‘SPOILER ALERT’

the film opens As the sun rises over a village in China with a former soldier

narrates the story of his daughter Mulan Since she was a child, Mulan was always fearless and heading into trouble

She chases a chicken throughout the village and she accidentally breaks the wing of a phoenix statue

she runs across the rooftops, but one of the tiles slips causes her to fall but Mulan catches her balance, and lands safely

her mother talks to her father about Mulan’s behavior

she feels worrying, because Mulan will not bring honor to the family as a wife

and that her sister will be more of a viable wife

her father talks to her about the legend of the phoenix, who is meant to be the guardian of the Emperor and He acknowledges that Mulan has a strong chi

but thinks that chi is for the men only

he is confident that Mulan will find a way to bring honor to her family in some way

Years later, on the Silk Road

a witch kills and assumes another man’s identity near an imperial garrison

A team of Rouran soldiers led by Bori Khan

soon storm their way into the garrison

killing several men and terrorizing other citizens

The Emperor is informed that the Rourans are making their way toward the Imperial Palace and he knows who Bori Khan is

because the Emperor killed his father in battle many years ago

He orders that every family in China send their strongest sons into battle

Meanwhile, Khan sets up camp with the soldiers and the witch

although she knows she possesses more power than he ever will  she claims is subservient to him

and He wants revenge against the Emperor for his father’s death

as well as the downfall of the whole Rouran army, and believes nobody will stand in his way

Mulan and her sister are both called to meet with the Matchmaker, so that she may find them proper husbands

After receiving a makeover  the sisters visit the Matchmaker

A spider comes down from the ceiling and Mulan tries to hide it by covering it with a teapot

but the Matchmaker insists that the teapot remain in the center of the table

The spider pops out again and freaks her sister out causing her to flip the table over

Mulan is able to catch the cups and teapot, until her hair comes undone and covers her face causing her to drop and shatter everything

The Matchmaker chastises the family  claiming they failed to raise a proper daughter

As the family starts walking back home, an emissary from the Emperor arrives to call upon the men in the village

to take up arms  and fight in the battle against the Rourans

When Mulan’s family is called  her father visibly weak and crippled walks without his cane to accept the scroll but he falls before the village

Mulan attempts to help but her mother tells her she will only humiliate her father further

Later during dinner, Mulan tries to argue why her father, should not go into battle but he is adamant

that it is his duty  as the man to follow through with the orders and fight

After dinner  Mulan watches her father trying to wield his sword but is too frail to do so

Knowing she cannot let her father risk his life Mulan takes her father’s sword and armor then she rides away on their family horse to join the Chinese army

In the morning, Mulan’s family discovers that she has taken the sword and the armor and they worry

that if the Rourans do not kill her first the Chinese army will when they discover her lie

her father asks the phoenix statue to watch over her

Mulan and her horse travel a great distance, but she cannot find her way to the army camp

The phoenix appears and guides her all the way leading her to the other soldiers

While on line to check-in  a large soldier taunts a smaller soldier and she is knocked down in the scuffle

Another soldier tries to help her up mockingly and she draws her sword on him, who does the same

They are stopped by the Commander, who tells them fighting is forbidden

Mulan introduces herself to him as Hua Jun and he orders her to fall back in line

The soldiers begin their training, including a rigorous challenge that sees the soldiers carrying buckets of water with their arms stretched out all the way up to the top of a large hill

One soldier who is caught cheating, is expelled from the army

Mulan shows off her skills showing the soldiers what she is capable of

at the same time, Bori Khan gathers his men in his tent  to discuss their battle plan

The soldiers don’t care for vast riches, but more for the power and revenge that Khan is after

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He promises them that and reminds them that the witch

who is there under her guise as a hawk only serves him

After she brings this up to him later, he stands by his word since he found her after she was exiled from her village for her powers

They spot another nearby garrison and make plans to attack

They do so in the morning, and kill more soldiers

The commander calls Mulan into his tent  noting the use of her chi and saying that his own chi is strong too

He thinks that she is holding back due to her father’s legacy  since he found alongside her father before

Mulan later goes back to the lake  to try and practice balancing her chi

After more intense training

Mulan is able to complete the challenge up the hill before anyone else to the amazement of all the other soldiers

However, Mulan feels dishonest when repeating the three virtues engraved on her father’s sword

