Mulan: Warrior Princess

It’s a story most will know from the 1998 Disney girl-power cartoon with the sappy songs and Eddie Murphy as a tiny dragon doing basically the same shtick he would do three years later as a Donkey in Shrek.  This film from directors Jingle Ma and Wei Dong, is a much grittier, more realistic telling of the tale of a young girl who disguises herself as a man to take her ailing father’s place in the emperor’s army. And, for anyone over the age of 12, it’s also much better. Sure, it’s hard to believe anyone would ever believe Wei Zhao was a man, even when she’s dresses up in armor, but her performance is strong enough that you won’t worry about it too much after the action starts. Speaking of which, the fights scenes in the movie are first rate, especially the big battles. The directors make sure, however, that the grand scale of the war never overshadows the drama being played out beneath the armor.