On September 4th, the 2020 Mulan movie (colloquially dubbed the New Mulan) arrived at Disney+ where it seems to be finding commercial success.
According to Forbes, Mulan’s release led to a 68% increase in Disney+ downloads despite the film coming with an additional $30 price tag on top of the regular Disney+ subscription fee.
However, the reviews are not as hot as the sales, getting a 5.6 on IMDB with Metacritic giving it 68% and Rotten Tomatoes—76% (audience’s score of 53%). Though people say it is visually stunning, for the most part, the majority expected the classic story of the ’98 animation, when it was actually based on the original ballad.
However, there is also a rather unique take on why it didn’t go well with certain audiences as explained by Twitter user Rohan Javet Beg.
2020's Mulan is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to reviews, but this one stands out from many others
Image credits: RohanBeg
Twitter user Rohan Javet Beg gives his own take on the movie, pointing out its shockingly bad themes
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Though Mulan 2020 is based on the ballad, Rohan can't but compare to the animated film to explain the stark contrast
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
He points out a heavy emphasis on patriarchy and misogyny as themes throughout the film
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
He ends up calling it Chinese propaganda, explaining that its production involved the Chinese government
Image credits: RohanBeg
In a nutshell, Rohan explains that the movie is dedicated to a purely Chinese audience instead of exploring anything about its culture, and is done in a way that feels tone-deaf.
Rohan can’t but compare it to the animation in its spirit, pointing out how the plot is very patriarchal this time around and Mulan as the protagonist is just drifting through this movie wracked with guilt over her betrayal of her sword's motto of 'loyalty, bravery and truth'.
He concludes that the movie is borderline propaganda in how it’s made, elaborating that the production of the movie involved four CCP propaganda departments and the Public Security Bureau in Xinjiang.
Image credits: RohanBeg
Image credits: RohanBeg
The tweet found its way to Imgur where it went viral. As of the moment of this article, the post received over 123,000 views with over 4,000 upvotes and 600 comments.
Besides criticizing the added price tag of $30 to stream the movie in the first place, many have commented that it is pandering to China with a story that some doubt is as faithful to the ballad as it is claimed to be.
What are your thoughts on the new Mulan? Let us know in the comment section below!