As a parent of a 4 and 8 year old, I’ve wound up watching all these remakes. The Lion King and Aladdin both stay very close to the original movies. I think both added in one new song, and resistant to change as I am, I didn’t like them at first, but now the new song, Speechless, from Aladdin has a space in my heart like all the other Disney songs I love.
But in this Mulan? There’s no music with words. There’s some phantoms of my favorite songs, which I’m grateful for, but the actual songs with words are gone. 😢
This lead me to feel more like I was watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It was beautiful and artistic, but it felt like it was missing some of that Disney magic I love. There was some magic in the phoenix that came to watch over Mulan, but that phoenix was no Mush, and I missed the comedy from Mushu and the lucky cricket terribly.
Beyond the phoenix, there was a shape shifting witch! A witch who started just like Mulan. A woman with amazing talent, but unlike Mulan, she was shunned and dishonored. So, she sought revenge and teamed up with Böri Khan to destroy the Emperor.
No worries though, because the witch is offered the opportunity to redeem herself and what Disney movie would it be if a villain couldn’t be redeemed? Always have faith! Beyond faith, this movie placed emphasis on virtues the soldiers needed to embody and make a pledge to be:
I feel like we could all use these pledges in our lives.
Overall, this movie kept my 8 year old and I engaged the whole time. Neither of us wanted to leave long enough to even let the dogs outside (sorry to hubby for making him do that while we sat on the couch like lumps on a log). There were even a few parts where I held my breath or clenched my hands, anxious for what was to come! I mean sure, the nostalgic 1980’s kid in me missed everything I listed, but the 2020’s me is embracing the change and enjoying this remake. I included the new song from the new Mulan soundtrack below. Maybe it’ll grow on you! Happy movie watching y’all!
