At its core, Caro's "Mulan" is quietly revolutionary, as it revels in the exhilarating sight of a young woman fighting for and earning her place in the world.

Full Review | Jul 26, 2023

I can only describe Mulan as a visually spectacular disappointment. Void of any emotional resonance, the film eschews coherent storytelling for what amounts to an Orientalist war epic masquerading as a feminist win for Asians everywhere.

Full Review | Mar 16, 2021

Its cast, its attitude, its overall eagerness to please -- all benefits, one would think -- don't add up to a good movie. They add up to a blueprint of the movie this ought to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 23, 2020

While glorious to look at, the movie still feels slightly hollow. All the right pieces are there, but an emotional connection to the characters is lacking.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.8/10 | Sep 10, 2020

The combat set pieces are terrific, the scale of the storytelling is epic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 6, 2020

I'm as athletic as a bed sock but, for so many reasons, this movie made me want to do backflips.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 5, 2020

That magic isn't present here, and the action scenes don't achieve lift-off.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Sep 5, 2020

Talking animals and slapstick silliness are very much out and stiff-lipped themes of family, duty and honour are in.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 5, 2020

I admire Disney for trying to do something different -- they didn't just make a shot-for-shot remake of the original movie -- but all of the choices they made were inferior to the original film.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Sep 5, 2020

This is ultimately a father and daughter story... That emotional story gets me every time.

Full Review | Sep 5, 2020

It might have been an excellent reinterpretation, were it not so heavy-handed and, well, Disney-fied. But what remains bears minimal discernible relationship to the original, while reading too much like a basic Marvel film.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2020

Apart from the lack of singing, romance, comedy and a mouthy dragon, this is just like the original. You might wonder what's left. Well, $200 million buys a lot of scenery and sets and quite a few stars. This new version has spectacle in mind.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 4, 2020

It's an efficient retelling of a tale about a young Chinese woman discovering her power -- affecting at times, occasionally quite lovely, but earnest, often clumsy, and notably short on joy.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2020

I enjoyed Mulan, but I couldn't avoid the sense of disconnect inherent in watching a wuxia-style period piece with Chinese actors speaking accented English dialogue.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 4, 2020

Its roughly 900-year-old hero remains inspirational. As the wise old Emperor said in the original film, "You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty."

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 4, 2020

If someone were to do a shot every time a character mentions "honor," they would surely die of alcohol poisoning before the credits roll under a new recording of "Reflection" from Christina Aguilera.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2020

Mulan delivers a straightforwardly heroic narrative of a capable woman battling her way to respect. It just doesn't have much else to add.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2020

For a film with so much at stake, Mulan never feels epic, but it does succeed as a story of a young woman courageously defying cultural and social expectations.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 4, 2020

It is no longer easily recognisable as a family film. Nor is it a grown-up action film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 4, 2020

[Mulan] lives up to the themes of its predecessor while also cutting its own forcefully dynamic path.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 4, 2020