RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON (Disney) — Trust Me, it’s Bad

For those who don’t know me in person, I’m a huge animation nerd. That doesn’t mean I spend my time voluntarily watching cartoons (I occasionally watch one TV show and it’s not animated). I’m extremely passionate about the aspect of storytelling, and as an individual highly interested in entering the animation industry as a career, I pay a lot of attention to the plot and dialogue of movies we watch as a family. So, without further ado, here’s my honest review of Disney’s 2021 animated movie, Raya and the Last Dragon, spoilers included.

MY RATING: 4/10

AUDIENCE AGE: 5+

GENRE: High Fantasy

SYNOPSIS: Hundreds of years ago, mysterious, black clouds called Druun raged across the land of Kumandra, turning whoever they touched into stone statues. They claimed the lives of humans and dragons alike — but the terror was brought to an end when a surviving dragon named Sisu blasted the evil entities away with her magic. She disappeared after her sacrifice and became a revered legend to the thankful people she saved. Though the people came back to life, the dragons remained stone statues, and the only remnant of Sisu is a glowing orb of magic. Raya, a young princess, shares the task of guarding this orb with her father, as the other tribes constantly fight over who possesses it. During an attempted peace meeting, Raya lets her guard down, and the other tribes shatter the orb and steal the pieces. In this act of selfishness, the Druun return and torment Kumandra again. After losing her father, Raya spends years searching for Sisu in hopes that the dragon can destroy the Druun again. She finally finds her, and they must face many obstacles, enemies, and the mistrust that tears them apart to bring an end to this madness.

THE GOOD: As expected of a studio as renowned as Disney, this movie looks incredible. Each different region in Kumandra has distinct geographical and cultural elements that are beautifully represented, and the costume and character designs were on point (except for the dragon, which I’ll explain in THE BAD). It was a high-definition, well-articulated movie, and for that, I reward RATLD its four stars.

THE BAD: Oh dear. The main reason I was so sorely disappointed with this movie is that I went into it with high expectations. I … really like dragons, and I was kind of stoked that Disney was making a dragon movie. The problem is … there wasn’t a single dragon in that movie.

I believe this film would be more accurate with the title of Raya and the Last Mouthwash-Colored Weasel or Raya and the Last Ugly Human.

I mean, yes, Disney was trying to go with an Asian cultural perception of the dragon, but even that was poorly executed. Sisu’s main flaw was her face — her nose was too flat, her eyes were much too big and so heavily lashed, she looked like something out of a Barbie movie, and she didn’t have any ears. Her uncannily human-like elbows made me a little uncomfortable. I guess I can stand the longer body as that was essential to achieving the Asian dragon vibe, but poor Sisu had better hope Raya is a chiropractor as well as a princess. Personality-wise, Sisu was an absolute wreck. I cringed every time she spat poorly constructed jokes (“I slaughter when I hit that water,” or something along those lines). She frequently reverted to bipedalism, and for over half of her time on-screen she existed as an ugly human.

The film had the same sense of humor as a seven-year-old kid. We had bugs that farted glitter, and characters acting unbelievably stupid or over-the-top for the sake of laughs. There was a conversation thrown in about credit that might’ve been aimed at the adults, but I was old enough to get it and wasn’t amused. Many concepts were introduced that weren’t utilized later, and many characters were thrown in for no other purpose than to take up room on the screen and contribute to conversation.

Don’t even get me started about that con baby.

I didn’t like how the different lands were named after the body parts of a dragon. Yes, Kumandra is shaped like a dragon, but why don’t call the different territories those parts in an Asian language or something? It would be a little more intriguing than Heart, Tail, Spine, Fang, and Talon.

Aside from the poorly written dialogue and the sloppy character-building, perhaps the film’s most atrocious mistake was the moral it was trying to teach. The main antagonist, apart from the Druun, was a woman from Fang (I think) named Namari. She had originally turned on Raya and attempted to steal the magic orb for herself, and she aimed to compromise Raya’s quest. Raya had a hatred toward Namari (rightfully so), but Sisu pressured her to trust the woman who’d turned on her because … distrust caused conflict.

Yes, that is true. People who don’t trust each other won’t get along, but then again, some people SHOULDN’T be trusted. Namari had already proven herself to be a backstabber, and she gave Raya no hint that she had a change of heart or somehow deserved that trust again. However, the movie continued to iterate that we should trust others. Even worse, every time Raya tried to trust Namari, she was stabbed in the back again, further illustrating that Namari shouldn’t be trusted (and getting Sisu killed the process).

Toward the end of the film, the Druun have practically turned everyone to stone, and Raya’s gang and Namari are backed in a corner by the dark clouds. Just before they are turned to stone, they look into each other’s eyes in a way that indicates they finally trust each other (again, with no reason to do so). They are turned to stone, and for a few silent moments it seems all is lost, but … Disney magic steps in, and the glowing orb, hEaLeD by the PoWeR of TrUsT, blasts the Druun away once and for all.

Now, because people trust each other, rainbow-colored dragons in all their Barbie-eyed, earless, wingless wonder bound toward them from the horizon, bring Sisu back to life, and peace is restored to Kumandra.

The ending was just far too “Disney”, where absolutely everyone comes back to life and every problem is resolved. I understand that this is a fantasy kids’ movie, but the outcome was too unbelievably fanciful, even in their magical world. Why didn’t the dragons come back to life the first time? Perhaps Namari and Raya made the (poor) decision to trust each other, but was that difference enough to resurrect the entire species? What’s more, how did these dragons know that Sisu was dead and where her body was so they could revive her? (She fell off a cliff and into the sea at the edge, to that I say, “Plop goes the weasel”, but she was extracted from the middle of the sea, so her corpse must’ve drifted somehow.)

And a few more petty notes:

• When Sisu got shot, technically she wouldn’t have died. The arrow was only in about an inch and hit her right in the middle of the ribcage, which should’ve stopped the arrow.
• There wasn’t a big enough splash for a creature of that size hitting the water from such a high point.
• Why did the Druun spawn from human mistrust? There was not enough explanation for this.
• Raya’s father was kind of weak. He got shot in the calf, which would’ve definitely hurt but wouldn’t have stopped him from running away from the Druun. Instead of jumping off the bridge and attempting to swim, he threw Raya off and turned to stone.
• After six years as a statue exposed to all the elements, you’d think Raya’s father would have eroded a bit. At least his man bun.

I know this looks like sloppy writing, but RATLD was a sloppy movie, and I tell it like it is.

IN CONCLUSION: This movie had so much potential but failed miserably in execution. Instead of focusing on the aspect of trust, Disney could have turned to the power of forgiveness — yes, some people can’t be trusted, but instead of forever seething in your anger over the wrongs done unto you, you can set yourself free by letting go of the grudges that weigh on your life.

The focus of the movie shouldn’t have been Raya trusting Namari. It should’ve been Raya forgiving Namari. In this world, trust is easy to lose and harder to earn — many people can’t and shouldn’t be trusted, but they can always be forgiven, and this life lesson is much more relevant and applicable to young viewers.

Thank you for reading!