Of all the Disney remakes, the upcoming Mulan has the most potential to be a movie and not just a paint-by-number rehashing of the animated film and since it is depicting a large scale war, that means violence. Hence the news that Mulan is going to be rated PG-13.
According to SlashFilm, the reason for this rating is “sequences of violence” and considering that the original Mulan is rated G (somehow) I am hoping that the reason the violence is leveled up to a PG-13 is in order to show the brutality of war and not just for the sake of cool shots. Additionally, this film has some of the most significant changes from an original Disney movie to film since Dumbo. This is not the best comparison, but at least, in this case, it’s about saying closer to the “original” source material than worrying about how to deal with racist crows and a lack of human characters.
Many of us have been disappointed in the lack of Shang (bisexual icon) and some of the other elements from the 90s film, but I think that overall if the sacrifice is some of the more Americanized elements it works. However, Shang’s omission and the rumors that the male love interest will find out Mulan’s identity before falling for her to reek of bisexual erasure and is an unfortunate decision.
If we really need to hear the music from the original there are multiple ways to do so and we have learned the lesson (I hope) that it is less important to have singing numbers if no one involved can actually sing. Honestly, I get emotional enough whenever the “Reflection” instrumental plays. Not to mention we get so few movies with Asian casts that despite some of the issues that are surrounding Yifei Liu, I want to support Jason Scott Lee, Donnie Yen, Gong Li and of course Jet Li.
Mulan was a really important movie for me as a child. I saw it in theaters with my mother and it both signaled my sexual awakening with Shang taking off his shirt and made me want to learn how to destroy a man with a fan. As one of the few Disney Princess of color, she holds a special place in the hearts of many and I hope that the film will bring honor to her story.
Just, next time can we please start giving opportunities to direct these films to directors of color. Niki Caro is immensely talented, but the very least Disney can do is give these chances to Asian directors. You already gave us Aladdin via Guy Ritchie. Enough is enough. I also don’t think this will mean any new “gritty” remakes of other Disney films, but if that does happen I’m just saying Atlantis: The Lost Empire is right there.
(via SlashFilm)
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