You know, when I opted to go back to the multiplex for the first time since getting vaccinated, I seriously considered going to see Raya and the Last Dragon. It was still at the local AMC, so why not give it a look? Disney, on its own, isn’t quite on par with Pixar when it comes to complexity storytelling in their better movies, but at least the animation would be good. Of course, then I learned if I would just wait a couple days, I could watch it at home on Disney+ without paying extra.
Yeah, I won’t pay $30 to get early access to something that I will only watch once and will be on the service anyway in three months or so, but now it’s back, and I can see the movie.
In the land once known as Kumanda, the mysterious Druun once rose up and attacked, turning any living thing they came into contact with to stone. The dragons, magical beings who brought the rain, scarified themselves in an attempt to stop the Druun, but it took the last one, Sisu, to use a magic orb to stop them, restoring the humans but not the dragons. Now divided into five separate countries of Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail, the different nations squabble and bicker all over the place. Raya (voice of Kelly Marie Tran), a princess in Heart (because of course’s she’s a princess), witnesses the Druun’s return when, during a peace conference led by her father, Fang attempted to steal the magic gem that kept the Druun away. The gem broke into five pieces, and while Raya got one, the other four went to the other four kingdoms as the Druun returned to turn everyone to stone again.
Raya believes she might be able to stop the Druun if she can just get Sisu back. She actually succeeds in finding the long lost Sisu, but Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina) is not exactly the powerful magic user the legends paint her as. She’s actually a very trusting, somewhat clumsy being who doesn’t really know much about the world aside from believing that maybe people are nice and helpful if you try, and giving a present is a good way to break the ice. But as the Fang princess Namaari (Gemma Chan) closes in on Raya, looking to get the gem pieces for her own country first, it certainly does seem unlikely that even with the combined gem that there can be any peace to Kumanada any time soon.
Now, this is Disney, so of course the animation is beautiful. I may miss old fashioned hand-drawn animation, but Disney generally knows what it’s doing with animation. Additionally, I really appreciate that this is an original story and a cast made up mostly by Asian actors from the United States or Britain (the big exception being Disney mainstay Alan Tudyk as Raya’s pet/ride Tuk Tuk). This is just an all-around solid movie set in an interesting world with fun characters. Sisu is the ultimate fish-out-of-water, a dragon who doesn’t get why humans can’t just be nice to each other while all the humans she meets know a thing or two about the long years of fighting that has been going on since the dragons all sacrificed themselves.
That said, what I said above about the difference between Disney and Pixar in terms of storytelling still holds true. There’s a very simple message to this movie, the sort that wouldn’t look out of place in a hand-drawn Disney feature. I will give the movie credit for only implying what caused the Druun, weird things that look like angry clouds full of purple lightning, instead of stating it outright. The conclusion to the movie didn’t really surprise me, but I didn’t really need it to. I had fun with this, but would have had a bit more fun if the story was just a little more mature, but that’s really Pixar’s balliwick. Still, this was a great flick that I am glad I saw.
Grade: A
0 Comments