This movie tells the story of Mulan, who disguised herself as a male to take the place of her sick father in battle. The main focus of this movie isn't about a woman becoming a soldier, it is about what war does to us humans, and the sacrifices done to minimize the loss of life, and protect what we believe in. This movie is about human emotions. Ironically, the characters here make it a point not be emotional. before watching the movie, I was wondering why is the movie poster so somber and grim, why can't we watch Mulan's complete face. Now I ca appreciate how appropriate it is, bringing out the movie's theme and sentiment. The movie is pretty fast paced. The introduction of characters doesn't take long, and is straight forward, but shows enough charisma for us to care about them, and enough chemistry that you get taken by their feelings and brotherhood. It's my second time seeing Vicki Zhao, after Red Cliff. She's very different here. Her character here is solemn and serious. She isn't trying to impress anyone, or show off what girls can do. She starts off a fresh face, but we see her age and mature, her face worn out and exhausted. As for Kun Chen, it was my first time seeing him and boy was he swoon worthy! He had so much chemistry with Vicki Zhao that, they can be in a battlefield surrounded by people and blood, but you feel their intimacy and affection. The story does require some suspension of disbelief though. It is just too hard to believe that all though of Vicki Zhao as a man. Not only her looks, but her voice too is very feminine. Overall I liked the direction, the cinematography, but some scenes were cut too abruptly when we wanted to see more of what is going on. The use of flashback and explaining to us what is going on was annoying. I was thinking "enough telling, more showing". So we didn't get much war strategy and different methods of fighting. The focus was the sentiment and the outcome. The music was appropriate, though not too varying. If you are looking for a movie about humanity and the harshness war, a movie with strong leads, chemistry, and subtlety then this is the right movie for you. If you're looking for war strategies à la Redcliff and a more entertaining feeling, you may be (just a little bit) disappointed. If you are also looking for this great romance historical movie, this definitely is not it. I leave you with my favourite quote of the movie: - There are no heroes on the battlefield, only dead men and crazy ones -