Otherwise known as ‘the one without the red dragon’, Mulan
is directed by Jingle Ma (Butterfly Lovers), with Vicki Zhao taking on the role
of the gender-bending heroine Hua Mulan, the filial daughter who famously
adopts male guise to take her father's place on the battlefield. Mulan grows
into a great warrior while working hard to keep her true identity secret; Aloys
Chen (Painted Skin) plays the token love interest; Hu Jun brings pantomime
sensibilities to the party as a ruthless leader; Jaycee Chan makes up the
numbers as a free-spirited soldier, with CJ7 child actress Xu Jiao,
Korean-American Mando-pop singer Nicky Lee, and Russian singer Vitas offering
diverse support.
I’m a big fan of Vicky Zhao, and she was probably my first
choice of leading lady for this 2009 update. Zhao fits the mould perfectly, and
if anybody can pull off a role of this nature then she can. Her physical
attributes, combined with a shameless use of charm, is more than enough to keep
the most jaded of fans glued to their seats. She’s quite handy with a sword
too, coping adequately with Stephen Tung Wai’s action sequences. Word of the
day I guess, adequate, because Mulan is an adequate action epic that passes for
an adequate waste of time. No more, no less. Harmless commercial fodder that
gets enough things right but never truly shines; Saturday night
escapism in the purest form.
Jingle Ma’s biggest failing is his inability to capitalise
on the films most intriguing concept, something about a girl becoming a boy and
fooling the entire nation. Vicky Zhao makes for an ideal candidate for
gender-bending status but no effort is made to disguise the fact that she’s a
woman. It’s just Vicky Zhao wearing armour. She looks, talks and acts like
Vicky Zhao, yet nobody suspects her of being a woman. The most interesting
element of the movie is glossed over in favour of conventional, commercial
Hollywood style action excess, and it’s a real shame.
Jingle Ma has missed a great opportunity to explore daring
themes, and instead he took the easy path. I’m sure Mulan will still satisfy
the demands of a shallow cinematic demographic, but had he been brave enough to
aim higher, he could have made a picture that separates the men from the boys.
Girls from the boys. Whatever. His second failing concerns pacing. He wastes absolutely
no time out of the blocks, but I would have preferred a more leisurely pace in
the opening act, because this for me was the most intriguing chapter of the story.
The inconsistent director is in too much of a hurry to reach the second act
warfare. Reasoning, back-story and character development are neglected in
favour of breakneck speed to the battlefield and beyond.
Performances are strong throughout, but that’s probably
because nobody is expected to do anything that we haven’t seen before. Still,
the actors perform admirably, and you won't find too many complaints. That said, the
action sequences are disappointing for the most part, and Mulan doesn’t really
finds its feet until late on in the second act. It’s serviceable stuff, but far
from spectacular. In fact, I’m tempted to use the word adequate again, even
though we’ve covered that already. A film that's happy to wallow in mildly diverting waters.
Mulan is a fairly entertaining ride, and fans of
commercial action epics will find plenty to enjoy. It’s solid action fare that
works well up to a point, but only if you enter with low expectations. Much
like the character herself, Mulan looks good on the surface, but dig a little
deeper and she's not quite what she seems. AW
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