"Raya and the Last Dragon" is an animated movie from 2021, so still relatively new, and even if you would not have guessed it maybe, it is in theory a full-on American production in the English language, even if all characters here are Asian and also the film is entirely set in Asia, even if we are never really told a specific country or maybe you can also make a point that it is set on another planet or in another universe if you look at the dragon-like shape of the place where all the action is set. But let's stay with the basics first: If you look at the people who contributed to this film, the Asian background could not be any more obvious. This includes the ones who made it behind the camera (or behind the microphone I should say) as well as those who lent their voices to the characters. I will spare you the names of the people who are credited as writers and directors here because it's really many and you can check them out yourself. In general, it can be said that many of them worked on all kinds of animated projects in the past, so the experience is certainly there. Frozen for example would be one of them, but the one that really many have in common here was the Oscar-winning Big Hero 6. In terms of the voice cast, there are also many people included who have an Asian background, pretty much all of them, which is interesting because they did not have to be Asian with an American English-language production where you don't see the actors' looks. Oh well, I guess some confused souls would have mistaken it for racism otherwise. Like a Black man can voice a White character and also the other way around. I see nothing wrong with it all. This is real tolerance and diversity when these backgrounds do not matter at all. Anyway, as for the actors of this film here, it's in the key positions Asians who have had success in the American entertainment industry too. Sandra Oh is really the perfect example for that. I mean the only one kinda missing maybe would have been Michelle Yeoh, but she had her own big hit this year. Awkwafina is on board too of course here and she voices the dragon character mentioned in the title. I will get to her a little later, but you could say that the character reflected the actress.
With the How to Train Your Dragon franchise likely over, dragon (movie) lovers did not have to wait for a long time until the next really big dragon-themed animated movie got released and even by a big player like Disney. Of course, the dragons here look very different compared to the ones in the aforementioned franchise, but this makes sense of course as it should not have been a (cheap) copy or so. Also, the impact of the dragons is rather small, even if the entire film is about them. We only have one single dragon except at the very start and and end for the rest of the film, the dragons are turned to stone somehow. The explanation that it was bad behavior from humans that is the reason for this was not too convincing for me and a bit too much of a pseudo message I'd say. It would have made more sense if said behavior would have stopped the dragons from protecting the humans, but oh well. With the last dragon, I was also not particularly happy. I mean I do not need a creature full of elegance and beauty, but the clumsy aspect and how this dragon turns into a human (or "human") was also a not too much to my liking, even if the visual depiction, also with the hair (color) was alright there. I guess. But how we are shown that the dragon is killed in the end and then revived by the other dragons was a bit too scripted and even if the plot about trusting each other, even your former enemy, was okay, it was all too fast from "all is lost" to a 100% happy ending. The film had more to offer before that I thought. The last half hour of these over 100 minutes (including credits) was not the film's biggest strength. I kinda liked how the main character is tricked early on and you already see the two girls become friends (or more, you never know these days, also in animation) and maybe her parents becoming a couple or so, but it was a completely different path they took there. One that led to devastation. Still, you can see how the main antagonist, who reminded me of an Asian version of Ariana DeBose with the hair, was never truly evil. She tries to talk some sense into her mother and she is also deeply respectful of the dragons and impressed by them. When we see her and her face expression in all this smoke on one occasion, it was maybe the most beautiful shot of the film.
As for all the supporting characters, the film was alright from this perspective. Some I appreciated, others not so much. The father was very stereotypical, but had no impact at all anyway almost. The armadillo was the greatest ever and I would totally love to have one like this. The sneaky Asian baby with the monkeys assisting her was really hilarious. The little boy did almost nothing for me, was already a bit on the annoying side. And finally, the big strong guy who lost all his people as they turned into stone too was quite funny as well with how he seems so evil and what a mess he will make when hurting the main characters, but he is really kind at heart as we find out when he is ready to adopt the baby in the end. This was not a twist or change of events pretty much. He was always like this and we knew it from the moment when Raya asks or rather tells him that he does not know at all what he should do with them, his prisoners. I would have loved to see more from the character. Visually, this film is of course another big success, there is no denying and I am sure this, as well as the name Disney, contributed a lot to this film's big success with awards bodies, the Oscar nomination and all the Annie nominations, even if it did not win any. No pun intended. I know we could take this high visual level for granted with animation in the 21st century or, to be more precise the 2020s, but maybe we should not do so and instead just enjoy the beauty of it all. Or the mayhem if we are talking about the depiction of several characters being turned to stone. Beauty in this film especially refers to the depiction of all the dragons being freed again and how they are just up there flying. There they are not talking by the way the way like the dragon keeps talking a lot, the one who is featured at the center of the film. I preferred the silent ones. The depiction of the scene when they basically hand that one dragon the power and obligation to save everything and everybody I was also not too big on. Couldn't they have picked somebody else? They should have.
