If "Mulan" was made today...

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2018)

If "Mulan" was made today, instead of reviewing her lesson for the Lady matchmaker, she would be found trying some new moves with her father's sword. And the song "Reflection" would include a chorus where Fa Mulan would pull a "Let it Go" and say "But What I (Really) Want is...".
If "Mulan" was made today, the grandmother would have sided with Mulan all along and encourage her to follow her dreams. Which leads me to think that she wouldn't have alerted the family when Mulan left home to go fighting instead of Fa Zhou and maybe we wouldn't even have Mushu.
Speaking of Mushu, if "Mulan" was made today, we certainly wouldn't have Eddie Murphy as the voice actor. Though I'm not sure they would have made the effort to cast one Asian actor for every single character, the scene-stealing sidekick would have certainly been voiced by an Asian-American star. And why not? Listening to the little red dragon, I was wondering whether it was Axel Folley or the Donkey who got caught in a time loop that took him to the Han dynasty... and I wonder why they didn't try to get Jackie Chan for the part (was he that busy with "Rushmore"?)
If "Mulan" was made today, we wouldn't have the cricket because he would be as needless in 2018 than he was in 1998...
If "Mulan" was made today, she would have been a natural-born warrior impressing the soldiers with her skills from the very start instead of being that "adorkable" unexperienced maiden trying to pass for a man. Everything would have been done to tone-down the effect of her cross-dressing and reduce it to the cutting of her hair.
Speaking of which, if "Mulan" was made today, I'm not sure we'd have that badass synthetized score during the dressing moment. Not even sure we'd have so much music that scream "Nineties" (and yes, it came from Jerry Goldsmith, of all the composers!)
If "Mulan" was made today, a song like "Like a Man" wouldn't exist. (I wish they would keep the tune though because it's catchy as hell).
If "Mulan" was made today, Shan-Yu wouldn't have been turned into such a scary-looking villain in case it might offend Hunnish populations.
Now that one is risky: if "Mulan" was made today, would there be a romance? Would they keep the character of the young captain Shan?
Let's face it, "Mulan" is perhaps one of the few Disney movies where we don't get one but two heroes and Shang even follows a character arc as he starts as an inexperienced and prejudiced soldier trying to fit in his father's shoes to a more tolerant person. Mulan and Shang form a rather interesting "Yin and Yang" duo and I wonder if he would have been kept or just turned into some ruthless leader wrongly opinioned about women.
Still, let's stick to the romance. If "Mulan" was made today, would they have abandoned any prospect of a romantic relationship and avoid the possibility of two male-looking soldiers being romantically involved. Disney has so much to show, so many grounds to break, so many taboos to fight, that I don't think they would have missed that opportunity for one of the few stories involving cross-dressing. So I'll stick to my guns and say there would be a romance.
That said, if "Mulan" was made today, the romance would be one-sided and wouldn't distract Mulan from her mission. Well, as long as they keep that hilarious and risquÃ© "river-bathing" scene...
Now, of course, if "Mulan" was made today, it would be in 3D.
But if "Mulan" was made today, the Great Wall of China would look even greater but I don't think they could have made a more impressive sequence than Huns' epic riding over the mountains. This has got to be one of the most beautiful Disney shots from any movie ever on a pure Eisensteinian or Kurosawan level.
If "Mulan" was made today, she would still save the day by causing an avalanche but maybe the writers would have found a better way for our heroes to survive. I want Mulan, Shang, Mushu and the other fellows to live like the next watcher but there are so many insults to the laws of probability in three minutes of the avalanche sequences than maybe all the Renaissance Disney pictures of Disney. And my disbelief was suspended by a looser rope than the one thrown from over a cliff to land on Harvey Fiernstein's head.
If "Mulan" was made today, the climax would have kept the concubine cross-dressing but would have ended with an iron-crossing fight between Mulan and Shao-li.
If "Mulan" was made today, she would have accepted the job as the Emperor's counselor and never get back home to become a maiden again. Hell, Shang wouldn't have followed her. Wait a minute, of course he wouldn't have... since he's not supposed to exist so it all makes sense that Mulan ends up a counselor, then a general, then maybe the new Empress of China.
In fact, if "Mulan" was made today, there would be at least two or three extra female characters, maybe Shao-li would have a daughter who would have been the real nemesis, maybe Mulan would have a little sister (all right I cheated for that one) or maybe the empowering message would have been even more explicit, like "Brave", "Frozen" and "Moana" and would make 1998 Mulan original look like Snow White...
My question is: are there any girls who still don't give a damn about being warriors? Mulan did that out of love for her father and I just hope that will still be the key motive in the 2020 versions but I do expect a few changes to remind me how far we are from 1998... when Mulan was considered a progressive movie.
It's a matter of opinion but I believe it is.