Mulan Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

2. The Strong Villains

It's probably fair to say that few would rank the original Mulan's antagonist Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer) among their favourite Disney villains, no matter how deliciously menacing the late, great Miguel Ferrer was in the role.

But this also gives the new Mulan plenty of room to explore new villains without leaving many fans miffed, and to that end the live-action antagonists are arguably superior to the animated equivalent.

Shan Yu is basically re-imagined here as Bori Khan, a supremely badass-looking warrior played with gleeful menace by Jason Scott Lee.

But he's easily outdone by shape-shifting witch Xian Lang, who ultimately proves to be far more interesting a character than she first appears, aided by Gong Li's knowingly over-the-top performance.

Needless to say, this isn't another Disney tentpole with a forgettable batch of personality-devoid villains.