6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
The epic story of the Chinese girl-warrior, Mulan, who fights to defend her father.
Starring: Wei Zhao, Jaycee Cho-Ming Chan, Rongguang Yu, Kun Chen, Jun HuForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 59% |
Action | 44% |
War | 24% |
Period | 6% |
Romance | 4% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (96kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Or at least try (singular) again. In 2008 Chinese director Jingle Ma helmed Mo hop jeung luk, which made it to various Western markets under the perhaps more poetic titles of The Butterfly Lovers and The Assassin's Blade (the title it was given for its Blu-ray release). As I mentioned in the review of The Assassin’s Blade, there was more than a passing reference to the folktale of Hua Mulan, the Chinese woman who dressed as a man and became a famous warrior (kind of Joan of Arc style), and who of course inspired the huge Disney hit Mulan. Not content to merely reference the tale of Mulan, Ma returned a year later with Mulan: Rise of a Warrior, a film which ostensibly offers a more “factual” depiction of the character who first appeared in the dim mists of time in an ancient Chinese poem which evidently first appeared as early as the sixth century but which disappeared in that version, only to resurface some five or six centuries later in the version which still entrances children of all ages today. Mulan’s story, while best known to contemporary audiences from its Disney version, has actually been a staple of cinema since the silent era. This is material certainly rife with possibilities, especially given China’s patriarchal and (to some outsider eyes, at least) sexist tendencies. And the fact that Mulan was a warrior of course opens up all sorts of possibilities for epic fight sequences. While Ma, working with a screenplay by Ting Zhang, tries to walk a tightrope between intimate character beats and the larger scope a story like this requires, the result is really rather curiously uninvolving a lot of the time, playing out like a series of tableaux rather than a compelling personal journey of a very unusual woman.
Mulan: Rise of a Warrior is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This Super 35 production has been fairly rigorously color graded at the DI stage in one of two ways, both clearly evident in the screenshots accompanying this review. Jingle and DP Tony Cheung favor either cool slate blue tones or slightly warmer amber hues. Perhaps surprisingly, neither of these choices really robs the image of much fine detail, and this high definition presentation offers a generally very precise, well detailed looking image. I was perhaps somewhat more pleased with the overall look of this Blu-ray than my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov was with the Hong Kong release, though like Svet, I also noticed some very minor ringing at times, which are most evident in some of the brightly lit shots. Contrast remains quite strong throughout this presentation, and the occasional use of CGI is quite effective, though it, like some other passing shots, are a bit soft in comparison to the bulk of the film.
Mulan: Rise of a Warrior offers Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mixes in both Mandarin and English. Toggling between these tracks reveals virtually no difference in the overall mix or amplitude, other than the obvious language differences. That said, as is usual with these choices, I personally would recommend the original Mandarin track, especially since some of the English voice actors (notably Wentai) just don't seem like a particularly good match for their characters. The Mandarin track has some incredibly forceful low end and features some really effective surround activity, especially in some of the set pieces, including the battles and a storm scene. Dialogue is quite crisply presented, even in some of the noisier scenes which also feature a fairly potent but never overpowering score. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is extremely wide.
Maybe three will be the charm for Jingle, for the definitive filmic piece on Mulan has yet to be made. That said, Mulan: Rise of a Warrior definitely has at least some things to recommend it. While Zhao is far too pretty and graceful to ever be mistaken for a man (despite her attempts to "butch it up" at times throughout the film), she's quite a winning performer and has a couple of standout scenes here that really nicely depict the emotional turmoil Mulan experiences as she forays into the male dominated world of warfare. The battle scenes are also quite well done and offer the epic scale a film like this cries out for. Less effective, at least for me, was the clunky romantic subplot and a couple of other tangents that robbed momentum from the main storyline. This Blu-ray offers great looking video and really well done audio. Recommended.
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