Raya And The Last Dragon - Movie Review

Raya And The Last Dragon - Movie Review

Critic Score - 7 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

The latest film cut from the Disney cloth is here, Raya And The Last Dragon. It follows in the animated footsteps of Frozen and Moana. Does it come anywhere close to its Disney counterparts?


PROS - Raya And The Last Dragon follows the path of Raya as she searches for pieces of a dragon stone to save mankind and . . dragonkind? Raya meets Sisu, the last dragon, and they search for the pieces together. The animation, particularly of the dragon(s), is truly stunning. The fluorescent colors, the teals, blues and purples is gorgeous, I can’t wait to see it in HDR for all the 4K TV people out there. But if you go into a movie that is from Disney and is animated, we’ve come to expect these fantastic visuals. The voiceover work is also well done, Awkwafina is especially delightful, bringing originality and her bubbly personality to the multi-color haired Sisu.


The score to Raya by James Newton Howard is also exceptionally well crafted. He amplifies the moods of the film with his mixture of Indian and Oriental music styles, combined with some techno beats. As Raya and her friends get into some precarious situations, the music really does an effective job at selling the drama. Also the character design of Raya and the friends she meets on the way is very solid. But are the crafts alone enough to carry the whole movie?


CONS - Disney’s digitally animated resurgence from about the Frozen era onward has tried to bring to the screen something the hand drawn animation from yesteryear did all the time. The only descriptive word I can think of and that also happens to be the most cliche is, of course, magic.


The original songs and hand animation from the classic Disney films brought them to life in a way that no others have been able to. While Frozen and Moana, admittedly, were closer, most digital animation doesn’t come anywhere near. Raya is no exception. The writing and story feel contrived and hollow, every twist and turn feels like they’re just trying to throw us off instead of the story evolving naturally. Entertaining Raya may be, but it falls flat in any kind of emotional punch or engaging story line.


SUMMARY - Kids will be delighted and even most adults will be fine with watching Raya, with the occasional phone check. The visuals and score alone are worth the watch, I would even go so far as to say it’s a good movie. But Disney short handed the magic when they started sprinkling it on Raya and her Dragon.


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