi review. Please do more! As a German/American from a small town in PA with an English/German demographic, I feel the need for more videos like this one delving into the details of films and series with Asian characters/cultures. I'm clueless (despite a minor dabble in martial arts and realizing my chances of ever counting to ten in Chinese were zilch), and seeing the subtleties of culture, character and language pointed out by a social scientist with the cultural background is something we all need to see more of. Loved your insights into Shang Chi, loved the film and its cast!
As a child I always considered the Mulan cartoon, an introduction to the Chinese culture. Which made me want to learn more of that culture. I thought that was what Disney was kinda going for(aside from the money aspect.) Introductions to other cultures, and children are supposed to try and learn more on that culture. But maybe that was just me.
On the subject of language speaking, this is sooooo true. I just got done watching a kdrama/action show called Vagabond and it had a plot line that contained global interactions so many of the Korean actors spoke English lines but you could tell they either didn’t speak it all or just learned it. It would disrupt the pacing of the entire scene just the simple conversation in English but when it would switch back to Korean it was like everything was back on track. It truly shows even in the best of actors if they are not speaking a language they are truly comfortable in.
I don't know,... as a European 90ies kid I absolutely loved the original animated and I still do. That score is easily among my absolute favourite. But this one? Whole can of worms for sure. I've been staying away from the remakes anyway, and I sure will with this one. I always liked those stakes being high in the animated one, Mulan wasn't a super-soldier from the get going, but a normal, if really clever and rather tomboy-ish girl, that didn't want her father to die in war and went in his stead. That took real courage - the one where you go into a situation even though you're being scared. I'd really rather would love to see an actual Chinese version, animated or real - life, than this. And read the source material (though, my meager grasp on Mandarin [I got an A1 degree and would love to learn more] would last through that ^^') BTW and totally out of place here: I really like your curtains :D
Yeah! Totally feel like this Mulan was simply her being willing to uncap her superpowers and then she kicks butt rather than actually growing. Thanks! These curtains costed like $10 20 years ago in Shenzhen.
@@DrJonTam 😊It looks like seal script on it, that's what drew my eyes to ^^' Always had a big love for more picturesque writing systems, like Chinese or Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs - as long as those signs don't deviate too much from those core pictograms, my mind seems to have am easier time remembering those ;)
Mulan in the cartoon was an ordinary person in an extraordinary circumstance. She used boldness and creativity to compensate for her lack of strength and ability.
mag steel yep, it really is that simple. Criticizing bad police ethics doesn’t mean you hate China or anti-American or whatever. Really gotta take one matter at a time.
You weren't the only one! 😂 But yes, I flipped the two. They were actually best friends and were in the same writing group when they overlapped in Oxford so they did exchange ideas between LOTR and Narnia!
Honestly, even before it came out and all these reviews came out, I pretty much vowed not to watch it. I felt that having well known actors from China playing roles in this very well-known film, completely took away potential for actual Asian American who want to go into the entertainment industry. People were going to watch Mulan no matter who played (lol not anymore due to terrible writing in every way possible). There aren't many chances for them in the first place and this was the perfect chance for aspiring actors to get their name and face out there. Anyways, big oop
They did have some Australian and Kiwi Asians in the movie. But you're right none of the main lead roles were given to younger ABCs (or at least none that I'm aware of).
I really enjoyed the example you gave of how you are fluent in English and Cantonese both but it's an immediate change in personality--completely subconscious--when you went into Cantonese. You were a different version of yourself and that really emphasizes how people reflect depending on what language they are using. The mannerisms were the same, but they just seemed to flow differently when you were speaking Cantonese versus English. It's a major distinction and it underscores how they could have actually allowed these assorted actors to embody a role with the native language instead of forcing English. I realize it was done so that the movie could be more "kid-friendly" but I think that's also doing a disservice to our children by not exercising their reading skills and not truly exposing them to other languages and cultures.
