Raya and the Last Dragon is a marvel of Disney animation. I've always loved the magic Disney gives us and has always given us. I've enjoyed the recent Disney entries, Tangled and Frozen II specifically. That being said, this is completely different from the rest of the recent entries.
I'm baffled by the visuals. The animation is somehow increased in quality once again, as it seems to be with every movie. The scenery is absolutely magnificent and I'd watch it again just for all the unique locations. I'm not really sure how to sum up my opinion on the cinematography. But I'll say this, I've seen well over 400 animated films, short films, and tv shows. And very few compare to this movie's cinematography. The movements feel alive, visceral even. The impact of each shot, especially during the action scenes were fantastic. I'll talk about those now.
The action in this is energetic, fun, and and heartbeatingly intense. Every action scene feels justified, and even more intense than the one that comes before it. The final major scene is absolutely dominate of your attention, and rightfully so. I won't spoil the scene, but the whole film leads up to it and it is a deservedly praised fight scene.
Now on to the message. Trust is the key theme of the film, and it's communicated fully and emotionally. Even before trust is revealed as the core narrative it fills the scenes it's in. Trust isn't something easily gained, nor is it often deserved. However, this film, after showing all sides of trust, trusting people you shouldn't, trusting people you can trust. And a little bit of not accepting trust. And all this leads to the final scenes of conflict. Just as the action scenes climb, so does the theme. And they come together in a marvelously fervent ending.
The characters are at the focus of the story, which is where they belong. But I've always had the opinion that a movie with a great concept, and little on the characters can still be good. And the other way around. But this film puts together both those ideas, the characters are intriguing, fun, and interesting. And so is the world they live in. There is a cast of characters, some of which seem to join the story rather quickly, but they all have just enough motive for it to make sense. But as the title would suggest, the film focuses on Raya and the Last Dragon. Raya is a super interesting character, she is defined by a lack of trusting due to what she learned about trust from a young age. But through her journey and time with the Last Dragon, Sisu she eventually learns to trust, right before it's too late.
The finale is a genuinely perfect combination of character, theme, and incredible action. There is a lot of spoilers that I could talk about that make the movie even better but this review sums up the majority of my thoughts. Watch this film, I waited till it was available for free (apart from the subscription fee) from Disney+ but now that I've seen it it would've been worth the money. Watch this movie, after it finished all I wanted was to rewatch it, which I plan to do soon.
