Mulan Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

5. The Terrific Cast

Mulan also benefits from a spectacular live-action cast, led by a remarkable Liu Yifei in the title role.

Her personal controversies aside, Yifei's Mulan is an immensely likeable and easy-to-root-for lead, making Mulan equal-parts a charming - with her hilariously affected "man voice" - and emotionally engaging protagonist.

Elsewhere, veteran character actor Tzi Ma is fantastic as Mulan's tortured father Hua Zhou, and the legendary Donnie Yen is a stoic delight as the forthright Commander Tung.

On the villain side, Jason Scott Lee and Gong Li give appropriately hammy turns as Bori Khan and Xian Lang respectively, though more on them later.

With the exception of Jet Li's dub-compromised performance, the ensemble cast delivers above and beyond expectations.