How I would rewrite Mulan 2020

#2 Mulan takes Hua Zhou's place in the army

Anxious and devastated at her father's situation, Mulan makes the impulsive decision to take Hua Zhou's place in the army, under the guise of a son. She lifted her father's sword from the shelf and welded it lightly, showing a hint of hesitation as she tries to recall the moves she had learnt from her father when she was younger. Despite her rusty skills, she welded the sword with a stable hand and strength, unlike her father moments before.

Donning his armour, Mulan lit joss sticks and made one final prayer to her ancestors, asking for forgiveness and to watch over her family as she knew it was unlikely she will make it back alive. Mulan's hand shakes as she planted the joss sticks, a tear dropping down her face. With one final bow, she wipes her tears away and turns around, a look of determination in her eyes. She suppresses her fears in the face of the unknown dangers that lay ahead of her, and only keeps one thought in her head: To save her father.

Upon discovering that Mulan has taken his place in the army, Hua Zhou prayed earnestly to the Hua ancestors and the ancestral guardian spirit, the phoenix, to protect Mulan and to give her the wisdom and strength to survive.

The stone statue of the phoenix is illuminated by candle light in the darkness, as wisps of smoke from the joss sticks waft gently before it.

The journey to the army camp is long and arduous. Mulan is clearly not suited for it as she struggled to keep her strength up throughout, feeling the aches of her body as she stretched while riding her horse and fought her fatigue.

One night, as she set up camp to rest, she took the last apple from her bag. Contemplating, she rose to her feet and gave it to her horse instead. "Here, you need it more than I do, who knows how long we will be lost.". They had already been travelling for 5 days and still haven't found the base camp.

Sunlight shone on Mulan's face as morning arrived. She winces as she stirred from her sleep, body aching from the days before. A mysterious shadow flys overhead and passes overhead. Opening her blurry eyes, she sees a hazy image of what looks like a fiery orange-red bird that seemed to glow a golden light. Is this real? Or is this a hallucination, merely a dream Mulan has yet to awaken from? It looks like a phoenix, but phoenixes are legends, myths. Nobody can say they truly saw one in real life.

Mulan could not believe her eyes.

She rubbed them hard, and in her blurry vision she sees the bird fly north and swooping down the mountain. Another hard blink to clear up her sight, and the bird is gone. Mulan got up and rush towards the same direction, searching for the mysterious creature left and right.

Her eyes spotted somethign else instead. Smoke coming from a distance, towards the left of the base of the mountain. The base camp.

Relieved, she gathered up her things and her horse, making her way towards her final destination.

Note: I actually liked the idea of the writers changing the family guardian to a phoenix instead of a dragon. In recent Chinese culture, a phoenix is used to represent femininity, whereas a dragon is more of male representation. Hence, it is apt to use a phoenix to represent Mulan's spirit as she is a strong female, who rises up from the ashes, just like a phoenix. Interestingly, the phoenix was also used to represent the union of male and female, yin and yang, balance & harmony in the universe, representing virtue and grace. Mulan has managed to strike a harmonious balance between her masculine and feminine traits throughout the film. She is virtuous, staying true to the core values of loyalty, bravery, honesty and filial piety, and has conducted herself with grace no matter the circumstances.