Movie Breakdown: Raya And The Last Dragon (Noah)
Pre-Screening Stance:
Disney Animation Studios does not instill hope into my animation loving heart. The trailer for Raya And The Last Dragon makes it seem like it might have some fun Indiana Jones-style adventure mixed with martial arts, but it also looks like Disney has taken what seems to be their only story – a character who must save humanity with the help of a shiny gem – and wrapped it in a different costume.
Post-Screening Ramble:
There are flickers of an interesting movie to be found in Raya And The Last Dragon. As if the story of a young, plucky girl trying to reunite the broken world by bringing back the, ahem, dragons of yore tried to reach past the domineering, monetary algorithm of Disney, before being slammed back into shape, only the briefest moments of originality managing to find their way through to the screen. Which is sad because this world of martial arts and warring clans and deep, deep fictional, historical exposition seems like it could have legs, like the creators could’ve mined a fascinating story out of it. But Raya And The Last Dragon – it’s just the bones of every modern adventure story dressed up differently. Which again, doesn’t make for a bad movie, so much as a boring movie. What makes Raya difficult to watch is two things: one, the character design of the dragons is a mix between a My Little Pony and a lizard. They don’t fly, they walk on rain drops. Awkwafina’s Sisu – the last living dragon – has the power of … creating trust. It is as if they took the Heart kid from Captain Planet and gave him his own movie. Beyond this, Awkwafina’s take on the laugh-a-minute-wants-to-be-Robin-Williams sidekick character is grating at best, absolutely distracting the rest of the time. It’s unfortunate for Kelly Marie Tran’s work as Raya – solid – because every scene she’s in with Sisu is a throwaway, marred by Awkwafina’s hard struggle to be “entertaining.” In general the creators of this film reached to make something different – a film steeped in a sort of fantastical, historical version of Asian history – but then buried it under tropes. You want side characters? Raya has a curmudgeonly old warrior, a fast-talking kid, three adorable (if mischievous) monkeys and (AND) a criminal baby. If the story was fascinating, if the characters were memorable, if any of this film didn’t feel like a product of the Disney machine, maybe these could be forgiven, but none of this is true. And Raya, like so much Disney animated crap before it, just barely merits a memory.
One Last Thought:
My fiance said, “This is a young film.” And I think this is true. This is a film gussied up to look like it can be entertaining for all ages, but really it’s made only for kids ten and under. And if you watch it with that in mind (though I do not support films being made dumber for children), it’s not entirely awful.