Loyal Brave and True

She returns to the commander’s tent  with the intention of revealing herself

but he thinks she is just nervous, because they are heading into battle against the Rourans the next day

the commander also suggests that when the battle is over he would like to introduce her to his daughter

Mulan later, spends time around the fireplace with her fellow soldiers

to give them inspiration

The next morning, the soldiers gather as the Rourans approach

and They head into battle  with a small team of Rourans taking out the charging Chinese soldiers  except for Mulan

Although she manages to kill some Rourans, she is found by the witch, who knows that she is lying and After a brief fight with the witch, Mulan escapes her clutches, and then decides to follow her words

She undoes her armor  and lets her hair down

returning into battle stronger  and more capable the witch transforms into a flock of crows that attack the soldiers

When they shield themselves together

the Rourans use this against them, by hurling fireballs at them with a catapult severely taking out many of them

Thinking quickly, Mulan rides her horse around the Rourans

and tricks them into thinking the soldiers snuck up behind them by using their helmets mounted on spears

The Rourans launch a fireball in that direction  only to hit a mountain and cause an avalanche

The Rourans are wiped out, while the remaining soldiers just barely make it out alive

After the snow has settled

Mulan emerges to reveal herself to the soldiers as a woman

the commander expels her from the army

but she would rather die  than return home in disgrace and he orders Mulan to leave

On her way home, Mulan breaks down until the witch arrives to taunt her

She tells Mulan that she did once want to take the noble path

but her exile and ridicule from others, led her down the dark one

the witch tries to get her to join forces  telling her that Khan is heading toward the Imperial City to kill the Emperor

and not heading down the Silk Road  as the commander was led to believe

This encourages Mulan to head back  to warn the soldiers

She catches up to them on their path, and tells the commander about Khan’s true plans

Although the commander is not ready to listen to someone who lied to him  the other soldiers believe in Mulan

the witch makes it to the Imperial City  by assuming the guise of the Emperor’s Chancellor and claiming that Bori Khan wants to challenge him, to a duel personally

The Emperor obliges and heads out to fight

Meanwhile, Mulan leads the soldiers into the Imperial City by attacking the Rourans

the commander orders the soldiers to fight

but to guard Mulan so she makes it to the Emperor

at the same time, the Emperor fights off some Rourans, before ultimately being ambushed by Khan and his men  leading to his capture

Mulan makes it to the palace but only finds the witch

Although the witch thinks it is too late for her  Mulan assures her that she still has a chance to make things right

She asks her to help lead her to the Emperor but the witch morphs into a hawk and flies away, only for Mulan to follow

the witch makes it back to Khan  tells that a warrior woman is leading the Chinese army and that she will come for him

Knowing the witch deliberately  led Mulan to him

khan fires an arrow at Mulan but the witch flies in and takes the arrow in the back

Mulan catches her, as she returns to her human form and dies

Mulan finds him and the Emperor atop a construct, where he plans to burn the Emperor alive

She attempts to fight Khan with her sword, but she ends up losing it when it falls into molten lead

However, with help from the phoenix, Mulan regains her chi and continues to battle Khan

They jump onto a platform, where Khan nearly causes Mulan to lose balance and fall

but she gains the upper hand, takes his sword  and cuts the rope to sever the platform and send him falling

As she goes to free the Emperor, Khan attempts to kill him with an arrow

but the Emperor to catch it and give it to Mulan, who fires it back into Khan’s chest

finally killing him

A celebration is held for Mulan’s victory and The Emperor offers her a position as an imperial guard in his army

but while Mulan is very grateful for the offer, she feels that she has been away from her family for too long

The Emperor respects her decision  as he feels devotion to family is a major virtue

Mulan returns to her village to find everyone astonished at her return

her sister is with the Matchmaker, but stop when she knows her sister has returned

Mulan embraces her and their mother

before her father steps out

Mulan apologizes for going against him, and for losing the sword but her father says that she is the most important thing for him  and they embrace

Soon, the commander arrives with other soldiers, to inform Mulan’s family and the rest of the village

about her hand in saving the Emperor and the Imperial City leading everyone to cheer and the Matchmaker to faint

and he presents Mulan with a new sword, that contains the same three virtues as before

he says that the Emperor insists Mulan reconsider her choice in joining his army

As Mulan looks up to the sky to see the phoenix once again her father closes his narration by saying that his daughter would become a legend.