Read Mixed User Reviews for Raya and the Last Dragon

6

HaskettFamilyMar 8, 2021

Premise sketchy. HD nice. Follows the Disney script, which makes it bland. Basically watch as visual candy.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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4

Aaronbake322Jan 19, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Raya and the Last Dragon is a movie that wants so very badly to be great. It's got great visuals, a great score, some enjoyable side characters, and is pretty edgy at times... So why is it so mediocre?

While the side characters are kinda fun, they're pretty underdeveloped. There's a ton of cringe-worthy "modern" talk that feels out of a place for a movie set in ancient Southeast Asia, Sisu is a major tone-killer that's arguably worse than Olaf in Frozen II, and the attempt at the trust message is just so messy and heavy handed that it tanks the movie as a whole. I never felt like the rival girl deserved a chance at redemption because she did literally nothing to show that she deserved it.

I've seen worse, it's not even within Disney's bottom 10 animated movies, but I don't think I'm ever gonna watch it again.… Expand

6 of 7 users found this helpful61

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4

faithg781Jan 19, 2022

Here's a movie that happened that nobody talks about or praises less than a year later.

It could've been one of Disney's best, it's got a lot of great ideas, but in execution it's heavily flawed and doesn't hold up or get better as itHere's a movie that happened that nobody talks about or praises less than a year later.

It could've been one of Disney's best, it's got a lot of great ideas, but in execution it's heavily flawed and doesn't hold up or get better as it lingers in my mind like Encanto or Wreck-It Ralph or most Pixar movies. If anything, it just gets worse. It should be lucky it's score is still as high as it is.

I'll be quite surprised if anyone remembers this fairly mediocre adventure a year from now.… Expand

5 of 6 users found this helpful51

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5

ScereniaMar 6, 2021

Raya and the Last Dragon ultimately feels like a story and a world that’s too big to fit into its two-hour run time. Each of the locations and characters felt two-dimensional and left something to be desired as the story simply didn’t haveRaya and the Last Dragon ultimately feels like a story and a world that’s too big to fit into its two-hour run time. Each of the locations and characters felt two-dimensional and left something to be desired as the story simply didn’t have the time to explore them in greater depth.
While watching, I could feel how rushed it felt, especially at the beginning. Major plot points, characters, and relationships started to feel more like checkboxes than story beats. Then, once that pace had been set, it inevitably made other more lighthearted scenes feel like a waste of time given how brushed over everything else was.
Overall the movie is enjoyable and the message is good, but I feel like Raya’s story would have been better told as a series. If it were a show rather than a movie with less than two hours to pack everything in, perhaps the plot and the characters would have had more room to breathe and develop naturally. Maybe Raya could have been the first LGBT+ Disney princess. (The seeds were definitely there.) Instead, the movie and the ending are exciting but ultimately low-stakes as the audience feels little attachment to the world or the people in it.… Expand

9 of 11 users found this helpful92

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5

TitaniumDragonMar 24, 2021

Raya and the Last Dragon - or Raya and her Trust Issues - is a decent but unexceptional CG animated movie from Disney. The movie features vibrant and striking visuals, but a cast of essentially two characters plus a bunch of character shapedRaya and the Last Dragon - or Raya and her Trust Issues - is a decent but unexceptional CG animated movie from Disney. The movie features vibrant and striking visuals, but a cast of essentially two characters plus a bunch of character shaped props.

It is a movie whose moral is that it is only by extending trust can we expect trust in return wherein the ENTIRE PLOT is driven by people backstabbing those who were foolish enough to trust them.

No fewer than two characters on two separate occasions are shot and killed by people with crossbows after extending their trust to the wrong people.

And this is, ultimately, a major problem with the movie - it not only actively undermines its own moral but encourages the idea that people who hurt you are good deep down inside and just need the chance to show it - even though a number of the people show that they are tribalistic and don't care about anyone outside their tribe.

Of course, this coming from the studio that brought us Stockholm Syndrome and the Beast, perhaps this shouldn’t surprise us.

But let me back up for a moment.

Raya and the Last Dragon is a movie about a young woman named Raya who previously was assigned to protect the Dragon Gem, a magical artifact created by the last of the dragons 500 years ago to hold back horrible fire monsters that were turning everyone in the world to stone. Raya’s father invites the other peoples of the world to the country of Heart to all come together, as they once did long ago, and have there be peace between the peoples of the world.

As you might have guessed, this results in the other nations taking advantage of their hospitality to try and seize the Dragon Gem, resulting in it shattering, which causes the horrible fire monsters to come back and start turning everyone to stone, including Raya’s father. The only thing that can hold the monsters at bay are fragments of the Dragon Gem, of which there are five – and the leaders of each of the four other groups seize a chunk, in addition to the piece that Raya herself holds.

Six years later, Raya is a grown adult and is searching the world for the last dragon. She eventually finds her, discovering that the dragon has been in a sort of stasis for the last 500 years, but finds out that the dragon can’t just make another gem – that gem was created by the combined magics of the last five dragons, so the only way to fix it is to reassemble all the pieces.

