Raya and the last dragon film review

4a65a48d879dc5c97cde1d341d118c94_4096x1715_439b7b1c.jpg — 60/100 “sweet/sour”

By: Keaton Marcus

Why couldn’t you just stick with Soul, Disney? Did you really have to give us another, far inferior animated movie to watch for 30 dollars on your service? Couldn’t it at least have been free? Why is it that the weaker movies you guys have released this year cost the most? There are so many questions to ask when discussing Raya and the Last Dragon, an adorable if painfully mediocre kids flick with all of the regular hallmarks present. Mystical lands, wondrous creatures, a strong, resourceful female lead, and some half-assed, filler emotional moments in place of what could have been more. The more I ponder the film the less I appreciate it, despite a whole lot of things it does right. It’s a mixed bag, truly, and it’ll definitely do the trick with the kiddies, but anyone older should likely steer clear unless watching for a family movie night. Honestly, the movie is acceptable for what it’s aspiring to be, a run-of-the-mill, surface-level animated film with hit-or-miss jokes, but looking at it from a perspective of disappointment, it really is a let-down.

Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. However, when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned, and it's up to a lone warrior to track down the last dragon and stop the Druun for good.

Obviously director Carlos Lopez Estrada plopped in a nice, cute message of unification between nations to remind kids that sharing is caring. What would it be without that little heartwearming theme that never attempted to be deeper, to reach the heights of Pixar’s films. Not to say that it failed at it either, because it certainly didn’t. There aren’t exactly moments of excellence in this film, but there are really good ones. Unfortunately, they take place at the typical, happy conclusion that lies in practically every animated movie these days. Critics, of course, are hyping this film up to be another masterpiece, but why? Because of its colorful aesthetic (we’ve seen better in a lot of Disney animation additions), or how it aligns with the politics of this year? I really can’t put my finger on it, much less have a surefire answer as to the reason so many people think this is a fantastic movie. The visual style is pretty at times, but at others it feels rather cartoonish and artificial, more like a DreamWorks project. The fight scenes are generally exciting and the action overall isn’t boring in any variation of the word, but a lot of it sadly is. This felt like a chore to get through a lot of the time, and as I mentioned, the frail attempts at humor didn’t exactly help the pacing’s cause. It’s just the same interaction with different characters over and over again until I simply tuned out near the end of the second act. It was one of the only times where I was legitimately dulled by a kids film.

I realize that I’ve been literally trashing a rather decent film from the beginning of this review, so let’s try to keep things positive from now on. Kelly Marie Tran kills it once again as she did with Rose in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Her exuberant, plucky and strong energy brings such life into the lead role of Raya. It’s never dull or boring to watch her kick ass on-screen, and I’m so disappointed that her performance was surrounded by an otherwise simple, generic film. In fact, the entire voice cast was extremely impressive. Awkwafina’s screen presence is always a joy to witness, and although her character was the stereotypical magical beast with little to no development, her effort at least paid off in multiple situations. I already briefly explained my opinion on the visuals, but admitedly, they were more or less a spectacle in a few fleeting moments. They obviously weren’t poor quality or anything the rest of the time, I was simply a little confused by how middling they seemed. Otherwise, although the pacing issues are there, I did have a lot of fun in the battles, and some of the jokes were actually really good. Some landed, some didn’t. I could also see that my little siblings were enjoying everything on-screen, so I have to give the film credit for keeping children entertained, which is likely the most basic purpose of this genre. It could have been worse, it could have been better. But overall, I’m sort of disappointed by how thematically light and boring it was after witnessing an experience like Inside Out, Coco, or Soul…All masterpieces of the genre.

$TREAM IT