Some new themes were suggested through the addition of Gong Li’s Xian Lang, a witch who, as a woman with strong qi, is similar to Mulan, and thus understands her more than others. However, character arcs for both characters feel incredibly truncated. Xian Lang suggests to Mulan that the only way to fully embrace her power is to reveal her true self, and in the next scene, that’s what happens. Mulan suggests that Xian Lang is not inherently evil, and in practically the next moment, the witch finds some measure of redemption. These moments aren’t allowed to build into anything truly satisfying, in large part because of everything else the movie needed to fit in.
