‘Mulan’ trailer: Liu Yifei stars in Disney’s live-action remake
After months of hype and controversy, Disney dropped the first official trailer Thursday for the live-action version of “Mulan.”
The Niki Caro-directed film depicts a woman (Liu Yifei) masquerading as a man to stop the Hun invasion of China when her father’s too infirm to fight. From the looks of the new clip, the sword-and-clogs epic will remain faithful to the storyline of the 1998 animated hit.
“Your job is to bring honor to your family — do you think you can do that?” the title character’s ailing dad (played by Tzi Ma) intones in the trailer.
From there, it’s off to the races as the gender-role-bending warrior strives to defeat diabolical witch Xian Lang (Gong Li) and save China — all while hiding her identity from her countrymen. Along the way, she encounters the no-nonsense Commander Tung (Donnie Yen), the Emperor (Jet Li) and some kickass sidekicks, including a fire-breathing phoenix.
However, much to diehard fans’ chagrin, iconic songs such as “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” won’t be making an appearance, Variety reports. It seems the live-action “Mulan” will instead focus on CGI creatures and sweeping martial-arts battle scenes.
The film’s biggest hurdle, however, came months before the trailer’s release. In August, Hong Kong protesters urged fans to boycott the flick, alleging the film’s star, Liu, is anti-democracy and pro-police.
“Mulan” is slated to hit theaters March 27.