Anyway, I just want to start right off the bat by saying this movie is a pure, fucking, utter, SELLOUT!!!! This is the kind of movie that makes me want to puke while I'm watching, because I'm so disgusted that people would have the guts to make this kind of trash. In ancient Japan, whoever produced this should just commit seppuku (a ritual suicide by committed by samurai who have dishonored themselves). Let me try to explain the reasoning.
The story of Hua Mulan is a popular one in China. It tells of a young woman who pretended to be man in order to join the army in her father's place (her father was ill) out of filial piety, in a society where females were looked down upon and would be instantly beheaded if found within the ranks of men in the army. Such a story deserves a well directed movie to go along with it, especially since the Chinese government gave Disney so much crap about the making of Mulan in 1998. But, westernized as the 1998 Mulan may be, it was a decent movie (BLOCKBUSTER rating, in my opinion) -- it was more or less faithful to the original story, and characters were decently developed.
The 2009 Hua Mulan, on the other hand, decides to focus mainly on the forbidden love between the heroine and a prince, a love which spurred from a the prince saving the heroine from a death sentence. And then we're supposed to simply assume that these two are soulmates, that they share a love so deep that no amount of war, violence, or martial law can break apart. Kind of remind me of Twilight -- a love between a vampire and an overly self-conscious girl... a love so deep that not even a werewolf with a 6-pack can't break apart, except the girl can't take her eyes off the werewolf's 6-pack. I'm sorry to disappoint all the Zhao Wei fans out there, but I must say, she was horrible in this movie! When she was telling her lover-boy how she dreams of him every night, she had no emotion on her face! Okay, I was never in love, and have never dreamed of someone everyday, but I'd think that if you loved a person so much, your face wouldn't be blank and emotionless when you're talking to him/her! But then again, what do I know about love?
In conclusion, this movie is disgrace to all Chinese movies. We're always mad at Hollywood for butchering up Chinese classics, but who are we to judge them, when we still make trash movies like this one? Jay said that Red Cliff was bad in one of his previous posts. I have this to say: compared to Hua Mulan [2009], Red Cliff was God.
Don't even bother downloading this movie online. It's a complete waste of time. Watch the 1998 Mulan instead.
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10 comments:
I saw the 1998 animated one, which was awesome. I haven't seen this one though... but I might, just for a comparison.
Nice review, i thought it was pretty funny!=)
MMM, interesting review. Yeah, I don't think I'll be watching this movie ever.
Think I've seen enough of Hua Mulan: the disney movie and the Mulan drama. And the minute I see Zhao Wei's name in the cast list, I know I probably won't see it
You wanted me to comment, so here I am.
1. In my opinion, the main themes of this movie are: patriotism, duty, loyalty, filial piety, and most importantly, sacrifice. Although love plays a crucial part in the grand scheme of things, the focus of the movie is not romance.
2. How is their love not shown? Mulan placed all of her soldiers' lives in danger when she decided to follow Wentai instead of staying behind. When she thought that he died, she lost her will to lead. Wentai hid in the army as a nameless foot soldier for years to make her a better General. In the end he was even prepared to abandon everything they fought for, if she had said yes.
3. Which brings me to your comment on the last scene - how was Mulan supposed to act in such a circumstance? Did you expect her to break down in tears like a typical girl who just broke up with her boyfriend? She was a general who led millions of grown men into battle. She sacrificed all of her youth for her father and for her country. She knew what was at stake and if she wanted to convince Wentai to marry the princess, she couldn't exactly show much attachment, could she? I watched an interview Zhao Wei did recently on the movie and she said this about the final parting scene: "I finally learned how to portray immense sorrow without shedding tears." The depth of an actor's acting abilities does not solely depend on superficial facial expressions.
4. Again, I don't understand how you can compare a live action movie to a cartoon. I don't think the Disney cartoon is in any way more "faithful" or authentic. It is uncertain whether or not Mulan actually existed in history. All we know of her is based on an ancient Chinese poem called the Ballad of Mulan. The cartoon makers took their discretion with the story and so did the Chinese film makers, just like John Woo made up a whole bunch of stuff for Red Cliff, which actually IS based on real historical people and events.
5. What exactly is your definition of a "sell-out"? I fail to see how the movie "sold out."
Thank you for comments Helen. I really do appreciate the feedback, especially if you disagree -- it’s the only way we can have get a variety of opinions and try to improve ourselves from it. However, I still believe my arguments are valid. Let me try to explain.
