Past live-action recreations of classic Disney movies have been carbon copies of the original. Lion King was the exact same movie and script, not showcasing the talent of its all-star cast. Likewise, Beauty and the Beast was almost a word for word re-creation. A copy can only hope to match the original, but never surpass it. And those movies certainly did not surpass or even match the original. However, with its live-action remake of Mulan, Disney took a completely different approach.

It would honestly be a stretch to call this new movie a remake. It’s a completely different movie with the same premise. Disney cut most, if not all, the features that made people love Mulan in the first place. They cut Mushu, the beloved dragon, and the excellent musical soundtrack that many still sing.

However, the movie is not without its upsides. It has the excellent visuals and CGI that we’ve come to expect from Disney movies. It also features good choreography, reminiscent of an Asian martial arts movie.

Although there are some positives, they are not enough to justify the $30 price point, which comes on top of a Disney+ subscription. I can’t really fault them though, because they are certainly suffering due to not being able to show Mulan in theatres. It was set to be one of their biggest releases of 2020 and lockdown has prevented them from making much money on it. However, $30 is still a lot of many and has definitely prevented many from watching until it releases on Disney+ for free.

Overall, it’s an adequate movie, although completely different from the original. Fans of the original will be disappointed, but fans of big budget action films will probably enjoy the visuals and action sequences. And though I criticized Disney for changing everything, making a completely different movie is better than remaking one. I just hope they can figure out a middle ground.

Or, alternatively, Disney may decide that remaking old movies isn’t the best way forward. Maybe they should focus on new projects that will propel the Disney Princess genre to new heights. Disney hasn’t made something truly new in a while, choosing instead to continue to build within universes (i.e. Star Wars, Marvel) and create live-action versions of old animated films, and it would be a welcome change to see a big budget, live-action film with an entirely new concept.