-Haro in background -Nani meme -Mentions hardworking millennial -Doesn't like Mulan 2020 -Doesn't like Liu Yifei's comments about HK My kind of channel. You've earned a sub :)
Just watched it. Not good. Choppy flow, filled with propaganda undertones, lots of parts didn’t make sense, super weird ending, about the same level as Disney’s Mulan.
@@DrJonTam The one thing that none of the adaptations really get right is the power dynamic. Northern Wei was a military juggernaut, and in the poem Mulan answered the Khan's conscription call to go hunt the barbarians north of the great wall for thousands of miles all over Central Asia. Historically, the Rourans were never a credible threat to Northern Wei, as they didn't have the numbers to do much more than raid. Taiwu Khan's campaign against them lasted a decade because they would usually flee and avoid direct battle. Where major fighting occurred every few years, it was invariably one-sided. The power dynamic honestly resembled that of the US and the Great Plains Indians, though it must be said, the Rouran Khaganate committed ample acts treachery to earn Taiwu's ire. It was a war of cat and mouse across the north Asian steppe, not one where scrappy peasants defending their homeland against nomad hordes. That is the nature of empire, I suppose. Now Northern Wei's battles against Liu Song, that was some truly apocalyptic stuff. Taiwu wanted to avoid that confrontation at all costs, but war nonetheless came to him.
@@DrJonTam Ironically, the Chinese themselves have sometimes created these threats through their interventions, like how the Song betrayed their allies in Liao to invite the Jurchens (Jin) to take over the north, only then to ally with the Mongols to destroy the Jurchens. And then you know what happened next. There's probably a statement here about the illusion of being able to control chaos.
I really enjoyed your honest and intelligent review. My wife and I really liked the movie. My wife liked it more than me. But all the points you made were very valid and I can't really disagree with any of them. Also, we used to love going out to watch movies so when we get a chance to nowadays, we're kind of just happy we get to do it. The one thing that kind of bothered me was that Chinese people in China wouldn't speak English. And I know why they do it, to appeal to a mass audience, but I always hate when they do that. They did it in 33 with the Chilean miners, and even in Schindler's list. My point is is that Steven Spielberg made a bad decision lol. But that was the only thing that bothered me, and also some parts felt kind of boring and dragged out. Other than that we enjoyed it.
Odd Drummer Gaming Fair enough! It was beautiful cinematography and definitely a high quality production! It’s just even if a song has the best musicians, arrangement, recording gear and mixing, if the performance is bad then nothing can fix it.
I'd just like to say that I appreciate the Haro hanging out beside you. Universal Century Gundam series are one of my favorites and it's always nice to run into fellow Gundam fans that are more nuanced and level-headed.
I really appreciate your review, thank you very much for sharing your point of view with us! I've heard that 1998 Mulan version didn't do well in China because chinese people claimed it was "too americanized", but it was nice seeing you defending the animated (cantonese) version! I also believe it is a better version hahahaha
While I do agree that finding representation isn't going do too much and everything, but I didn't really agree with the ABCs and stuff don't actually know much about the culture. True, my mandarin is shit and has only gotten worse as the years go by, but that doesn't mean I don't understand my own culture and history. Certainly, probably not as much as someone who was actually born and raised in China, but still, it felt a little insulting that all I would know is how to order some food at a chinese restaurant. Which I can't, because once again my mandarin sucks. But at least I know how court life and architecture would have looked like in the Tang Dynasty and Mulan did not give that. I do also know qi and as someone who reads a lot of wuxia novels that whole bit in the movie was absolute bs. Other than that I quite liked the video, it was very nice to see a social scientist view on the movie. And I agree that even if you shoved someone from the east into the group it would not help one whit. It's of my opinion that as long as the people on the movie is actually doing the proper research and try to be accurate historically and culturally (though some room is given for artistic interpretation), then anyone of any race is fine, Chinese or not. Doesn't matter what race you are if you can't get it right, and I feel that people are only complaining of the lack of representation because of how badly they screwed up the costumes and script, etc. If the people actually did proper research and attempted to be more faithful to the history and culture, I doubt people would have had as much of a fuss (Still would have been a fuss though because no matter what some people are just never satisfied)
