Mulan’s Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Falls Well Below Critics Score

Critics and fans don’t seem to agree on the quality of Disney’s live-action Mulan movie. According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, critics are enjoying the new Mulan. The film’s earned a 79% “certified fresh” rating on the site, with a critical consensus that reads, “It could have told its classic story with greater depth, but the live-action Mulan is a visual marvel that serves as a stirring update to its animated predecessor.” But the audience score tells a different story. At 56%, the film’s audience score is more than 20 points lower than the critic score and ranks as rotten.

One single-star fan review says, “So many missed opportunities and strange edits after postponement from the pandemic. Couldn’t you smoothen it out when you have extra time to polish the product. The CG is very jarring and perhaps not much can dazzle the audience now. Hardly ‘historically accurate’ considering all the witches and wire-work-assisted flying stunts” A two-star review reads, “Animated was way better, it’s a meh. Could have been alot better.”

Another one-star review says, “Painful plot holes, clumsy screenwriting, inconsistencies and contradictions. Not a single dimensional character. Humorless and lifeless. It’s a kids movie so what can you expect. Disney doesn’t need talented directors, screenwriters, or actors anymore. Just create a hollow shell of a movie that looks good in trailers and rest on their laurels. What happened to adroit storytelling? Skip if you can. Life’s too short to be duped by their remake cash-cows.”

ComicBook.com rated Mulan 4 out of 5 in its review, calling it the best of Disney’s live-action remakes. Charlie Ridgley wrote, “There’s an undeniable soul to Mulan that is as rooted in Chinese culture and folklore as it is in the animated movie we’ve all come to love. It’s truly the best of both worlds and I’m just disappointed I can’t see it in theaters.”

Mulan is a live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated movie, based on the Chinese folk tale of “The Ballad of Mulan.” The live-action film stars Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Ron Yuan, Gong Li, and Jet Li. Niki Caro directed the film from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mulan is not seeing a theatrical release in North America and is instead available on Disney+ through Premier Access. It will release theatrically in some international markets.