It wasn’t shocking that the first preview for Disney’s live-action version of Mulan came out during the Women’s World Cup Soccer finals. This movie is all about women empowerment and what women are capable of, and the director and producers showed just that. The movie does lots of work to ensure the idea that being male or female doesn’t prove what you can and can not do.

The movie starts off with the Emperor of China announcing that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to protect the country from Northern invaders. Hua Mulan, the main character and eldest daughter in her family, secretly takes the place of her disabled father since he’s not capable of fighting. Mulan pretends to be a man and shows her strength and power to her greatest ability. She ties her hair back, wraps her chest, and lowers her voice to hide her femininity. Mulan’s journey throughout the movie teaches her to embrace her talent and not to hide her true identity.

Mulan needs to recognize her own power — a challenging task in the male-dominated culture where she lives. This is ironic since she is a better fighter than all the men in her army. Mulan realizes that the stereotypical female life isn’t meant for her. Every girl in their town is taught to be a wife, mother, and most importantly take care of her family. In this movie, unlike older Disney movies, there has rarely been a princess that needs saving. At the end of the movie, Mulan learns not to hide her unique talent.

Being that Mulan is a film about female empowerment, the shapeshifting sorceress, Xianniang, is extremely powerful. She doesn’t feel she belongs anywhere because she is a strong woman in a time where strong women were considered outcasts or even “witches”. Mulan and Xianniang have much in common as they are both talented women in an era dominated by the belief of male superiority. Throughout the movie, the two women stood up for themselves and demanded that the men listened to them. This formed a friendship and alliance, instead of a rivalry, despite the fact that they are on opposite sides of the war.

According to hollywoodfilm.com, Disney spent 200 million dollars on the making of the film, making it the most expensive Disney movie to date. The many sets, filmed in China and New Zealand, were beautiful and elegant. The costumes were also magnificently detailed. In a beautiful scene where Mulan goes to the matchmaker, the women in her family dress up in their finest clothes. They put on beautiful dresses and theatrical makeup.

Many students at Berkley High School watched and enjoyed this movie.

Sophomore Kylie Ritter says her favorite part of the movie was, “the action scenes because it was entertaining and suspenseful. The choreography was very well done when fighting. I especially enjoyed this movie because it gives a message that women are as strong as men and can do anything they can do.”

Freshman Lydia Mcintyre says the best part of the movie was “at the end when Mulan was returned with her family. I liked it because after all the violence she could reunite with the people she loves. I think the message was to be hardworking and letting people see you for who you truly are.”

Even though this movie on Disney plus was more expensive than most, they both concluded that this movie was worth the 30 dollars. This is because Michigan movie theatres have yet to open during the coronavirus pandemic.

The inspirational new movie conveys the message of equality of men and women and reflects how that should be normalized in our world. There is a stereotype currently that men are stronger than women, and this idea isn’t true. Through her endeavors, Mulan disproves many gender labels. This movie holds a very important lesson, which teaches young girls to own their power and to always be true to their identity no matter what.