Hey, fair enough you feel insulted. But to my point, true cultural brokers who can fluently jump between the East and West are super rare (not that they don't exist). Most ABCs raised before the 2000s simply cannot be cultural brokers because of the social conditions at the time (pre-Internet, absence of Asian media for learning, migration settlement patterns, demographic characteristics of first generation migrants in the 70s-90s boom, China was still weak and closed, etc.). Bottom line is it's not difficult for an American who does a bit of Asian studies in college to know more about Medieval China than the average ABC. The whole identity struggle of ABCs who have travelled transnationally is well-documented by Andrea Louie's Chineseness Across Borders (2003) and my own doctoral thesis (2019) you can find here: ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:847f54e7-fd1a-4910-846c-be1a61a31dce ... I'm really not pulling this out of my 🍑. That being said, ABCs and any other BCs raised post-2000 will be more culturally adept than pre-2000s and I expect the whole discourse to change within the next generation. Having cultural brokers will become the norm in the next decade or so.
@@DrJonTam that's fair, I didn't think of the pre 2000s to be honest as I myself was born post 2000, but I see your point. Thanks for the new information.
It's one thing to learn about Asian cultures from secondhand sources. It's another thing to know about and have experience with Chinese culture and Chinese identity, which is something a non-Chinese person can never have or learn, no matter how much they learn about Asian cultures. ABCs born pre-2000s might not be able to connect with Chinese people in China culturally, but they know what it is like to grow up being born Chinese and are more familiar with what American culture, businesses, and politics are like. The live-action Mulan movie should have had Chinese people (both ABCs and those from China) behind the scenes, not just in acting roles. ABCs can learn more about medieval China from secondhand sources while also using their experiences being Chinese to aid in the writing. (The average ABC is also more likely to have some knowledge of China's political climate than the average non-Chinese person.) Non-Chinese people (especially non-Asians) can look at as many secondhand sources as possible and still mess up because they do not know what it is like to be or grow up Chinese; perfect example being the Disney Mulan 2020 movie. Having Asians behind the scenes, even if they are ABCs, make a huge difference in how stories with Asian characters go. The 1998 Disney Mulan movie had Asian people both on-screen and behind the scenes. The 2020 Disney Mulan movie had Asian people on-screen but little to no Asian people behind the scenes. metro.uk/2020/03/15/disney-failed-mulan-white-behind-the-scenes-crew-12387356/
great bit about language changing personality; i'm strongest in english and people have told me i sound intimidating (even pompous), but people often call me cute when i speak cantonese...mostly because i'm less confident and only know casual/colloquial stuff i picked up from family/in the neighbourhood.
There is a misconception about Yifei acting. I do not agree Yifei is an expressionless actress. It's just that her role that she gets usually ask that of her. And maybe she is therefore type casted that way. But in some of her other films she has more of a personality. Expressive doesn't mean you have to make exaggerated funny faces. A stoic face is also an expression, if that role requires her to be like that, than she is doing a good job. As Mulan she pretends to be a man. Imagine a girl who never been outside her village, stranded in an all male world and being discovered as an woman would mean severe consequences. Thats why her character is more holding back. While she struggles hiding her identity, she doesnt want to attract attention to her, so thats why she keeps a low profile, I think Yifei did an excellent job in portraying that sentiment. I think the direction of the live action Mulan is to make her an epic legend, sort of like a untouchable messiah kind of figure. So she get little to none dialogue and you just see how she transcends to greatness, I think the film succeeded in that. It's a much more mature movie. And a funny clumsy comedic Mulan would of have been cringe to watch in live action. Watch her other movies and you will know she has a wide range of acting skills: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iD75uHpPCaA.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vgWcDLT8UAY.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IoBCHUaSxso.html
Yes, I've seen her exude a lot more charm and personality in other films. I was making the point her personality in Mulan was very bland and the chi/qi bit connects much better with the wuxia genre so I tied them together. I wasn't suggesting for the live action to follow the comedic cartoon version, but rather made the point that the cartoon genre has different affordances in terms of expression and hyperbole. It definitely would be super cringe if live action tried to be comedic like the cartoon. But yes, I agree the film's direction is definitely set by the off-screen team, and I think there's a cultural disconnect or the vision that just fell flat after the execution.
