Disney will show what it means for someone to be loyal, brave, and true in their live-action remake of “Mulan” (2020). When Böri Khan (Jason Scott Lee) tries to take over China, the Emperor (Jet Li) requires that each family send one man to serve in the Imperial Army. For most families this is a simple demand but for Hua Zhou (Tzi Ma), this demand is not simple. Zhou has served in a previous war and now must serve again. In his ill condition he will not survive. His daughter, Hua Mulan (Yifei Liu), will secretly take his place to serve in the army. Mulan will have to break the oath of loyalty, bravery, and honesty, but in doing so she will risk everything, including dishonor to her family and even death.

“Mulan” had amazing cinematography. From the ancient chinese landscapes to the intense battles, the camera work is excellent.

The story is very good for a remake. Disney did their best to make some adaptations that would improve the story, but at the heart of it remains the original “Mulan” (1998). The character development is a major improvement from the animated film. There has been some controversy for removing the songs and Mushu from the plot but despite those issues, the story flourishes.

The score is very powerful. Even though the original film is a musical and this one is not, Harry Gregson-Williams does an excellent job at taking those songs and incorporating them into a very emotional soundtrack. “Reflections” is such a strong score that will keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Liu uses her amazing skills to bring Mulan to life in a new way while maintaining Ming-Na Wen’s Mulan. The romance between Mulan and Commander Tung (Donnie Yen) has an amazing chemistry that allows the audience to connect with them.

The choreography for the fight scenes was very well done. The action scenes are surprisingly intense for a Disney movie.

“Mulan” was an excellent live-action remake, however Disney made some questionable decisions with its release. Due to the pandemic, there were fears that the film would not perform well in theaters, so “Mulan” was exclusively released on Disney+ with Premiere Access. Premiere Access allows the user to buy “Mulan” for $30 plus the subscription fee. However, if the user ends their subscription to Disney+ then they lose access to the movie they paid extra for. This has been very controversial especially when considering HBOMax released “Wonder Woman 1984” on their streaming service for no additional fee. This caused “Mulan” to perform poorly for the first few months, but then it increased in popularity when it lost its’ Premiere Access status.

Overall, “Mulan” was an excellent film. I was truly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film, due to the bad publicity and controversial decisions with removing some of the things that made the original movie a classic. While the live-action line up has been controversial, this film is one of the best, standing with “Beauty and the Beast” (2017). However, as good as this film is, I would not have enjoyed the film had I needed to spend an extra 30 dollars to watch it. I rate “Mulan” a 4 out of 5 film reels.