There are actually quite a few inclusions here in which people are tricked into thinking they are dealing with nice people, even friends, but the opposite turns out to be the truth. Look at the girls at the very start, look at the scene in which Raya deals with the Asian baby girl for the first time and look at the scene in which the dragon girl deals with the seemingly nice elderly lady. All make-believe. Okay, not quite as the mistakes from Raya were at least with characters who turn out to be friends in the end. The real villains are these dark shadows anyway that devour everything and turn it into stone. I already said that I would have liked a better explanation there who they are and where they come from, but oh well. Visually and in terms of impact, they were still good enough I guess, not only in the big spectacular final sequence when it is not the title character who defeats them, but her new friend and the title character's trust there and belief to see the good in people is nonetheless a key reason. That was fine. I was still surprised during an earlier scene how Raya tells the other girl that she has the dragon with her. I thought she would be too smart for that and I also don't think she really knew how much the other girl is in awe of dragons, despite the little symbol she saw on the other girl when they were children. So maybe not the best-written moment there. I thought Raya would be smarter than that. She seems to be pretty witty and resilient too with the way we see her set a foot on something she was never supposed to set a foot on at the very start of the film. Seeing her with her dad there was nice, even if the armadillo (still tiny at that point and I initially thought it was a hedgehog) once again was the scene stealer. The most touching moment from the film was maybe the reunion with her dad in the end after right before that we see how all other characters are back home again and happy.
The key message, however, was that only peace would unite them and this is where the film was heading and there was never really any doubt about it that the stone dragons would come back to life again in the end and also that no "humans" would be in stone again and that all the peoples with their dragon body part names would be in harmony with each other. Maybe a bit too much overall and too much in tone with the current global situation in terms of trying to make an impact there, but I can ignore that and I personally think it was a good and enjoyable watch overall. The good is more frequent than the weak with this animated film that is, including credits, closer to two hours than to 1.5 hours. So not a short watch and I hope your kids (and you) have some patience with it. For me, there was, despite the decline in quality towards the end, never really any question that I would give this anything other than a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. I must still say it was not a too mesmerizing watch as I would have liked it to be. Quality-wise, it is probably the same like the weaker, but not weakest moments from HtTYD, even if, as I stated earlier, this comparison is a bit off because there are hardly no dragons in this film at all. Animation style is very different too obviously. Go see it. Better than Encanto. The "hold on" moment was also very funny. You will laugh a bit for sure here.
With the How to Train Your Dragon franchise likely over, dragon (movie) lovers did not have to wait for a long time until the next really big dragon-themed animated movie got released and even by a big player like Disney. Of course, the dragons here look very different compared to the ones in the aforementioned franchise, but this makes sense of course as it should not have been a (cheap) copy or so. Also, the impact of the dragons is rather small, even if the entire film is about them. We only have one single dragon except at the very start and and end for the rest of the film, the dragons are turned to stone somehow. The explanation that it was bad behavior from humans that is the reason for this was not too convincing for me and a bit too much of a pseudo message I'd say. It would have made more sense if said behavior would have stopped the dragons from protecting the humans, but oh well. With the last dragon, I was also not particularly happy. I mean I do not need a creature full of elegance and beauty, but the clumsy aspect and how this dragon turns into a human (or "human") was also a not too much to my liking, even if the visual depiction, also with the hair (color) was alright there. I guess. But how we are shown that the dragon is killed in the end and then revived by the other dragons was a bit too scripted and even if the plot about trusting each other, even your former enemy, was okay, it was all too fast from "all is lost" to a 100% happy ending. The film had more to offer before that I thought. The last half hour of these over 100 minutes (including credits) was not the film's biggest strength. I kinda liked how the main character is tricked early on and you already see the two girls become friends (or more, you never know these days, also in animation) and maybe her parents becoming a couple or so, but it was a completely different path they took there. One that led to devastation. Still, you can see how the main antagonist, who reminded me of an Asian version of Ariana DeBose with the hair, was never truly evil. She tries to talk some sense into her mother and she is also deeply respectful of the dragons and impressed by them. When we see her and her face expression in all this smoke on one occasion, it was maybe the most beautiful shot of the film.