@@DrJonTam Aye. I don't think any actor or actresses could have brought life to this film. The script was just so... crap. The few scenes Donnie Yen was in, you could see moments where he just took charge, but they were too few and in between. The director failed all the actors, failed the production staff, and failed us all. DISHONOUR!
@@1Invinc I agree, all the actors did a great job nonetheless, in the narrow confinement of a disney script. However I wouldn't say its a failure, to Disney standards its pretty okay and it delivers. To chinese standards its nowhere near up to par.
@@DrJonTam Thanx for your Cantonese - CANTONESE FOREVER ! IF you get the change, watch the 2009 Mulan with Vicki Zhao Wei, a FAR SUPERIOR ACTRESS; for me this is the DEFINITIVE Mulan. This version was directed by Hong Kong's Jingle Ma.
First, I'm european. But I love stories. One thing I noticed is that in western Stories you have a lot of "chosen ones" in stories. Heros tend to be chosen (or fathered) by gods, are born super strong or talented or have "blue blood" etc. while especially in chinese storys you find a lot of heros that start out as actually nothing, no lost heir to any throne, no secret superpower etc. but they work really, really hard and end up as a hero. The original Mulan was a trained soldier and later experienced fighter and was promoted multible times thanks to her learned abilities. The animated Mulan was a normal girl who trained hard and used her brain when strength alone wasn't enough. The 2020 Mulan is a western superhero and that simply doesn't work. Also, I do have cultural values. Nearly everybody has. I don't ever mention them in dayly live because for me the're a given. I know a lot of actual chinese people (like in born there in living there) and noone has ever mentioned honor to anyone as basically smalltalk. In this movie, everybody constantly reminds everyone else of stuff that should be common knowledge. That feels very, very cheesy. It's like saying "Hot iron burns!" in a very dangerous sounding voice everytime someone comes close to the stove instead of just saying "don't touch, it's hot".
Honestly, it reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender and how Zuko gets reminded about his honor a million times throughout the show... or how the Last Samurai reminds Asians about their honor... or other preoccupation about Asian honor. Actually, brb, I need to check to make sure my honor is intact
I think having any Asian person despite being born American, Canadian, actual Asian, etc is extremely beneficial to the writing of the plot. While I, an Asian American, don’t have the same experience as an Asian-Asian, I certainly have more Asian experience than a white person. So the issue of the writing and the producing of the movie is that all of the backstage people were white.
I guess my point is it's important to have cultural brokers. I'm not against XBCs, but I've seen some really whitewashed Asians and I feel adding them to the writing team is kind of the same as making sure there's a token Asian. There's gotta be something substantive they can contribute rather than just "being Asian".
Thank you very much for your perspective. Your personality breakdowns are excellent and really interesting. Plus what you said about accents is invaluable to people who just don't know the difference. I've been watching a lot of off the cuff reviews from Asian people who feel the need to say something about this movie, but I'm absolutely going to stick around for learning about the Big 5. Pop culture personality and psychology breakdown would be awesome for a channel! In case you're interested in doing more.
Thanks! Haha... I've actually been mulling big 5 personality breakdown for the longest time and actually plan to do some. Who would you be interested for me to break down?
