Jason Scott Lee

In Mulan (2020), Jason Scott Lee’s Böri Khan looks capable of doing the damage a villain promises. Lee’s physical preparation gives the warrior weight, and the role fits a career in which demanding movement has often been central to the job. We value that seriousness, even in a film we cannot recommend. Niki Caro’s adaptation gives its characters too little attention, and Lee’s commitment makes us wish there were more for him to play.

His breakthrough as Bruce Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) showed how effectively he could combine physical grace with emotional depth. Jerry Poteet trained him in Jeet Kune Do for the part, but the preparation matters because it supports a performance with more to offer than athletic competence. The early leads also included Avik in Map of the Human Heart (1992) and Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1994). These were opportunities to develop a character across a leading part, before his work became increasingly concentrated in supporting roles.

The trouble with Mulan is not a shortage of things to look at. Its vivid colour and imposing costumes are pleasures, and Liu Yifei is a capable lead, but the people receive less care than their surroundings. We were frustrated by the hurried storytelling and fussy cutting, which left too little room to care about the characters. Lee’s conditioning helps establish Böri Khan as a physical threat; it cannot compensate for the film’s reluctance to spend enough time on the people involved.

His voice work as David Kawena in Lilo & Stitch (2002) is worth remembering when considering an actor so often discussed in terms of physical preparation. The shift from early leads to supporting work is not, by itself, evidence that his abilities have diminished. Nor should the diligence of his training become the whole case for appreciating him: we want to care about the person doing the fighting. Start with Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story for a fuller sense of the actor than Mulan allows.