After a shaky start with Mulan Live-Action star Liu Yifei courting boycott threats for her statement over the HongKong protests and the threat of losing the China market owing to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Disney movie has been earning glowing reviews from critics who saw the movie at its US premiere.
Critics and moviegoers who attended the premiere had one consensus - that Disney's Mulan Live Action is one of the best Disney live-action remakes.
According to a report by Mashable, audiences have described the movie as one of Disney's best productions. Even without the songs that popularized the animated version in the early 90s, audiences still connected well with the film and became absorbed by the cinematography and treatment.
Many of the audience praised Liu Yifei for her effective portrayal and called her a star for bringing the iconic character to life. The movie also reaped praise for developing the character as a powerful woman who can serve as an inspiration for young viewers.
While the treatment of the live-action remake was different from the original animated version, audiences also expressed appreciation for the more mature take on the beloved tale of a Chinese woman who assumes the role of a man during wartime to spare her ailing father from enlisting for battle anew.
In a post by Rotten Tomato reviewer Christopher Campbell, there is plenty to love about Mulan's Live-Action remake.
Critics are also raving about the surprises that the live-action adaptation brought to the table.
Mashable's Allison Foreman was quoted as saying that there were a lot of elements from the animated tale that were left out but Disney managed to make up for it by delivering something much more.
She also praised the film for retaining the heart of the original film despite the different approaches.
"The first great superhero movie of 2020? It sure feels like it. She soars over rooftops, flies across walls, shoots arrows, and is just a general bad**s," Insider's Kristen Acuna said.
It can be recalled that film pundits were initially worried about how Mulan Live Action will perform in the box office after 70,000 movie theaters in China were closed down amid the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) affecting key cities in the box office rich region.
With Disney plunking down $200 million to produce the live-action movie about the beloved Chinese heroine, it is pressured to do well in the local box office to recover its investment in the epic film.
Mulan Live Action will open in theaters on March 27.