@@DrJonTam ooo.. good question. I saw you talking about Gundam and anime in another thread so My Hero might be a really fun place to start. There's so many personalities that are genuinely given such interesting depth over the seasons that I can't think of anything else to suggest. lol
@@DrJonTam I'm not a RU-vid expert but here's what I would suggest. Maybe try another video or two of characters you would be really interested in talking about. If you get a good response maybe consider making another pop culture dedicated Channel so you still help people on this one. ( I haven't watched your other videos yet but I'm very interested and that was my assumption.) I can't guarantee there's an audience for it but I strongly feel there would be. There's a whole genre of movie breakdowns with an educational spin. And honestly I can't think of any that focus on real psychology or sociology. Personally, I learned most of this stuff from Jordan Peterson videos on RU-vid. He's a controversial figure, but a very popular one. It's very possible that there is a large amount of people who have heard a lot of these words before but don't really know what they mean.
Tory Evans yep... I’m thinking of using case studies for leadership and lessons we can glean for our careers so it stays helpful and entertaining. Haven’t watch my hero yet... but thinking about doing demon slayer 😂
@@DrJonTam oh leadership!, ok.. Well the Picard would be perfect. Maybe a little too easy.. Any Star Trek Captain really. That new Star Trek cartoon might also have some interesting examples. Might even fit your channel better. It's called Lower decks and it's about the lower enlisted clashing with the career officers. I think..
I always thought the animated version Mulan was an introvert. And that made her even more relatable and inspiring. As well as coherent to the Chinese understanding of leadership. Apart from that, thanks for the review, it's so relevant to see Chinese people who study/understand Chinese culture/History share their critics about this film that, as you said, ended up being a western Chinesish portray.
After the past films I was not sure, but after Mulan, yes, they should stop of make live actions and focus on animated films, or remake them in 3D and some additional characters or parts for make it a way better and deeper.
I will repeat this as often as I can: the "chi" thing sounds like how "ki" is used in Dragon Ball: as some nebulous fighting energy with tangible power levels. Actually, it feels like a really bad, really sloppy take on DragonBall's inspiration taken from Journey To The West, shoved into Mulan, like they thought they could just do that. And they added a witch because Maleficent did well so obviously a sympathetic tragic villainess being persecuted and redeeming herself fits in EVERYTHING.
Wow, you actually remember the Chinese live action remake of Mulan that came out in 2009, most people seem to have forgotten about it, i think that movie was way better than Disney's live action remake
By taking away her "qi" superpower, you actually give her back her super power of leadership,innovativeness and creativity...true superpowers that we should be focusing and encouraging young kids to emulate...
I once said that the animated Mulan was more Odysseus than Achilles, so to speak. This movie tried to make Mulan into an Achillies, because that’s “easier” and that’s what everyone does. What’s annoying is that they sort of did the opposite, to much better effect, with The Jungle Book, where Mowgli makes himself useful not by brute strength, but with human ingenuity. Which is way more interesting to watch than just beating someone up.
@@DrJonTam From what I’ve heard of it, no. I mean there’s a time and place for an “Achilles”. It’s just that when you write an “Achilles”, some writers seem to forget that they actually have to make the character’s personality or internal conflict interesting.
Honestly, Mulan 2020 was Disney's attempt to make a "Chinese looking' film that appeals to Western audiences, plus butchering the source material (I mean the 1998 animated movie, not the actual ballad) to make it more PC (politically correct) to Chinese audiences, but didn't really work. I did like Yifei Liu's performance, but her English ability and her competency to act out her lines is quite bizarre which make the film look like a B-list made-for-TV movie. I prefer Gong Li's performance more than hers. Also, why they made Jet Li look like a Manchurian rather than Han Chinese is questionable for me. Kudos Dr. Tam, nice to see this movie review as well!
The moral of Mulan is that hard work can defeat odds, but what is often overlooked is that this moral is not just reflected in Mulan, but also in Ling, Chien-Po, and Yao who were inspired by Mulan to overcome their own physical weaknesses.
