Mulan (2020)

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Mulan (2020)

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Post by Catspaw »

I saw this trailer yesterday, and I was thinking about why it didn't really appeal to me, and the answer to the question of, "Why do I really not care for most of the Disney live person remakes that I've seen?" is....they're not much fun. They take fun animated stories and characters and turn them more serious stories, and that's not really why I watch Disney movies. This might end up being a great movie - I don't know. What I do know is that the trailer has very little that reminded me of the animated version that I love. That might be a draw for some people. Not for me. I want Donny Osmond singing an awesome song to sing along with and goofy quotable lines. This doesn't look like it will fit that description. I still might see it, and I might end up thinking it's a great movie. I don't want to assume I'll hate it. I do think that it doesn't look like what I expected.
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Post by bookworm »

I'm actually on the other side. This is the first of these remakes that I'm completely on board for. Exactly because for the first time (if you don't count Maleficent, which I don't that was before this let's just redo everything in real life craze really started) they're not just needlessly redoing the original movie. I would not even classify this one as one of the live action remakes because it's really not. They aren't doing the animated movie over just with real people, this is its own entity. It's not the Disney version of Mulan, is a movie of the traditional legend. At least more than the animated one was being a musical with a quirky sidekick. Not that I had a problem with that, I like the animated Mulan movie quite a bit, but I'm really excited to see that though this is a recognized property the movie will actually be something fresh. Compared to the upcoming Lion King remake for example.
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Post by Catspaw »

I see what you mean. To me, if the same company makes two movies with the exact same name, they shouldn't be super different. If you do a remake (which may or may not be a good idea) then the expectation is clear. If this is not a remake, then why not modify the name in some way to make that clear? Call it Mulan: A Hero's Origin or something like that. ;) (Obviously something much better than that!) Just my two cents.
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Post by bookworm »

-- 11 Jul 2019 09:10 am --

I don't disagree with that thought. Just going 'Here's our new movie: "Mulan"' is going to have the initial expectations of people be that it's a general remake pretty similar to the original, especially when every other one of these so far has indeed been that.

-- 07 Dec 2019 10:38 pm --

The full trailer is out!



I am all the way on board for this - it's the first of these remakes that seems like it has a real reason to exist!
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Post by Catspaw »

This trailer looks better than the first one. I still have reservations, but I'm more hopeful now. Just having the familiar musical theme went a long way for me.
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Post by bookworm »

Catspaw wrote:Just having the familiar musical theme went a long way for me.
Yes that was great! It might have just been done for the trailer, but I certainly hope they have soundtrack throwbacks in the actual movie.

I see a ton of people saying 'I know this time it's not a musical but they better still sing I'll Make A Man Out Of You!' and I'm like, really? :-s I love that song too, but that would be a terrible thing to do. It would be so out of place with the entire rest of the movie.

An instrumental version playing over the army's training though: definitely yes.
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Post by Catspaw »

bookworm wrote:
Catspaw wrote:Just having the familiar musical theme went a long way for me.
Yes that was great! It might have just been done for the trailer, but I certainly hope they have soundtrack throwbacks in the actual movie.

I see a ton of people saying 'I know this time it's not a musical but they better still sing I'll Make A Man Out Of You!' and I'm like, really? :-s I love that song too, but that would be a terrible thing to do. It would be so out of place with the entire rest of the movie.

An instrumental version playing over the army's training though: definitely yes.
Yeah, doing that song in a serious non-musical wouldn't be a good fit. In the original film it's awesome! Donny Osmond does a great job with that number.
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Post by bookworm »

So this has been delayed, like everything else that's supposed to be coming out right now. I'm curious to see if they reschedule a theater release or just send it to streaming. I would be very surprised if it's the latter, but it's possible.
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Post by Monica Stone »

I doubt Disney would send it to Disney+. This movie is going to be too big to simply send to streaming platforms.

Disney live-action remakes have been hit or miss for me. Some I find pointless, while others bring more to the story that they are remaking. I actually only watched Mulan for the first time during quarantine and I really enjoyed it! I think the live-action movie looks really good and I can't wait to see wait happens with it. There will be no Mushu or songs, which will definitely be different, but I think it could be a good different. I like that Disney is doing something different with it, besides just remaking the movie almost shot-for-shot like they have. I will definitely watch it when it comes out!
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Post by Pengwin »

Yeah, Disney wants to make the most money they can from Mulan. The new release date is July 24.
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Post by Monica Stone »

Pengwin wrote:The new release date is July 24.
I would not be surprised if the movie's release got pushed back even further. Are theaters even planning to reopen in most places? I think Disney would want this movie to make as much profit as possible. I guess we'll see.
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Post by Pengwin »

Yeah, I can see that happening especially if some big theaters are still closed by then. They obviously are doing research and whatnot to find the best time to release it.
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Post by bookworm »

Delayed indefinitely now, not even rescheduled again.
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Post by Catspaw »

Yeah, I saw that. I can see why they want to release it at a time when theatres are open fully (or at least close) because they want a big box office. Part of me wonders how long they're willing to wait. If things drag on, will they just release it in theatres and hope for the best, and put it on Disney Plus early?
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Post by bookworm »

It's releasing on Disney+ on September 4th for $29.99
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Post by Catspaw »

Yeah, I saw they were trying something different. My first reaction was that the price was ridiculous, but I guess if I was planning to take several people with me to the theatre to see it, this would seem like saving money. They also (last I saw) hadn't confirmed Canadian pricing yet. I can see how Disney wants to recoup costs from an expensive movie in a time where there won't be the big box office possibilities they were counting on. It still seems like a bit much. I assume that you get to keep the movie in your Disney Plus account indefinitely and watch it repeatedly, unlike an online rental with a short expiry date? That would add value too. I don't know if it adds $30 value.
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Post by bookworm »

I understand they need to balance the price against lost ticket sales for the many cases where multiple people are going to be streaming in the same household, and in places where theater tickets are really expensive it only takes a couple people watching to consider it comparable cost, but I live in small city and our theater is reasonably priced. Even if my whole family was going to see it at the theater, which I don't think was going to be the case anyway, it would not cost anything near this much. And now that it's just streaming I would be watching by myself if I was going to get this, so obviously there's no way I'm paying more than it would have cost everyone to watch it together in the theater to watch it alone at home.

I was completely on board for this movie, couldn't wait to finally see it. If there was a way they could somehow confirm how many people were viewing, so it could be priced what it would actually cost per person, and then be able to sell me the view for at or at least reasonably close to a movie ticket price I would definitely do it. But there's no way I'm paying anything close to this much for a glorified digital rental. (And a rental is all it is, no matter how insistent Disney is being that it's somehow not. All your payment does is unlock the movie to be watchable on Disney+, you still need to have an active subscription to the service to play it.)


It sounds like they're just doing the on demand purchase for a couple months and in December it will be added to the regular Disney+ catalog to watch without an extra fee so I'll be waiting to watch it then.
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Post by Catspaw »

Yes, I'm definitely waiting as well. December will be here soon enough. I highly doubt that they will release numbers, but I would be curious to know how many people are willing to pay the price. It seems excessive to me. I was only moderately interested to begin with. I guess if it was something super awesome that I was eagerly awaiting and was worried about spoilers, I might bite the bullet on the price, but not for this.
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Post by Monica Stone »

There is no way I'm spending $30 to rent it on Disney+, especially after the things I've heard about it from critics & friends. It's disheartening to hear from others that it seems to be a trainwreck because the trailer looked good. :( To quote my friend, "they took everything good about the original and ruined it." And that makes me sad. I don't know if I'll end up watching it in December. We'll see I guess. I might cave.
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