Mulan 4K 2020 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

A decree issued by the emperor of China calling for one man from each family to serve in the army to protect the country from northern invaders inspires Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honorary warrior, to take the place of a sick father in the army. Disguising herself as a man, a girl is tested at every step, showing her inner strength and true potential. Mulan is waiting for an epic journey that will turn her into a valiant warrior, earn the respect of the people and become the pride of her father.

Review 4K Movie

The most correct decision made by the authors of the new reading of the poem about Hua Mulan is an attempt to abstract from the original 1998 cartoon. While the modern version of Mulan still adheres to the Walt Disney framework for how directors and screenwriters need to work with the familiar stories of classic animation, Nicky Caro's film still has an ambition to be a project in its own right. And if "The Lion King" by John Favreau was scolded for the frame-by-frame copy of the original, then "Mulan" will be scolded for something else - Caro's picture has nothing to do with either a cartoon or a Chinese poem about a woman who took arms into her own hands, so that go to war instead of your father.

It's just that 2019's The Lion King was at least a groundbreaking film in terms of technology. And modern "Mulan" is too licked, sterile cinema, during the production of which the studio drove its authors into such a framework, within which it was simply impossible to make something digestible. Indeed, on the one hand, it was necessary to show a strong and independent heroine on movie screens, so that the Western and especially active spectator-fighter for social justice was satisfied, and on the other hand, to try to keep at least something from the original source in order to please the Chinese audience, which is far from the mainstream movements of the west. Because of this, the story of Hua Mulan looks unfinished, and the actions and actions of the characters do not always have a logical background.

You can even say that the word "safety" will be synonymous with the title of the film. The Walt Disney studio did everything to ensure that the film would not only be released in cinemas, but also got to them without any scandals. And if there was something like that - the studio immediately made adjustments. So, for example, a kiss between a woman and a man was cut from the final version of the tape, because the studio did not want to offend the MeToo movement (this is not a joke). And one of the central male characters was completely divided into two full-fledged archetypes: a strong-willed and reasonable army general (Donnie Yen) and a humorous and loyal comrade-warrior (Yoson An). What for? So that the love interest of the main character does not command her (this is not a joke again).

And in general, if we talk about the cast of the film, it is flawless. Mulan is simply full of stars of the Asian film market of various sizes. There are Donnie Yen, familiar to the mass audience, who is always nice to see in a big movie, and Jet Li, made up and aged, but still remembering what the dragon's kiss is. And for a more sophisticated audience in the film, as one of the antagonists, you can see Gong Li - in her own way a cult Chinese actress, winner of the Volpi Cup for Best Actress according to the Venice Film Festival.

But the one hundred percent hit is actress Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan herself. She is well known to both Western audiences and is well known to the Chinese audience. But even if we discard all this formality, it is impossible to say something against Yifei's candidacy. Yifei ideally combines female innocence, naivety and easy stupidity, as well as male willpower, determination and faith in brotherhood. Mulan performed by Liu Yifei turned out to be exactly what she was in the legend - sweet and weak in the guise of a woman, belligerent and dangerous in the guise of a warrior.

The only insult is that despite such a successful casting decision, Mulan's story cannot be believed. The script of the film is a uniform mess, rushing at full speed to no one knows where, it is not clear why and it is not clear why. It feels like the authors were in a hurry to show everything to their viewer as soon as possible, fearing to miss his attention even for a second. But if the viewer really had something to miss, there would be no questions. But Mulan is never a movie that needs to be watched closely. On the contrary, it is not necessary to watch this film in order to know what and how it works.

Yes, the studio did not need to invent a new Chinese poem. But the film clearly had the ambition to be something epic on a grand scale in the best traditions of Akira Kurosawa, the master of samurai epics. It is not for nothing that Mulan is crammed with visual references to Rashomon, Red Beard, and Ran by the same great Akira Kurosawa. And it is on this basis that Mulan is most disappointing - the film could have been different. Massive battle scenes on paper, in fact, are not capable of surprising anything at all, no matter how professionally they are filmed and no matter what angles the operator Mandy Walker finds, since three fundamental things spoil the entire spectacle of the film.

Firstly, Mulan is too computer-generated cinema, literally the entire film is strewn with graphics, almost every scene. And this despite the fact that the film has enough field shoots. Secondly, Niki Caro's tape is simply unbearable editing - it is ragged, abrupt and overly dynamic - because of all this, the viewer is unlikely to be able to make out at least something in the sequence of flashing frames in which some men with swords run at other men with swords. And the third problem is the director of the tape. No, Nicky Caro is by no means a bad director, but quite the opposite. The problem is that Mulan is simply not her project, it is not her “road of flowers”.

The best thing a director does in Mulan is working on the characters, their chemistry and relationships. Niki Karo's production is felt in full force during everyday scenes, when the characters simply talk heart to heart about life, service and their mission - this is what Karo can do, this is her “field”. But "Mulan" is a blockbuster first and foremost, and a certain director with a certain vision should direct a movie in this genre. And it is precisely with the genre foundations of Nicky Caro that he does not cope, which is why the film does not look as epic and grandiose as the studio would like and as stated.

Mulan was a film that needed a visionary director. Remembering the studio's previous projects, Gore Verbinski instantly comes to mind, who, precisely with his visionary vision, was able to make one of the studio's most successful franchises about pirates of the Caribbean from an ordinary advertisement for an amusement park. But modern trends and the reputation for which the studio is holding on with both hands, in the end, did their job. This is how big cinema works today - a film about a strong female character should be shot exclusively by a woman director. It doesn't matter if she has a visionary flair or not - the main thing is that the feminist movements on social networks do not ask questions again.