#1
You say the movie is about "patriotism, duty, loyalty, filial piety, and most importantly, sacrifice." While I do see the themes you mentioned, the entire film felt more like a (forbidden) romance movie. Yes, she sacrifices herself when she decides to take her father’s place in the army (also filial piety shown here), the big sacrifice was how she sacrifices her love (there’s a scene in the end just for that). Then there’s the whole development about how they supposed to be soulmates -- how she lost her will to lead when she thought he was dead, how she sent her entire battalion to save him at the cost of suffering heavy casualties, how he used gave her his blood when she was sick and needed water (speaking of which, I didn’t know a couple droplets of blood can hydrate a person).
Then she talks about how she dreams of him every night. I’m not a girl, and I don’t watch too many romance movies, but all these scenes certainly make the movie sound like a romance movie to me. While patriotism, duty, and loyalty played some role in the movie, the driving theme was romance -- it was out of love that Mulan did most of what she did.
#2 & 3
First of all, when Mulan placed her soldiers’ lives in danger, Zhao Wei need not do any acting -- it was part of the script. Similarly, the part about Wentai hiding as a foot soldier required no acting skill –- it was part of the script. But what I was referring to when I said that their love weren’t shown was the last scene. Yes, I know that those two were warriors who were supposed to be so tough that they can never show weakness. By the way, is it okay for me to point out here that when Zhao Wei was giving her grand speech to her army when she decided to go back and train them, she sounded like a total wuss?
"What’s she supposed to sound like, Clint East? She’s a woman, not a man!" you may argue. BUT, in the movie, she was posing as a tough man, she shouldn’t she sound like, well… like she has some BALLS??? I know she actually doesn’t, but all the soldiers supposedly believed that she did have balls, yet her voice couldn’t even fool me. Either I’m a genius, or all the soldiers were dumbasses. I’d like to think it’s the former…
Yes, warriors are supposed to be tough. But We know that all warriors do have weakness, and in this case, their weaknesses were each other. When they were alone in the garden, they should have shed off all their "armor" and show their weaknesses. Zhao Wei said "I finally learned how to portray immense sorrow without shedding tears." Really? How? By showing absolutely nothing at all? Again, I don’t pretend to be an expert on love, and call me old fashioned, but I think that when the love of your life actually loves you back, but you simply can’t have him/her, you’d be sad, angry, and, in this case, since he was marrying someone else, JEALOUS! I saw none of the emotions on her face. She just hugged him and let him go. I couldn’t even see that she was even struggling to keep those emotions inside.
I don’t know how hard Zhao Wei tried, but in my opinion, she didn’t try hard enough. For example, Heath Ledger said that in order to portray the Joker in The Dark Knight, "I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices -- it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath -- someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts." I want to see exactly how hard Zhao Wei tried at that. I know I’m being very harsh by comparing her to an Oscar winning actor, but she is now an experienced actress who enjoys much popularity in China, so comparing to a no-name actor would be insulting on her part. She's a well known actress, and should have compared to other well known actresses.
#4
I must turn this question around, and ask the following, "Why can’t I compare a live action movie to cartoon?" I’m not comparing the audiences, I’m comparing the quality of the execution of movie. The 1998 Mulan, while it adds in things that don’t exist (like Mushu, the tiny dragon), it remains more or less faithful to the Ballad of Mulan that it was based on, which was about filial piety and the power of one woman. We clearly see it in the 1998 Mulan, she single handedly saved the emperor’s palace from the Mongulians, and she single handedly defeated the Mongolian army by aiming her cannon at a strategic position, which, I might add, is actually believable, as compared to how Mulan simply rose through the rank out of thin air in the 2008 Hua Mulan, as the newer movie provides no explanation on how she did it.
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Wentai was ever part of the Ballad of Mulan, yet the 2009 Hua Mulan decides to make him a central character. AND he’s a prince?? AND the great general dare betrayed him? I don’t pretend to be a connoisseur on the laws of China during the 12th century, but I’m pretty sure if you try to betray a prince, you get beheaded. Instantly. So we can’t even get our history right, why expect Hollywood to?
#5
I must take part of the blame for this. Jay wrote a framework on which we base our rating system, which can be found from our link on the homepage http://neuroticdoldrums.blogspot.com (sorry I can’t fit the full link here). But our framework aside, the phrase "sell-out" usually refers to a work of art (movie, book, music) that is made for the sole purpose of turning a profit. The producers don’t really seem to care about the quality of the art -– the work is made with one goal in mind, the turn a profit.
If you’ve read all the way until this point, I want to thank you for having the patience to read through all of this (I know I certainly don’t have that much patience). And once again thanks to Helen for posting her comment. If you’re reading this Helen, I welcome you to post a comment in response to this as well. Feedbacks are always welcome. I only ask that you keep the criticisms constructive.
"A love so deep...they just can't show it on their faces"
haha.
I didn't even know a Hua Mulan movie was out. And where did you even see it? It's not like they show random Asian movies in NY... do they?
And where did she meet a prince anyway? Are you sure he was falling in love with her and not the pretty boy she was supposed to be?
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