Mulan - 2 nominations

 

Best Achievement in Visual Effects Sean Andrew Faden (as Sean Faden)  Anders Langlands  Seth Maury  Steve Ingram

Best Achievement in Costume Design Bina Daigeler

Mulan is exactly the story you saw when it was animated and set to music, but live and no songs.  Mulan is a pretty badass young woman who disguises herself as a man when the army demands one male from every family join to fight the Rouran warriors who have invaded Imperial China.  She does this to protect her father who, with a serious leg problem, would never survive the battle.  The training ends prematurely when her battalion is sent into battle and when she gets separated from her unit, she encounters a magic woman who tries, but fails, to kill Mulan.  When Mulan discovers that the true plan of the Rouran army is to kill the Emperor in a revenge attack.  Eventually, Mulan is forced to reveal her true gender, but she never gives up the fight.

I couldn't help it, I did have the soundtrack from the animated musical running through my head for most of the movie, even though the live action version differed slightly from the original.  No matter - the story was stronger as a live action narrative film, and in addition, the visual effects were stunning, as were the costumes.  I thought the movie might also get makeup and hairstyling and production design nominations, but I'm guessing that in both categories, they missed it "by that much."  The film was a feast for the eyes and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  A worthwhile watch.

Watch the trailer here.