Raya and the Last Dragon

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots 6/23/2021 3:58:53PM 8.4

It’s terrific to see the animated movies continuing to evolve, and “Raya and the Last Dragon” is the latest film that takes the traditional idea of a Disney heroine and makes a huge leap into a welcome new direction. This magical fantasy / adventure tale features inspired characters, beautiful animation, and a culturally accurate representation of Asian mythology. It’s a terrific movie on all levels. Long ago in the make-believe world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. There was a complete balance to the world until an evil force known as the Druun began to threaten the land. This sinister tribe of shadow monsters rose to power by feeding off the discord of humans, and the dragons decided to sacrifice themselves to save all of humanity. New unrest nearly 500 years later has resulted in the five divided lands of the kingdom refusing to co-exist in peace, giving rise to the Druun once again. Determined to preserve the world she loves, lone warrior Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) decides to track down the last living dragon and use its magic to save Kumandra. Raya is a trailblazing heroine, and she’s one that’s easy to admire and love. Her determination never falters as she learns the value of teamwork and trust along her journey. The film’s main characters are all female, from the last dragon Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina) to Raya’s adversary Namaari (voiced by Gemma Chan). There’s a magical relationship between Sisu and Raya, two unlikely friends that discover in each other that exactly little spark that each of their lives were missing. Even better, Raya collects a group of misfits along her journey, reinforcing the idea that heroes can come from the most unlikely places. The film’s group of directors (Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, and John Ripa) has created original characters that are unlike others you’ve seen before, and the beautiful animation brings them to life. Sisu is a gorgeous pastel-hued dragon with a personality to match (Awkwafina is the MVP in the cast). Raya is a new kind of Disney “princess,” one who knows how to take charge and can kick butt. There’s so much for everyone to love here, even if some of the goofier gags (like a thieving baby who is far more irritating than cute) may take viewers out of the overall experience. The story is exciting and the elements of mythical adventure are spirited, making “Raya and the Last Dragon” one of the more interesting films to come out of Disney in a while. It’s an animated feature with a positive, sincere message, lively action scenes, and a sweet tale of friendship that can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Kamurai 6/23/2021 3:58:56PM 8.4

Great watch, would watch again, and do recommend. I heard a lot of noise about it being a rip off of this, or a rip off of that, long short that it was a non-original cash-grab. I honestly don't see what people were talking about, other than it was an Asian-ish themed animation, and those people are just unfamiliar with Eastern anime, poor things. This feels like an untold, if not unique, world, mythology, and great characters. My big problem with this movie is that it is fueled by stupid. I honestly expected them to fight over the magic thing, but the incompetence of stealing a thing that keeps the world from ending, let alone breaking it into pieces is a bit much. It actually pushes it over into a horror movie territory, and it shows at one point. There was also the bit where they show us a movie they skipped before this one, but it may not have been the best to start a franchise. This movie feels like an old timey fable, it gets dark, and there is a lesson to be learned. I found it full of fun, adventure and action, not to mention top quality animation. It is well worth the watch.

Per Gunnar Jonsson 5/16/2024 3:21:17PM 8.4

Me and the kids watched this movie, one of the latest works of Disney, the other evening. I am pleased to be able to write that we found it quite good actually. It is always with some worry that I approach anything that comes from Disney these days given how their woke brigade have screwed things over lately. This movie however, seems to be more or less back to old and working recipes and free from (too much) woke nonsense. Maybe Disney execs have finally realized that letting the woke brigade, SJW’s and cancel culture have any say whatsoever in the creative processes hurts the bottom line. It is a good adventure story surrounded by lots of colorful characters, great scenery and lovely animated creatures. Just how a animated Disney movie should be. Some, probably self proclaimed, culture elite called it a “mediocre and repetitive story”. That is just such a load of bullshit but unfortunately the stupid algorithms on IMDb’s website calls it a “top review” and puts it on the front page of the movie (which is why I noticed it). Given that the movie currently hold a 7.4 rating on IMDb, 81% on TMDb and even the usually useless Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating well above 90% I’d say this bloke is a minority. Raya herself was quite likable but her main adversary was rather bland in my opinion. However, the characters surrounding Raya was making up for this. I quite liked Boun, I definitely liked Tong and I just loved the baby and the three small rascals causing mischief everywhere they went. The dragons where okay, Sisu was rather fun but they were all more like cuddly pets than real dragons with any real powers except for some parlor tricks. I did like the ending with all the Dragons being back though. In good Disney tradition there were plenty of side characters and environmental gadgets etc… that threw in some additional laughs here and there. As I wrote above, this was pretty much what would expect from Disney, the good Disney that we used to know that made fun movies for all ages.