Despite the fact that Disney’s classic animated movies all expertly tugged on our heartstrings with their moving stories about love and family, the studio’s live-action remakes—while visually impressive—have largely been somewhat lacking in that emotional X factor, but the latest Mulan trailer suggests that might be about to change.
Mulan’s new trailer touches on a number of pivotal moments from Disney’s telling of the legendary Chinese heroine’s story in which she poses as a man in order to join the Imperial Army so that she can take her elderly father’s place. You see the fear Mulan has that she might be caught and exposed, but you also see the conviction she has to do what she believes is right. In addition to wanting to protect her father, she truly is a warrior at heart who’s more capable than any of her male peers to take on the surprisingly magical threat China’s facing.
Interestingly, Xian Lang the film’s villainous witch, has a fateful exchange with Mulan in which she lets on that she knows the secret she’s hiding and attempts to use it to threaten her resolve. But the movie’s soaring orchestral arrangement of “Who I Am Inside” that plays throughout the trailer makes it clear that regardless of what happens, Mulan has no plans of ever giving up.
Directed by Niki Caro, Mulan slashes into theatres March 26, 2020.