As for all the supporting characters, the film was alright from this perspective. Some I appreciated, others not so much. The father was very stereotypical, but had no impact at all anyway almost. The armadillo was the greatest ever and I would totally love to have one like this. The sneaky Asian baby with the monkeys assisting her was really hilarious. The little boy did almost nothing for me, was already a bit on the annoying side. And finally, the big strong guy who lost all his people as they turned into stone too was quite funny as well with how he seems so evil and what a mess he will make when hurting the main characters, but he is really kind at heart as we find out when he is ready to adopt the baby in the end. This was not a twist or change of events pretty much. He was always like this and we knew it from the moment when Raya asks or rather tells him that he does not know at all what he should do with them, his prisoners. I would have loved to see more from the character. Visually, this film is of course another big success, there is no denying and I am sure this, as well as the name Disney, contributed a lot to this film's big success with awards bodies, the Oscar nomination and all the Annie nominations, even if it did not win any. No pun intended. I know we could take this high visual level for granted with animation in the 21st century or, to be more precise the 2020s, but maybe we should not do so and instead just enjoy the beauty of it all. Or the mayhem if we are talking about the depiction of several characters being turned to stone. Beauty in this film especially refers to the depiction of all the dragons being freed again and how they are just up there flying. There they are not talking by the way the way like the dragon keeps talking a lot, the one who is featured at the center of the film. I preferred the silent ones. The depiction of the scene when they basically hand that one dragon the power and obligation to save everything and everybody I was also not too big on. Couldn't they have picked somebody else? They should have.
There are actually quite a few inclusions here in which people are tricked into thinking they are dealing with nice people, even friends, but the opposite turns out to be the truth. Look at the girls at the very start, look at the scene in which Raya deals with the Asian baby girl for the first time and look at the scene in which the dragon girl deals with the seemingly nice elderly lady. All make-believe. Okay, not quite as the mistakes from Raya were at least with characters who turn out to be friends in the end. The real villains are these dark shadows anyway that devour everything and turn it into stone. I already said that I would have liked a better explanation there who they are and where they come from, but oh well. Visually and in terms of impact, they were still good enough I guess, not only in the big spectacular final sequence when it is not the title character who defeats them, but her new friend and the title character's trust there and belief to see the good in people is nonetheless a key reason. That was fine. I was still surprised during an earlier scene how Raya tells the other girl that she has the dragon with her. I thought she would be too smart for that and I also don't think she really knew how much the other girl is in awe of dragons, despite the little symbol she saw on the other girl when they were children. So maybe not the best-written moment there. I thought Raya would be smarter than that. She seems to be pretty witty and resilient too with the way we see her set a foot on something she was never supposed to set a foot on at the very start of the film. Seeing her with her dad there was nice, even if the armadillo (still tiny at that point and I initially thought it was a hedgehog) once again was the scene stealer. The most touching moment from the film was maybe the reunion with her dad in the end after right before that we see how all other characters are back home again and happy.
The key message, however, was that only peace would unite them and this is where the film was heading and there was never really any doubt about it that the stone dragons would come back to life again in the end and also that no "humans" would be in stone again and that all the peoples with their dragon body part names would be in harmony with each other. Maybe a bit too much overall and too much in tone with the current global situation in terms of trying to make an impact there, but I can ignore that and I personally think it was a good and enjoyable watch overall. The good is more frequent than the weak with this animated film that is, including credits, closer to two hours than to 1.5 hours. So not a short watch and I hope your kids (and you) have some patience with it. For me, there was, despite the decline in quality towards the end, never really any question that I would give this anything other than a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. I must still say it was not a too mesmerizing watch as I would have liked it to be. Quality-wise, it is probably the same like the weaker, but not weakest moments from HtTYD, even if, as I stated earlier, this comparison is a bit off because there are hardly no dragons in this film at all. Animation style is very different too obviously. Go see it. Better than Encanto. The "hold on" moment was also very funny. You will laugh a bit for sure here.