Problems with the movie: 1) Making Mulan a Mary Sue. Like wow she's just sooo perfect and she knows everything. And basically expressionless! They made her magical to balance her with the witch but like come on! The witch wasn't even her true enemy! 2) The Emperor. Why is he treated like a God here? Like okay fine he's an emperor but he acts like he's a God and is treated like one too 3) Sorry but the guy that was into Mulan was weird. They put him in so people wouldn't complain about the romance didn't they?! 4) Uh the Phoenix was dumb, could've done a way better job with it if they had to put it in the plot 5) The message of the original story! They ruined it! What I liked: The music. I really liked it! Especially the title song of the movie. Tbh the song was the one thing that hyped me so much for the movie that I watched the live action Mulan as soon it was released. The matchmaker scene was really cool The relationship with Mulan and her father when she was little was pretty good. I really liked it! Geez, I regret watching this film! I had to watch the animated one immediately after this
I think Disney tried to combine animated Mulan 1998 and Mulan (Vicki Zhao) 2009, caused I heard that the Chinese dislike some parts in the animated version, but since the Chinese live-action is too heavy, they tried to combine it. Like I said... some.... I really don't know why Disney decided to erase all and make a whole new version and created this mess. Why did they delete the smart hardworking Mulan and replace it with the "naturally born gifted" Mulan? I just can't see the beauty side Mulan anymore. She's born with it! She needs no effort to be great and strong. Not to mention the wardrobe is hurt my eyes too. At that time, fabric color is extremely expensive. I dare to say all parts of Asian drama/movies, villagers mostly appeared with black, dusty white or gray-white clothes, all strong color only for the royal family. The matchmaker makeup does also not make sense. I also feel like, (just my own theory :P ) the reason why they change it is because Disney really wants to use Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Gong Li, and Michelle Yeoh since they're all well known is both the Chinese and Hollywood markets, but just can't find any character which matched with them in terms of their age. So, instead of introducing new young Chinese actors to the Hollywood market, they just change all the storylines.
Yep~ removing the smart and hardworking Mulan was their biggest mistake and removes any character development. And I agree, they were obviously trying to bank on some big name stars and I think they did a decent job filling those roles. It's just there's only so much you can do with a bad script on top of a culture/language gap.
I'd have loved to watch a movie that would've had Mandarin and was made by the us. I mean, joy luck club was an American movie with Mandarin and Cantonese in it and it's a classic
yes the lead actress Yifei did not support police brutality, she was against protester violence and riots. Just like you wouldnt support Black Lives Matters riots. You have to know Yifei lives in China. News is censored there, so she might not even know police brutality is going on at the time. She posted her opinion on chinese social media, its not like she is promoting police brutality internationally. people need to know the context before blindly go blame her!
