Raya And The Last Dragon

And so, everyone, we've arrived at the newest Disney Classic and one in particular that I was really, really excited for. Yeah, I'm always excited whenever a new one of these comes out, but this one in particular was one I was so pumped for, Raya And The Last Dragon. We haven't had an original Disney movie since Moana back in 2016 and I'm so glad to say that this is back to what I love about Disney movies. Yeah, Ralph Breaks The Internet and Frozen 2 were fine movies, but this is exactly what a Disney movie should be and I loved everything about it. This was also a Disney movie that's being shown in some cinemas and Disney+ everywhere else and that's exactly what I used to watch it and I was really excited to watch it in any way. Well, okay, I did have some problems with it, but, overall, this was another Disney film I loved. Also, I'm gonna do a non-spoiler part first and I'll get into spoilers later.  Anyway, what's the story? In a kingdom called Kumandra, a princess named Raya is training to be the next guardian of the Dragon Crystal, which is apparently something that a dragon named Sisu once used to save the world but dragons are now extinct. And the world is at war with each other over the crystal because they all want to power is has to make their kingdoms stronger. But after Raya's dad fails to try to have everyone come together peacefully, a mist like thing called the Drunn is released which can turn anyone to stone just by touching them. And so, now Raya is on a mission to stop it from turning everyone in the world to stone. And I'm gonna stop there. So, what I think I like the most in this is probably the feeling I love getting whenever I watch any great new Disney movie. And I haven't really felt that way since Moana five years ago. That should really go to show just how good this film is. But the quality of everything is just that high. And, of course, this is absolutely nothing new for me to say, but the animation is obviously top notch. The textures of everything and various locations that we see are breath-taking, especially one place they go to which is this city surrounded by water and it's absolutely gorgeous. Something else that's impressive about the animation is the action. There's so many action scenes in this movie like a lot of hand-to-hand fights and all of them, not just those, but every action scene was really awesome to watch. There's some that's kinda mind-blowing, I'm not gonna lie. I really love action scenes in animation where you can feel the impact of the hits and that's what this film does. And the characters, as you'd imagine, are all very likeable, very funny and really memorable. Raya herself is extremely likeable and it was fun following her throughout the movie. She also encounters a bunch of people who have lost people important to them because of the Drunn and they were all fun to watch. One of them was the dragon Sisu herself. I was surprised by the fact that we see her pretty early on. I thought it was gonna be a while before we saw her, but she's in it a lot faster than I thought. And the rest are all great too. One of them was a surprise to me too. A boy named Boun. When I saw him in the trailers, I thought he was gonna be annoying, but, in the movie, he never was. And the rest of the crew are all fun too like a smart baby named Noi and a huge man named Tong. They're all funny in their own way. And the whole adventure they all go on is fun to watch happen too, especially when we encounter a girl named Namaari. She and Raya have a hating relationship for most of the film and she could almost be seen as the villain of the movie until the film keeps going. You actually kinda hate her until the end when she becomes really likeable. The cast is also all amazing, especially Kelly Marie Tran, who does a fantastic job as Raya herself. The film also has a lot of surprises. Some of which I didn't see coming at all and it really shocked me when some of these things happened. Also, something else that kinda surprised me was the fact that this wasn't a musical. I know a movie like this wouldn't work if it was a musical, but, I was under the impression that it was gonna be before starting it and it wasn't. That's obviously not a negative, just something I thought of originally. The film also has a lot of really hateable characters too. I was surprised by just how many hateable characters there were. And I mean that in a good way. Raya says early on that this is a world that's kinda broken and so everyone is kinda selfish and power-hungry and we see that happen a lot throughout the movie, but that just helps make the main characters' journey more enjoyable because we clearly want them to succeed and stop all the bad people. The film is also really well directed. This was directed by Don Hall, who was one of the directors of Big Hero 6, and Carlos López Estrada and they both did a fantastic. There's a lot of awesome shots in this is really cool. And, overall, they just did a fantastic job with the whole film from start to finish. But, okay, if I did have to complain about anything it would be that sometimes the exposition for the film can sometimes be a little too long. I know they have to explain how a world like this works, but, occasionally they can take a little too long. Also, some parts of this reminded me a lot of Moana. I don't really consider this a complaint, but I felt I should mention it. There are some scenes that feel a lot like it and some other aspects about it. And sometimes some scenes seem a little too unnecessary. There's really only just one scene that I can think of, but that's all I can really think of complaints for the film. Overall, I haven't been this happy about a Disney Classic in a long time and I had an absolutely amazing time with this film and I can't wait to watch it again. So, yeah, I definitely recommend this film. If you have a Disney+ profile, give this a shot, it's so good in my opinion. And so, everyone, that's my review of Raya And The Last Dragon. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think. Okay, now we're gonna get into the spoilers. If you don't want anything spoiled, go watch it and then read the rest.

Spoilers:

Okay, so, like I said, there are a lot of surprises in the film and we're gonna get into those now. First off, the whole thing with Namaari. I didn't expect her to betray Raya at the start. It was nice when they became friends, but then she betrays her to get her hands on the Dragon Crystal. It was also a surprise to me when Raya's dad got turned to stone. I guess I should have seen that coming, but it was still sad when it happened. And the whole thing with the other members and we learn more about their pasts and how they try to cope with losing their families like Boun with his shrimp business was funny. But some were pretty tragic like Tong who reveals he's the only one left in his village and he especially misses his baby. I'd say one of the biggest surprises was when we found out the leader of Talon tribe who tricks Sisu. That's one of the many examples of the hateable characters that were in this. Another big surprise to me was when Sisu revealed herself to Namaari and she's just really surprised by her, and this sorta begins to make her change a little bit. I also like Sisu's past with her revealing she was entrusted with the orb by her siblings and then they try to make a deal with Namaari and she's after changing a bit after seeing Sisu. But, probably the biggest surprise for me was what happens at this point because Namaari accidently kills Sisu by shooting her with a crossbow. I didn't expect that to happen at all. I figured she was gonna come back later, but at that moment, I really did think she was dead. But then, when that happens, the Drunn appears and everyone is trying to get everyone to safety. And this is all happening while Raya and Namaari are having a sword fight and this whole scene was awesome. But then, it made it all the more satisfying when all of them came together with the pieces. It was really cool to see that they sorta had to let themselves get turned to stone to let the crystal get reassembled and work and then the Drunn goes away with everyone in stone being set free. That part was so cool and it was cool seeing all the dragons come back too, especially when they resurrect Sisu. And it was really nice seeing all the crew reuniting with their families. And the actual ending with it showing all the kingdoms of Kumandra coming together. Yeah, you can say that was predictable, but it was still satisfying to watch, especially having everyone come together for real at the end. And, yeah, that's really about it. And, yeah, everyone, that's my spoiler review for Raya And The Last Dragon. And so, everyone, thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.