Since I started Major Tom’s Movies, I’ve had a lot of ideas about how to approach certain topics. Obviously, reviews are my bread and butter here, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t expanded to include other forms of content. I’ve done various topics including news and other opinions. One of the topics that I’m actually most proud of has been The Best/The Worst. It’s evolved over the years to include the Worst, because movies aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. You’re going to have some real stinkers out there, and it’s important to point them out. While I will continue to do The Best/The Worst, I’m going to change things up a bit by ranking each movie. Most people would rank movies by number. Oh, no. That’s not what I’m going to do. I’m going to have a little bit more fun with my rankings. Seeing that I’m natural-born wise-guy, my rankings might be a little more…flippant than your average rank.
With that out of the way, I’m going to be ranking some Mulan movies based on what they bring to the table and how I actually feel about them. Here’s a little history lesson for those that might not know that much about the character of Hua Mulan. Hua Mulan was the subject of a narrative poem written in China centuries ago. It’s the story of a young woman who took up her father’s sword and armor and took his place as a conscripted soldier in the Empire’s army. She did it because her father would not be able to survive a future battle because of his physical ailments. Mulan would go on to become one of the greatest generals in Chinese legends. While there is no evidence that Hua Mulan actually existed, we can infer that the character may have been a composition of women who have defied Chinese tradition to go to war. The story of Mulan has been told many different times over the years, but the reason that most people know about her NOW is because of the movies that have been released over the past 25 years. It’s a great story that is still inspirational. There have been a number of movies released over the years, but not a whole lot of them are actually accessible by Western audiences. As a result, I’ve only got three on this list, but I think they’re worth mentioning.
Disney’s Mulan(1998)
Maybe I just missed the boat on this one, but I wasn’t overly impressed with the 1998 animated version of Mulan. Don’t get me wrong: The animation is pretty slick with unique character designs and outstanding voice-acting. I guess I was just too old for this one, and my focus was elsewhere. It’s no big secret that Mulan isn’t exactly a top-tier Disney film. Second-tier at most. In a decade that saw far more superior animated films like The Lion King, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast, Mulan didn’t impress. The music was good, and some of the humor was funny. But a lot of it felt…awkward and uncomfortable. Maybe that was the point, I don’t know. But what I do know is the Eddie Murphy is an outstanding comic actor…yet, his character of Mushu the dragon was probably one of the most irritating sidekick characters ever created, and this was before Jar Jar Binks. It also doesn’t help that the main villain is your typical generic bad-guy despite an awesome design. The real reason to watch this movie is to see the chemistry between Mulan and her fellow soldiers. That’s the best part of the film for me. I’m in the minority I guess, but the animated version of Mulan isn’t one that I’ll be revisiting anytime soon.
Ranking: Second-tier animated film featuring a fifteenth-tier irritating animal sidekick. It’s not awful, but it’s not anything memorable, either.
Disney’s Mulan(2020)
When I first reviewed the 2020 live-action remake of Disney’s Mulan, I gave it a 6 out of 10. I’m not entirely sure I stand by it now. I watched it again when I bought it on Blu-Ray, and it was a lot better than when I first saw it. I guess that the film’s initial Disney Plus release negatively influenced my enjoyment of the film. I mean, I payed 7 bucks for the streaming service, but I had to pay an extra 30 bucks to watch a movie that should’ve gone to theaters. This is a big-screen movie that didn’t make it to the big screen because of the pandemic. Watching the film again, I have a better appreciation of what they were going for here. Gone are the irritating animal sidekicks, and gone are the musical numbers. What we have here is a Western-made Chinese martial arts epic. The movie certainly isn’t perfect. Jet Li is horrendously under-used and Yifei Liu’s performance is ranges from wooden to incredibly emotional, sometimes even in the same scene. I also would’ve preferred that the dialogue in the film was in Chinese rather than English. It would’ve helped with the authenticity. That said, the film is visually stunning with outstanding cinematography. The action sequences aren’t that bad. I wouldn’t put it up there with the likes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero, but the movie holds its own, and we get to see Donnie Yen in action, which is always a plus. Jason Scott Lee as Bori Khan makes for a more compelling villain than the original film. Bori actually has a legitimate reason for doing what he’s doing, and it’s relatable. The addition of Gong Li as Xanniang, the witch, was also a good choice. Some people seem to have an issue that Mulan starts out as this perfect character who already knows how to fight and becomes the “chosen one.” That is a bit of an issue, as the animated film had to build the character up during the training montages to make the warrior that she needed to be. At the end of the day, and this may be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like the remake of Mulan better than the animated film. It also could be due to the fact that I absolutely love martial arts epics, so this was right up my alley.
Ranking: The live-action remake of Mulan is better than the animated film. Come at me, bro.
Mulan: Rise of A Warrior
Now, we come to what I think is the best adaptation of Mulan. This is not a Disney movie. It’s very violent, but the emphasis here is on realism. This is essentially a war movie, not one of the grand martial arts epics that I like, yet Rise of A Warrior is one of the best movies of its kind. Again, it follows the story of Mulan pretty closely, and like the live-action Disney film, Mulan starts out already knowing how to fight. But the approach here is a bit different. There’s none of that overly awkward humor that you saw in the previously mentioned films, but there is humor here. What Rise of A Warrior shows is how Hua Mulan rises in the ranks from a lowly soldier to one of the most respected generals in the emperor’s army. What’s interesting here, is that at a certain point in the film, Mulan allows her emotions to get the better of her and that ends up costing her the lives of dozens of her men. She made a serious mistake and the film also shows how she gets betrayed by another general for being upstaged by somebody who actually knows what they’re doing. These little details add a little more realism and grit to an already outstanding movie. At the same time, the themes and virtues of loyalty, duty, and truth are still at the forefront of the movie. The battle sequences are bloody and epic. You’re talking entire armies clashing. It’s spectacular…and there’s really no wire-work to be found here. The action is amazing. My only real issue here is the villain, Modu. He’s the leader of the Rouran army, but he just comes across as a greedy, petulant weakling. At least Jason Scott Lee’s character had reason for doing what he did. Modu was doing things because he could, and that doesn’t always make for a compelling villain. But that’s the only real weak link here. The rest of the movie is fantastic, and as far as I’m concerned, is the best adaptation of Hua Mulan’s story. The acting is fantastic and the action is compelling and brutal.
Ranking: Mulan: Rise of A Warrior is the best adaptation of the story. Mushu who? Get out of here with that nonsense.
While the story of Hua Mulan has been adapted thousands of times over the centuries, these three movies are the ones that definitely deserve a look. I didn’t mention the sequel to the animated movie, because Mulan II focuses more on that irritating animal sidekick than it does Mulan. I didn’t bother seeing it, and I don’t think anybody else has either. I came around with Disney’s live-action remake, and I’m not a fan of their live-action remakes, but Mulan is probably the best live-action remake they’ve put out. Again, it’s probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but I have to be honest about it. The animated film itself isn’t awful, but for kids at the time, it was something unique. I missed that boat by at least three years, but it’s not the worst thing that Disney’s done. So, those are my opinions on the Mulan films that I can get access to, and they’re all worth taking a look at, I just prefer the gritty and realistic period piece that is Rise of A Warrior.