Mulan [Blu-ray] [2009]

Apart from Avatar, this is the movie of 2009 that I would rate with over 90%.

The plot is closer to the original ancient Mulan tale compared to the Disney version. Most of all there is no speaking dragon!! There are some similarities though.

Plot: The northern Wei dynasty of China is under attack from the Rourans (a normadic people from Mongolia). The young woman Mulan enlists in the Wei army, disguised as a man to secretly replace her ailing father... no intention to spoil

Pros:
The main difference from the Disney version is Mulan herself, who is in constant conflict with herself. The burden of responsibility, the terror of war, the danger of being disclosed as a woman and a forbidden romance is affecting her entire personality, forcing her to change and grow. Lead character Zhao Wei is really at her best in this movie. Red Cliff kind of wasted her talent. She can really display the inner struggle, the pain and the female qualities of Mulan. Although Mulan pretends to be a man, does a formidable "man job" and is regarded as a man by the other men, the audience can really feel during the entire movie that Mulan remains a woman at her core. It's really hard to describe. But Zhao Wei brings in this magical ... something ... I can't really pinpoint ...

Indeed, the entire movie is centered around its characters. Apart from Mulan, the villains are also nicely portrayed and actually not entirely evil. You can understand their motives. The battle scenes are well done but not breath taking. The movie is really not about an epic battle, but about the heroine and her inner struggle.

Oh...and there is not a real happy ending. Anyway this is no Disney cartoon. Actually, it gets really sad during the end. Made me feel miserable for several days...

Cons:
Minor mistakes. Sometimes a little too theatrical. Too much crying, kind of scaling down the really sad moments. You cannot really believe that Mulan isn't disclosed by any of the male soldiers through all those years, because main actress Zhao Wei is way too good looking to pass as a man. Although, this didn't really bother me.

All in all:
Strong Mulan character ... one of the best movies of 2009 ...

Mulan was a good film to watch and have as an addition to your DVD library I would rate it along simular lines as The Warrior directed by Kim Sung-Su.... The story line goes; elderly warriors health slowly depletes he has a duaghter who he raises alone' this duaghter is an only child, she has learned greatly her farthers martial arts skill and has tom boy tendencies the old warrior is resigned to the fact that he will need to marry her off soon and advises her to forget about what she has learned of fighting skills. War breaks out again and recruitment official visits village with list of all men of age to attend, the old warrior name is called up and he gathers himself up attempting to summon up the strengh for one final battle which has already long gone and is resigned to it that he will not return. during the night of preparation daughter mulan decide she wil seize the opportunity to follow in fathers foot steps and carry the great warriors name of her fathers clan and takes up the armour and battle gear and gallops off before day break knowing the old man sleeps in deep slumber.... The battle seens are very good and the story goes on to see her rise to leadership position her stratergic skills and cunning surpassing all and finally realizing that a warrior life is her destiny even love and emotion must be sacrifice.

Yes I believe that man and woman watching this film will like it because it says women can be and are as strong as men in their own way" ying and yang I guess adjusting and flowing balancing out the positive strenghs in each other providing the way for survival and sustained life.

Alan Mason

Have read other reviews here so decided not to take them into account as I turned down the lights, turned up the amp and headed into a full on experience!

After 5 minutes I had to get up to check I had bought the right version of the movie, I had totally misunderstood the fact that his was an English subtitle edition and a 2 hour reading experence I was not expecting. I decided to keep going, more and more I got into the run and the subtitles did eventually did not bother me. You get into the habit of following the movie with your broader view while giving more focus to the subtitles. Credit to the editors here, the text lines were kept short and I had no problem following the dialogue.

The plot of the movie is well known so not going into that here, however the plot lines do entail several aspects:
- You are basically in a war movie, so some blood, guts and gore runs through the whole movie.
- You are in a secret plot, to keep the identity of the woman 'Mulan' from leaking out.
- You are in a love story when she and her corresponding general fall in love.

These plots and subdifuses tangle their way through the movie and never let you relax. I found the movie really riviting.

There are some points though that donts stack up:
- Mulan just looks like a woman all the way through the movie, I am sure sleeping in a tent for several years with 100 other blokes your secret would have come out.
- Why did she not cut her hair off to look like a man, several times when se realaxes a full metre of it comes falling out of her head-dress!
- Her voice is also much higher than all the blokes around her, with this and her tears on several occassions, I would certainly be involved in a rumour or two!

If you discount the downsides and just look at this as a movie to absorb yourself in, then go for it. Remember your investments will be required in terms of reading but yes I think it's worth it in the end. I enjoyed the film and that's what counts.

Colin.