Disney now has so many live-action remakes in the pipeline that they start generating buzz for them before the next one has even arrived. So we’re only a few weeks out from Aladdin, and The Lion King is right around the corner, but already here we are with a brand new trailer for their anticipated remake of Mulan, featuring the most kick-ass Disney princess ever to grace the big screen.
Directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and starring Chinese actress/singer Liu Yifei as the titular heroine of legend, who posed as a man in order to fight for her country in battle. The original 1998 film was a huge hit for Disney and one of their earliest attempts to bring some cultural diversity to their animated films. We’ve seen them doing even more of that lately as they transition to live-action (The Little Mermaid controversy, for one example), making their films more timely and, I think, significant in the process. The rest of the cast includes screen greats Donnie Yen and Jet Li, along with Gong Li, Yoson An, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Tzi Ma, and Jason Scott Lee.
Caro, whose Whale Rider also told a sweeping adventure of a girl’s journey to become a great leader, shows some of her stylistic influences here with a lot of wuxia-style action similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It’s a beautiful movie and unlike the other remakes Disney is doing right now.
Mulan hits theaters on March 27th 2020.
