'Mulan' Featurette Spotlights The Film's Incredible Stunts

Disney has released a new featurette spotlighting the stunts and the action of their upcoming live-action remake of Mulan directed by Niki Caro.

The film was always going to be action-forward, as the movie is set during wartime and follows a young woman who disguises herself to fight in the Chinese army. But with a cast stacked with martial arts masters like Donnie Yen and Jet Li, and stars with a history of fighting onscreen like film's star Liu Yifei, Mulan may feature some of the best action sequences in a Disney film. Watch the Mulan featurette below.

"I loved creating the stunt sequences in this film. The action is explosive," director Niki Caro says in the featurette, kicking off a series of — well — explosive scenes in which the cast of Mulan cross swords, spears, and fists. But they do them all with the elegance of a Chinese wuxia movie, Liu Yifei especially scaling walls and jumping off roofs in a way that recalls films like Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

"This is an action movie, but it's also beautiful to look at," first assistant director Liz Tan adds.

Trained by stunt coordinator Ben Cooke, the martial arts newbies were put through three months of training to learn how to handle weapons and fall correctly, while presumably, Yen and Li jumped in to show everyone else how it's done. The result are some truly incredible-looking action sequences that we get a peek at in the above featurette.

"It's not just action for action's sake," Caro said. "It's all coming from character or from story. Every action is very meaningful. The stunt sequences are epic...You've never seen anything quite so extraordinary in your life."

Yifei Liu as Mulan; Donnie Yen as Commander Tung; Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan; Yoson An as Cheng Honghui; with Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor.

The film is directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Elizabeth Martin & Lauren Hynek based on the narrative poem "The Ballad of Mulan."

Here is the synopsis for Mulan:

When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation...and a proud father.

Mulan hits theaters on March 27, 2020.