Do you need a movie to watch this Friday for movie night? I have the best movie for you: Mulan! Which Mulan you want to watch depends on your age and what kind of movies you like to watch. First, you have the animated Disney version which came out on June 5, 1998. Then, you have the live action remake which came out on September 4, 2020. Let me help you choose which movie to watch! But first let me tell you the general story:

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    This story takes place in China. The emperor had killed one of China’s biggest rivals so everyone was happy, but now the rival’s son is here and he wants revenge. The royal army needs reinforcements, so the king makes a royal decree. He says that one man from every family in China must contribute to the war by joining the army and go through very challenging training. In the meantime, things are not going well for Mulan either. She must get married, so she visits the local matchmaker. Mulan was never very good at acting like a lady, so she does not do well on the housewife test. After the meeting, the matchmaker comes out and announces to the village that Mulan’s family failed to raise a proper woman. Around the same time the matchmaking meeting ends, the soldiers arrive at the village, commanding one man in every house to join the army and defend China. Mulan’s father is badly injured and Mulan knows that he cannot survive another battle. Since he is the only man in the family, he has to join the army. The night before the first day of training camp, Mulan sneaks downstairs, steals her dad’s armor and sword.  She rides to training camp on her dad’s horse. She dresses as a boy and tries to act like a boy to fit in, but it’s hard. In each movie, Mulan faces different problems to fit in and not expose her lie. In both movies though, she turns out to be the best fighter on the team! Eventually, she reveals who she is, and Mulan makes amends with the soldiers and her parents. Together she and her new army friends stop the bad guy(s) and save China!

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    I watched both of these movies at home with my sister and cousin, who are both kindergarteners, and my parents. The grown-ups and I thought both movies were fantastic and sent a very good message. On the other hand, the little kids thought the 2020 version was scary. My opinion is that if you are a kid under 7-6, (or if you are watching Mulan with someone that age), you should watch the animated version.

    The live version is not as kid-friendly. The reason that the 2020 Mulan movie is rated PG-13 is because there is a lot of sword fighting and violence. My little sister and cousin were both frightened during a few points in the new movie, mostly because there was a lot of violence, but also because of one of the new characters.

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    Which brings us to the next topic, the shapeshifter a.k.a. the evil sorceress a.k.a. the “witch”. I am putting that in quotation marks because in the movie, Bori Khan (the main villain) calls her a witch but she doesn’t like it. Her actual name is Xianniang, and she is like the villain’s sidekick. She is very mysterious, and she can go into someone else’s body temporarily. Then, whenever Xianniang wants to, she takes control of the body again and the person turns into her, forever. Watch the movie for more details and examples.

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