Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Find the dragon, save the world.
By the time this review comes out, I’ll be somewhere else catching a little R and R away from the snow and cold. Considering where this vacation is taking place, I’ve opted to go with a somewhat-fitting movie - less so for anything to do with the movie and more with whose behind it. Might as well leave a little magic behind when visiting the “most magical place on earth” am I right? Tonight, we find out why dragons are all the rage with Raya and the Last Dragon.
Back in the old times of a fantasy land, evil spirit-creatures roamed about turning people into statues. Dragons, who brought water and life to the world, teamed up to banish the evil by combining their magic into a crystal, but in doing so sacrificed themselves. Humans, the root of the problem really, ended up going to war with each other over the magic crystal instead of banding together as the dragons wished, but years went by with the evil gone from the world and left to just human-on-human sorts. The leader of the Heart faction calls together the others in hopes to band everyone together and create the promised land the dragons dream of - but things go wrong when one faction makes a grab for the crystal and it ends up being broken - releasing the evil spirits back into the world.
The story proper follows Raya and her quest to mend the world - but specifically just to get her dad back, who was turned to stone saving her years ago. She succeeds in finding the last dragon, but quickly finds out that’s just the start of the quest and the dragon needs to be powered up by getting all the broken crystal fragments together - which are currently being held by the other factions. Along the way she’ll make some new friends, and everyone will learn what it means to be a dragon and maybe even how to trust one another. It’s nothing outside of what you’d expect form a Disney movie - or any family oriented movie really. That’s not to say it isn’t good - just that it’s nothing mind blowing. With that comes all the expected moral bits - how people should be good to each other, how the commonly aren’t, and how all it takes sometimes is for someone to take the first step.
Actors do a fine job here. Lines are delivered well, and there’s a good amount of emotion to the deliveries so it doesn’t really ever feel as though it’s just being phoned in. You aren’t really ever taken out of the experience by a character - but there will be some where you may not enjoy them as much as others. The dragon is a nice trusting contrast to the jaded Raya, and most of her other side characters are quite the characters - from con babies to flamboyant boat captains to potentially slower warrior guy. They all play their parts during when the movie wants them to, and as far as the moral progression of the main character they help out - but they are still side characters compared to Raya and the Dragon, and even her main competition.
Today, we summon Captain Planet.
The entire movie technically falls into the effects category, given it’s all animated. That being pointed out, it does all look good. There’s some style to it- they didn’t go for photo-real and uncanny valley, even though it is a lot of human characters and the likes. It works well for the story they are telling, and at times it actually looks down right impressive. It very much all feels oriental inspired when it comes to the dragons and Raya, although there’s some other influences here and there visually when it comes to character outfits or buildings as well. It makes a nice mix, even if it does somewhat water down to a Captain Planet style situation where you get “the desert tribe” and “the thieving water tribe” and “the frigid barbarian tribe” sort of thing. That comparison probably isn’t helped by the fact that Raya’s tribe was the “Heart” tribe either.
Soundtrack is what you’d expect - but there isn’t any musical numbers, so at least those of us who aren’t fond of that aspect are safe to watch and not worry about having some catchy but annoying song tag along after the movie is done. It helps pop up the desired emotional attachments, whilst also adding excitement where it’s needed. Balancing is done well also, and you won’t have a problem understanding anybody but the baby - but that’s mostly because it’s a baby and it might as well be talking jibberish, not because you can’t hear it over other things.
Of course, there’s a bit to talk about in the deep-thought realms for the movie. I mean, any family movie always has some moral goals they are trying to teach or get out there - teach a kid something, you know? In this case, the main issue at play is trust - getting trust, keeping trust, breaking trust, and all the things at play around it .The main damaging event is caused by breaking trust, the remedy is to trust, and the goal of the story is everyone living together in perfect harmony. Of course, it’s a fantasy so it can get away with that - but there’s certainly times where I can fully agree with some character views on people as a general thought, even if I wish it was more the perfect world Ideology of Raya’s dad. You could probably find some other things in there to talk about as well, like bonding over trauma or the likes - but the movies main focus is the whole trust thing and people just getting along instead of being greedy jerks.
Fierce.
And that’s Raya. It’s a fun movie, and if you already watch a bunch of family-oriented animated movies, you’ll know what to expect and whether or not you’ll like it before going in. It looks good, it’s animated good, and the actors all do a good job with it - there’s no big musical numbers, but it does still have that same semi-basic moral plot to it. Fart jokes? Yeah, we have some fart jokes in there too - except this time it’s bug farts! Go in with a middle ground of expectations, and you’ll have a blast - particularly if the full-blown song and dance Disney flick isn’t your cup of tea. Leave room for yourself to be impressed for the best possible outcome, but this isn’t by any means a subpar movie - I’d admit it might actually even be a little better than average at worst.