I've just watched Mulan 2020.
I mean... of course it's bad, but it's definitely not as bad as people are saying. Of the live action Disney remakes this is far from being as painful as The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.

The thing that really drags this movie down is how confused it is about which message it wants to tell. It's like a girl taking her first steps towards feminism while she is still too young to fully comprehend what she is supposed to fight for.

It shames Mulan for hiding her true identity almost like she had a choice to join the army as a woman???

I'm not kidding, this movie thinks it's message is BE YOURSELF and not SOCIETY SUCKS AND MULAN WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG.
But also it really wants to make Mulan a GIRL BOSS born with literally martial art super powers???

So Mulan is the chosen one born to fight in this movie. She is not doing it just to save her father out of necessity anymore. Girl Boss has anime powers and saves China, that's the movie. Not as cynical as Beauty and the Beast. Not as soulless as The Lion King. Dumb like Alladin

I mean, it is directed by a woman, but this is one of those movies that are too big to really have just one director. So, like the Marvel movies, the action stuff was probably directed by other people and she probably didn't have a lot of creative freedom.

So Mulan is just another fake progressive movie that still portrays femininity as a bad thing. Female protagonist and director, but the story is as conservative as it gets.

The fact that she born superior makes so she is the one good woman among the others in her village. Because she is a natural warrior. And she gets the approval of all men. While the other woman that actually defies men dies. Yes, there is a female villain now.

I must say that I don't care about the cartoon. Last time I watched it I was 10 years old. I don't remember anything about it. So this thread is only about the 2020 movie.