the last part is so true - if you bring in some random chinese person they won’t be able to advocate for themselves as effectively due to the language barrier (asdfghjkl i died when u said americans just love to talk ded) and an XBC won’t share the same perspectives as someone who was brought up in china for sure. (speaking from a pov of a msian chinese who considers myself fairly deep “into” chinese culture yet when i lived with prc roommates the clash of values etc. really showed)
something i commented on another mulan review vid so many other things wrong with the movie... 1. The clothes are wrong, warrior armor are from Ming dynasty, women wearing tang dynasty clothing, basically a mix of dynasties that's not Mulan's time 2. Hair accessories are wrong, boat shaped hats not invented yet (song dynasty), women have tang dynasty hairstyles 3. Tea set from Tang Dynasty...Mulan originally was from before Qin, it was the 春秋战国 times, ceramics didn't exist yet, used wood or bamboo as materials, design is off too 4. Weapons are wrong, no metal at that time so weapons and armor is made of wood or bamboo, higher class warriors would have better bamboo and wood, therefore their armor is light weighted but somewhat able to protect them, swords made from bronze, design in movie is off for swords 5. Flags not the right shape, correct for the barbarians but not for the kingdom 6. Emperor clothing is not correct only head piece is correct. 7. Due to most locations of that time being gone leaving only steles left, hard to find the correct scenery, but seriously does it hurt that much to put CGI of the correct historic scene to make it at least match with history 8. Palace is Qin Dynasty's palace, refer to number 7 9. The idiom 四两拨千斤 has not been invented yet. 10. The writing system is still at oracle bone script, due to being before Qin Dynasty, hence writing system hasn't been united yet...the movie skips six writing evolution stages 11. No paper has been invented yet, everything is written (carved) on bamboo strips, wood, or animal skin, while Emperor's order aka 圣旨 is written on fabric or cloth 12. 气 concept exists but referred to as 内功 13. Makeover is wrong, refer to 1 and 2, also nail polish hasn't been invented yet, neither has blush or makeup, not even red paper for lipstick cuz paper is still non existent at the time, so again this makeup based on Tang dynasty with hanfu and etc. 14. Red couplets non existent... no paper and mulan's time is before qin dynasty 15. Court ladies, the harem never allowed in the main hall, hence 后宫 palace in the back 16. Even the city wall is wrong, yes there were city walls as mentioned in vid but not what they have shown, that is much later 17. The dynasty Mulan is from is 东晋, Jin Dynasty of the warring state period Geez...its like the only things accurate is mulan's name and her representing her father to fight and the avalanche
Sigh There are so many wrong with this movie even before I watch many Chinese reviewers. Anyways, love your review sir Edit: oh! Thank you for shedding some light about the actress. Very interesting
The best part of this movie is that it is so bad and in the middle of so many controvercies and actual crimes against humanity, that even if they make another liveaction remake....it will just either be good or bomb. After this, there is no way to continue the trend.
I think most of the concerns with the actors not being able to be integrated with the team could be negated if there was another director that was Chinese and there was a translator for the Chinese director to make sure the culture was correct
Depending on your daughter's age, show her the 2009 Hua Mulan film that was released in China. So much better ~ Would love to hear your thoughts on that film if you've seen it, or after if you haven't yet.
It is so true when you speak another language you do act and say things differently. That is what I do when I speak in korean. And my korean comes out when I am telling my son to do something and it comes out A bit angry cause I can't seem to get him to do what needs to be in english but he listens to me in Korean better. Crazy at times. The funny thing is my son would tell me in english that I am not Korean the only person who is Korean is my mom his grandma. 😂 My son is half Korean so he looks more like his father.
I saw the 2009 version of Mulan and it was really good. Though for people not in the know, don't expect much if any humor. That movie is purely dramatic. I couldn't say how appropriate the nomads were represented, but there was reasons for invading, and a sense that some of them weren't... well... Disney villians.
Very good analysis. I haven't watched the movie yet because of Liu Yifei and also because I think it's very upsetting movie and badly scripted. I love that you talk about Hua Mulan 2009 movie , I love that movie!!
I have not watched Mulan, the movie, but I watching all the YT reviews out of curiosity. I find your actor/character breakdown to be on point. The director brought in Donnie Yen, Jet Li and Gong Li for their Hollywood recognition factor. I am not surprised that their roles were watered down. You hit the nail on the head about the multiple English dialects. It looks like the director created a Marvel period East Asian superhero Hollywood movie. I am a western Chinese with no exposure to Chinese custom and culture, btw.
@@DrJonTam If Disney was looking for an Oscar stamped director, they could have hired Ang Lee. Life of Pi had four Oscars and seventy-eight other awards. Lee might have produced a realistic Mulan version, and supervised the script process and other departments. So, Niki Caro had four Oscars! LOL For grand scale epic, there was also Director Zhang Yimou, who orchestrated the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics opening and closing ceremonies. Disney wanted a western director and other production department heads who could communicate with them without a translator.