Mulan Teases. Maleficent Flies Again.
Monday, July 8, 2019 at 10:30AM by Nathaniel R
It isn't enough for Disney that they have the top four box office hits of the year thus far (Endgame, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, and Toy Story 4) with The Lion King still on the way to make it a top five. No, they'd now like to remind you that they still have movies coming in 2019 and will also be dominating 2020. In the past 24 hours or so Maleficent: Mistress of Evil got another trailer and Mulan delivered its first teaser and poster. That's all after the jump...
MALEFICENT MISTRESS OF EVIL
Harris Dickinson speaks! The first full trailer was all Michelle Pfeiffer's narration and Angelina Jolie's naughtiness but this time the new Prince Philip gets to kick it off and his nuptial dreams are not sitting well with Maleficent. This trailer gives us a lot more of the plot and it's obviously Queen Michelle versus Maleficent for Princess Aurora's heart. But, guys, I'm worried about the acting in this one as much as I love these actresses. It seems, well,... we'll reserve judgment. It's just a trailer.
MULAN
Yifei Lu stars as Mulan but Disney is obviously going to meter out the reveals from this movie because in this trailer there's no sight of three of Asia's biggest stars Gong Li (❤️), Jet Li, and Donnie Yen who are all in the movie somewhere. Other members of the cast include Jason Scott Lee (!) , Pei-Pei Cheng, Rosalind Chao, Tzi Ma as Mulan's father, and Yoson An who we believe is playing Mulan's commanding officer (and love interest ...of sorts) but they've changed some of the character names so we're not quite sure. It's also no longer a musical like the animated film and we don't think there's a pet dragon so at least this time they won't be able to do a full reenactment of an animated film only with actors... which makes it possible (theoretically that is) that this remake will actually be good since it will have to be its own thing! Good luck to all involved.
For Oscar freaks and below-the-line obsessives, please note that most of the crew have never been nominated but some of them are sure ready to be. The costume designer Bina Daigeler's filmography includes Only Lovers Left Alive, Biutiful, All About My Mother, Volver and recently The Zookeeper's Wife. The cinematography is by Mandy Walker (Australia, Tracks, Jane Got a Gun) who is still waiting on her first Oscar nomination. The Makeup designer is Denis Kum (Pan, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Whale Rider, Spartacus TV series) And the score is by Harry Gregson-Williams (The Martian, Chronicles of Narnia, Blackat, The Zookeeper's Wife). There is at least one previous Oscar winner on board though. Grant Major on Production Design is a four time nominee (all for Peter Jackson movies) winning his only Oscar for The Lord of the Rings: Return fo the King
Reader Comments (14)
Villanelle can't watch this trailer: Crush for Asian women with great hair ALERT
Ed- Mad love for working a Killing Eve reference into a Mulan piece. :)
Sorry, I could not resist. Just look how "FABULOUS B**CH" she uses her hair in the fight scenes x)
Not a quality judgement, but I wonder if Mulan and Little Mermaid can match the success of the last 2 big Disney live action remakes without being able to trade so easily on nostalgia. Mulan isn't using any of the songs (the most memorable part of the movie for millennials) and appears to be removing major characters. Mermaid meanwhile seems to be changing up the entire look of the characters. These might both end up being excellent creative decisions, but I have doubts about the commercial appeal being anywhere near the level of Beauty or Aladdin.
Major unpopular opinion: I think the songs in Mulan are the worst part of the original and are the weakest of the Renaissance movies. So I'm fine with them not being in this new one.
Although, why are they calling this a remake of the 98 movie when, from what they've been revealing, it seems to be a new adaptation of the original legand?
To my complete surprise, I actually have high hopes for Mulan.
"Mulan" had songs?! Gee I totally forgot about them. The trailer does look spectacular but is now Disney remaking everything in their library?
We can criticize Maleficent as much as we want - and with all the reasons - but at least they tried something different and funny, as with Alice, even if for that it betrayed the original concept of the story and the characters. With Maleficent they found the perfect star in Jolie who always carried in her public and cinematographic persona the "good bad girl" that apparently is dangerous but when we approach her we find she's not so bad, she is even full of ethical and moral principles, almost a saint with horns. Too bad the visual concept is so ugly for such a compelling cast that contains Ellen Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer. If it succeeds in box office - probrably will - they'll make a number three.
I almost didn't recognize Harris Dickinson with his clothes on...
It is a great article. You will surely like this also because it is a great stuff
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i'd choose the jolie campiness of maleficent over the girl powered sombreness of mulan
but, of course, i won't see either of 'em
Chris - Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
Nathaniel - It’s Liu Yifei not Yifei Lu. My mom knew her dad.
Magnolia is a great movie with a beautiful cast. I love watching this movie.
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