Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Tweekums In the fifth century China is constantly being attacked by the marauding Rouran from the north. In order to protect the country each military family must send one male to fight. Being the only man in his family retired soldier Hua Hu enlists to fight despite being unwell; knowing he will die if he fights his daughter Mulan goes in his place. She has trained in martial arts and excels in her first battle; this leads to her rapid promotion. Surprisingly only two people know her secret; a childhood friend from her village and Wentai, the battalion's second in command, who decides to protect her secret. Mulan and Wentai rise to the rank of general after many victories but eventually Mulan has had enough of the killing; Wentai tells her she can sit out the next battle and almost inevitable when it is over she hears that he has been killed. Her moral and that of her men collapses but her old friend persuades her to return training and once more battles are won. Ultimately she must face the brutal Rouran leader and decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice for her country.Like many people my introduction to the legend of Mulan was the Disney animation; not surprisingly this is a very different affair… more deaths and less singing! The biggest surprise for me was that this legendary characters isn't depicted as an unswerving heroine; she has her doubts and questions what she is doing which makes her feel all the more human. The numerous battle scenes are impressive and look realistic so if you are expecting highly choreographed almost balletic action of wuxia films you may be a little disappointed. Lead actress Wei Zhao does a fine job as Mulan although how anybody thought she wasn't a woman is hard to believe… perhaps we must accept the idea of a soldier looking 'a bit girly' wound be more believable than a woman soldier in ancient China! The potential romance between Mulan and Wentai does seem as though it is mostly there because the makers thought viewers would want some romance but at least it serves to give Mulan motivation to take the risks she does. Overall I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to fans of Chinese historical dramas or those who enjoy war films set in an era before firearms.These comments are based on watching the film in Mandarin with English subtitles.

amanitamuffin I wasn't really sure what to expect, when watching the movie. The only thing about the story of Mulan that i knew, was what i learned from the Disney version. But i'm pretty sure, people who watch this movie wouldn't actually (and rightfully) expect there to be much similarity between the two.One thing that i think is important about this movie is, do not see it expecting to see things you've seen in "similar" movies. You might be disappointed. Because if you expect this to be anything like the classic martial arts movies, that it is most certainly not. Even Warlords, which at least to me felt quite authentic, was more exaggerated in its fighting scenes. And yes, this is also a love story, but just like the fighting and everything else, to me it seems that the people who made this movie gave a lot of thought to how much romance would be possible under the circumstances. Of course there were things that bothered me, too, but i think they were pretty much neglectible. For example i don't know how the character of Wude (played by Vitas) actually fits into the story, he feels slightly out of place. There was one scene that also seemed strange because it was really out of nothing, i don't see this as a spoiler because its not really of any importance to the story, but there was a sandstorm and they called it something like poison dragon. I did some research and it seems there is a legend about the region of Sanweishan that mentions sandstorms as the breath of a dragon, that seems to be a good explanation but someone who isn't familiar with Chinese mythology as i am (and probably most westerners) wouldn't know that and it might be confusing. Also it didn't seem like miss Zhao didn't put in much effort when Mulan pretended to be a man. But personally i don't really mind, actually appreciate it in a way. I think it would have seems a little ridiculous, and this movie is by no means meant to be comedic. The viewer knows she's pretending to be a man and that nobody notices it, there would be no point in having the actress try to talk with a deep voice or even choosing a different actress who is more masculine. That's simply not what the movie is about.If you like, you might see this movie as biographical, maybe even historical as far as that's possible for a legend. All in all i think this movie is absolutely worth watching if you're not too focused on any aspect of Chinese cinema, but even then it might well be worth your time!

werkhard I had the opportunity to see this movie when I was in Asia. I was quite excited to learn that they've made a cinematic version of Mulan and used real characters and none of the twisted-tale of the original that Disney is famous for. Mind you, I quite enjoyed the Mulan that Disney made. Please bear in mind that the movie is not meant for kids due war-violence and some gore.The movie was a total disappointment. The characters were not believable and I felt throughout the movie that the soldiers or military personnel around Mulan are either too stupid to figure out she's female or in major denial. The makers of this movie could have chosen a more masculine female to play the role or perhaps try to make Mulan mask her identity a little harder but none was achieved here. She was way too pretty. Nothing wrong with that. I didn't quite figure out why Vitas was even portrayed in this movie other than the fact that he was every Chinese teen-idol in Asia trying to woo the age group here to fill seats in the theatre. It tries too hard to have all the elements of grand cinema feel like the 'Red Hill' or even 'Hero' but fails miserably. The fight scenes were too choreographed and looks fake and the bad guys were just too corny.I apologize if this review is not more constructive but I expected more from the movie. Instead I left the theater feeling this was pathetic attempt to replicate Disney's Mulan and tries to be original. Just my 2 cents. I would still recommend people to see it.

tomson-7 I got quite excited when I heard of this re-adaption of the Chinese folk tale Mulan, having always loved Disney's version for unexplainable reasons. (Not being a Disney fan in any sense).I'm very much left at a crossroads after watching the piece. Well worth giving it a go to draw your own opinions because the film is brilliant yet at the same time flawed throughout.Having the feel of many recent Romance of the Three Kingdoms historical epics that have been popping up regularly from the fantastic new generation of Chinese cinema, Hua Mulan is fast paced, uplifting and in a narrative sense very well strung together. Unlike many of its' counterparts we don't have the long and often drawn out political segments we found throughout the Red Cliff films (Absolute wonders in their own right).The evident flaws popping up in the casting of Hua Mulan herself and the balance between the story of a solider and that of romance wasn't really able to find a true sense of equilibrium, I felt slightly discontented by the conclusion but Hua Mulan is not a film to disregard from the above remarks. A film well worth watching, putting a blunt and more practical spin on the story of Mulan; placing the tale within an Era of Chinese antiquity that easily rivals that of King Arthur or Julius Ceaser.