Raya e l'ultimo drago

Well, I was definitely looking forward to getting to sit down to watch "Raya and the Last Dragon" and I must admit that I had some expectations for this 2021 animated movie, no doubt about that.

And Disney definitely delivered with this animated movie. I will give them that much. Yeah, "Raya and the Last Dragon" was an enjoyable animated movie in many ways. First of all, the storyline was good, and it was one that was pretty straight forward and easy to follow. It wasn't cluttered down with an abundance of side plots and sub-stories, no it was straight forward and to the point. But perhaps that could be a double-edged sword, because that could also mean that the storyline didn't offer as much as it could have to some people? But hey, I was entertained.

Now, if you have an interest in Asian culture and mythology, there are lots of things to life in "Raya and the Last Dragon".

Then there were the characters. Indeed, there was an abundance of likeable and loveable characters here, from the small monkey-like creatures to the majestic dragons, and everything in between. I really liked the Raya character and also the dragon Sisu.

"Raya and the Last Dragon" has some pretty amazing and visually stunning-looking CGI animations. Wow. When you sit down to watch the 2021 "Raya and the Last Dragon", prepare to be bedazzled. I was in awe at the impressive CGI and art style they used for this animated movie. It looked very realistic, while still maintaining a sense of it being but an animated movie. But wow, the colors, the details, the sharpness to it all and the dynamic flow to it. Just made the entire animated world spring to life in a very believable and realistic manner. Thumb up, way, way up to the CGI department here.

And with "Raya and the Last Dragon" being an animated movie, then of course having the right selection of voice performers is crucial. And yes, they most certainly had that here. With a majority of Asian voice performers, I must admit that I was impressed. And I am glad to see - well, hear, technically - Kelly Marie Tran back on the screen. I am not familiar with Awkwafina, but she really nailed the voice performance for Sisu.

If you are just going to watch one animated feature in 2021, let it be "Raya and the Last Dragon", trust me. This one offers something for the entire family. I sat down to watch this with my 11 year old son and we were both loving it.

My rating of "Raya and the Last Dragon" lands on a well-deserved eight out of ten stars. I was initially going to rate it a seven, but the impressive CGI really upped the game here.

I applaud Disney for making this animation that celebrates diversity. However, the story is not very good. I get annoyed by the endless poor decisions that the characters make. The dragons look more like Monsters Inc characters than dragons that are depicted in Asia.

Yet another brilliantly done animation movie which is absolutely absorbing and should please audiences of all age groups. The movie has an Asian background and the antagonist is Raya, a warrior princess on a mission to bring back a dragon gem which will then help to bring back her father who has been turned into a stone statue by evil spirits. All this she does with the help of Sisu the last dragon who converts into human form for the mission. The plot keeps us glued to the screen since it has all the elements of an emotional drama ( father -daughter relationship) .The kingdom is split into 5 parts resembling the parts of a dragon starting from Fang, then Heart, Spine, Talon and finally Tail. So there is a mission, an assorted crusader group from the 5 areas, a few evil spirits ( the druuns), some adventures on the way, a bit of betrayal by a member, death of a member, and finally a fight to gain the gem which breaks into 5 pieces. Now Princess Raya has to retrieve and reassemble the 5 pieces to make the gem whole again and achieve results. ( Similar to mission of Avengers end game ?).

There are a few nicely done scenes like a hand to combat of princess Raya and princess Namaari, dragons dancing and flying all over the landscape, Vietnamese boats area etc. The dialogue speaks of trust, togetherness and peace like " Maybe the world is broken due to lack of trust" and " We are a world of orphans because we are fighting over a piece of gem". Very relevant to what is happening in our world today.

'Raya And The Last Dragon (2021)' has a strange tone that actually sees its comedy clash immensely with its drama, rather than compliment it. It doesn't help that the opening is pretty much played straight and that there is a rather serious undercurrent running throughout the entire affair. It also has an odd pace that kind of makes it feel like a video-game truncated into two hours, awkwardly squashed to fit its medium. These issues are particularly frustrating because there are segments in which the movie truly is great. Rather than being outright bad, its least successful moments simply pull down its most successful ones and make the overall affair less effective than it clearly could have been. Still, it's not as if the flick isn't enjoyable. For the most part, it's a solidly entertaining experience with some unique aesthetics and appropriately amazing animation. The fact that it was completed almost entirely from home due to COVID-19 is especially impressive; it looks and moves just as good as any of Disney's recent efforts, if not better. One highlight is certainly its fight scenes, which typically have quite a bit of weight to them and emulate something seen in a proper martial arts flick (though they're obviously less violent). In the end, this is a mostly fun but occasionally frustrating adventure. Despite its issues, it proves that people can pull together to create compelling no matter what the circumstances may be. 7/10.

The movie's basically another allegory on greed and how it can tear humanity apart.

Now the plot's lack of originality would've been fine if they had a strong cast and some solid writing to build upon. But sadly, they were more concerned over the number of characters they could shove into the film than they were with actually developing said characters into actual people.

They keep cracking jokes and pop culture references instead of holding conversations that would could've added depth or provide a much more organic build-up to trusting and accompanying Raya -- a lone wanderer. They do have their somber moments, but it's brief and doesn't really do much in terms of establishing their bond over lost loved ones. It feels formulaic.

Back to the theme, I get it. People are inherently greedy. Greed is bad and destroys communities. It's overdone and the movie constantly bashes the audience's heads over it. Especially Sisu, who's the worst offender of the bad off-timed

I gotta admit that Raya does have great visuals and fluid animation. However, the dragons just pull you right out of the immersion. They stood out like sore thumbs with their wacky colors and fur, similar to those silly caterpillars with googly eyes. I bet they designed these "sacred dragons" with the intention to sell as many toys as they can.