Disney's Mulan Box Office, Mixed Reviews, Flop or Not!

 

Disney's "Mulan" grossed $22.7 million dollars on its opening weekend and was praised by at least the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs . 

Retelling the story of the Chinese female warrior, the Fa the legendary Mulan , received a strong backlash even before its official release when star Liu Yifei voiced her support for Hong Kong police as they cracked down on democracy protests last year. 

This week Disney faced calls for a global boycott of the filming of Mulan in Xinjiang, where human rights violations against the region's Muslim population have been widely documented, and out of gratitude to regional authorities at the end of the film's screening. 

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday brushed off the controversy.

"The film thanked the regional government of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has triggered controversy, however, I think it's very normal for the film to thank the convenience provided by the government of Xinjiang," said Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson for the ministry.

Zhao also praised the actress Liu Yifei by calling her the real "daughter of the Chinese nation."

Mulan's film premiered in China on Friday and sold about 41 million Yuan of tickets in the afternoon, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. 

But this film, which many people have seen online, has drawn a lot of bad reviews with a rating of 4.7 out of 10 on the popular user review site, Douban. 

Some disliked the film's distortion of the original story with a new storyline, while others criticized the action scenes. 

Another film reviewer added that the storyline was bad. He also commented that the martial arts in the film were not strong. 

Other reviewers have questioned why there were not more actors of Chinese nationality involved in the film. 

Meanwhile, some also praised the film for depicting an extraordinary woman. 

Amid the furor, the hashtag "Mulan" appears to have been deactivated on China's Twitter-like Weibo, as the tag did not appear in search results on Friday. 

French media AFP understands that some state media have also been told to avoid covering the film. In Beijing cinemas, however, some moviegoers are unaware of the international protests.

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