Mulan (Critical response)

Yifei Liu

the film has a weighted average of 66 out of 100 from 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 73% rating from 299 critics. The site's critical consensus read, "It could have told its classic story with greater depth, but the live-action Mulan is a visual marvel that serves as a stirring update to its animated predecessor."

Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, praising the "fine cast, exciting action and spectacular visuals" and writing, "This is such a great-looking film, with amazing set pieces and dazzling action and colors so vibrant they would dazzle a Crayola factory, it will still play well on your home monitor. There are so many gorgeous shades of orange and magenta, blue and yellow, it's as if we’re seeing these colors for the first time."

"On one hand, the result isn't immediately recognizable as 'a Disney movie,' but neither does it establish its own narrative or visual signature, the way Tarantino did when remixing Asian influences for Kill Bill. This is pure pastiche, as Caro and her crew shamelessly pilfer from kung fu, Fifth Generation and Hong Kong action movies, incorporating anime and Bollywood touches as well."

"Mulan is a spirit lifter, and though it doesn't arrive as planned, it could not arrive at a better time", saying "Throughout Mulan, there are shots of such visual splendor that viewers will catch their breath. In one, the morning mist clears and reveals an army in the distance, with its flags and colors, a frightening yet strangely beautiful sight."

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ and described it as "a classic hero(ine)'s tale, exhilarating in its elaborate set pieces and large-scale ambitions even when the smaller human story within it sometimes falls short."

"Mulan is a heroic muddle, one that elicits both a disappointed sigh and an appreciative nod. It lays down a marker of progress achieved and progress to come."