(This is Matchless Mulan film review, which is the new film adaptation of Hua Mulan made in China)
- *the movie was released in YouTube in the link above with both English and Chinese subtitles
Have you ever wondered if you have watched a different version of the same film because the original one disappointed you so much? Well, Matchless Mulan is your wish come true when it was released at the same time as Disney’s Mulan.
It is directed by Chen Cheng, and starred lesser known actors such as Hu Xuer, Wu Jianfei, Wei Wei and Shang Tielong. Now. let’s delve to the review that will compare this with Disney’s Mulan in the Matchless Mulan film review below!
Premise
A yong and adventurous girl went to replace her father in an army conscript in secret and tried to hide her gender from the rest. However, it was taboo for a woman to join the army, but she did it because her dad was already sick and too frail to return to soldierhood. Along the way, she had to fight both the northern Rouran enemies and also her own people from finding out her secret. Will she survived both ordeals?
Matchless Mulan Film Review
Premise
The story takes place in the same timeline as when the northern Rouran Enemies came to conquer the country of Wei. Here, the story in the beginning more or less matched with that of Disney;s Mulan, except that it showed more scenes of Mulan’s interactions with the villagers. Adding on to the fact that 2 of the men from the same village knew about her secret made this movie more realistic.
It presents the humanness of the characters that are natural as well as showing the gritty realities of war without masking any of the violence and deaths involved. All in all, this is a more realistic take of the Mulan story that focused less on Kung fu and more on the characters themselves.
Though, the ending was quite abrupt and made ambiguous, as if the budget ran out all of a sudden. The whole premise was pretty average but when compared to Disney’s Mulan, it won by a mile. Also, this film contains some nationalistic stuff but it fits the premise and time period well, especially during a war.
It presents the humanness of the characters that are natural as well as showing the gritty realities of war
Pacing/Action/CGI
The pacing was pretty good and fast from the beginning to the end, but it slowed down at important emotional scenes in the middle and near the end for that extra impact.
The Action sequences are also pretty impressive and shows a more real-life take on how Kung Fu was really done, though still with some exaggerations involved. The CGI is quite bad though, but thankfully there are not many CGI scenes involved, thank goodness.
Characters
This is the part where this movie shines, as it shows various characters that work and interact with one another naturally, as well as having individual unique traits and personalities. It made the side characters more memorable as each has their own backstory compared to Disney’s Mulan where the side characters are left out of the limelight. And best of all, it showed the true nature and characteristics of the real Chinese.
It was such varieties of characters that made this film feel truly alive and brimmed with personalities
One of the character is a scheming type that shows the dark side of the character, and such character was never shown at all in Disney’s version. It was such varieties of characters that made this film feel truly alive and brimmed with personalities.
Aside from that, the bad guy at least looked pretty cool, violent and killed people in cold blood, just like how a real bad guy would. I must say the antagonist was pretty good here, as well as other side characters. However, it came at a cost, because it’s Mulan now who seemed to have gained less screen-time that she should receive, which made her weaker in presence when compared to Disney’s.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is geared more to Chinese type of nationalistic and Ancient china soundtrack. It did not have the same impact as Disney’s but it stood out on its own as it tried to tell its own version of Hua Mulan from a different point of view. Admirable, but not as impactful sadly.