Que the MacGuffin hunt.

While this might sound like it is a movie about a girl and her dragon, as it turns out, the other main character of the movie is actually Namaari. Namaari is another young woman who appears in the introduction, trying to befriend Raya, only to reveal her actual purpose in doing so was to steal the Dragon Gem. It is Namaari’s fault that the world is broken, and throughout the movie, Namaari is hunting Raya, trying to figure out what it is that Raya is after and to seize the artifacts from her.

The two young women clash repeatedly throughout the movie in a number of well-choreographed fight scenes that are nice to watch, and the relationship between them works pretty well – while they hate each other, there’s also a certain thread of familiarity between them, and we see at certain moments that Namaari regrets what happened on some level but doesn’t believe things can be fixed. Of course, this thread of hope is repeatedly dashed as Namaari repeatedly does things to keep furthering the fight between the two young women, and Raya herself is unwilling to tell Namaari what is really going on, concealing her quest from her because of their past together.

This is all well and good, but the other characters are extremely flat.

Sisu, the titular Last Dragon, is endlessly full of optimism and trust. The movie seemed like maybe it was going to create some sort of middle ground with her, but there is no character development for Sisu. She starts the movie the same way that she ends it, and there’s no real changes at any point.

The rest of the cast gets even less screen time, and all rehash the same backstory of having lost their family to the monsters. While there are a couple of good moments here and there, they don’t really get developed.

Meanwhile, everyone else in the world has Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, in a movie about trust. And indeed, two of these “party members” themselves backstab the party at some point.

All of this might make it sound like I didn’t enjoy this movie, but I actually did enjoy myself while watching it. The main reason why is the visuals.

This movie has really vibrant colors, and does a really good job of making its world pop, and the environments are distinctive. The action in the movie works well as well. The fight scenes look great, as do the dragon’s power ups, little as they are used. Ironically, the dragon herself is probably the weakest bit of visual design in the movie.

Overall, the movie is mediocre. Okay, even. But not great.… Expand

6 of 8 users found this helpful62

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5

kpaulMar 6, 2021

This felt like a discount Disney princess movie compared to classic Disney. Unrealistic character choices and a disjointed story. Only 1 character earned emotional investment from me. Every other character was a caricature and monotoned.

5 of 7 users found this helpful52

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4

PsychoPaxMar 9, 2021

It has a very interesting concept, but man does it also have issues. The pacing is not good and everything is a bit rushed, the characters constantly make mind numbingly dumb decisions, on top of not being developed very well. The movie alsoIt has a very interesting concept, but man does it also have issues. The pacing is not good and everything is a bit rushed, the characters constantly make mind numbingly dumb decisions, on top of not being developed very well. The movie also makes a rather stupid point to trust everyone and compares two situations that are not comparable. Trying to tell people to trust one another when one person caused the end of the world then doubled down on it is an exceptionally awful decision and should not be taught in any film. TL;DR: Somewhat interesting concept, could have executed world building much better, not very good character development, and LOTS of very very poor character decisions where everyone is insanely dumb. This is very much a don't use your brain movie.… Expand

7 of 10 users found this helpful73

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4

justmahreviewMar 6, 2021

Best part? the visuals by a long shot! in the whole movie there are 4 male characters that have actual lines rest are just in the background and never get heard from or interact at all with them, it was too one sided and the story was soBest part? the visuals by a long shot! in the whole movie there are 4 male characters that have actual lines rest are just in the background and never get heard from or interact at all with them, it was too one sided and the story was so rushed.. the dragon was more focused on getting gifts for others than actually getting the stuff needed to save everyone....

this is a easily forgettable movie that could have been so much more but either was a higherup trying to get money out of this asap or the director gave up mid way through and butchered the movie

-Huge minus points for rushing a movie that had the potential to be sooo much more than what they did with it.
-Huge minus points for uninteresting characters.
-The only points that can be given for this are some of the Voice actors and the animators they did a awesome job… Expand

6 of 9 users found this helpful63

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4

gamer696Jun 6, 2021

Only bad writers would make a movie this generic and boring! They actually made a dragon I didn't like, and that's saying a lot cause I love dragons. Disney is going to hell, don't make the same mistake I did and pay a whole year of Disney+

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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5

gubo97000Mar 6, 2021

Simply bland, they got the tech but not the heart. But hey! Look at the water simulation, and we got the creepy toddler with the monkeys, you can't not like it!

5 of 8 users found this helpful53

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5

WestSider55Mar 5, 2021

Raya and the Last Dragon felt like a missed opportunity. It has a good message but poor execution. Inconsistent animation quality throughout, forgettable characters with little personality, and a messy but simplistic plot. It’s very possibleRaya and the Last Dragon felt like a missed opportunity. It has a good message but poor execution. Inconsistent animation quality throughout, forgettable characters with little personality, and a messy but simplistic plot. It’s very possible the production of this film suffered due to the pandemic, with different teams working on it remotely. Late changes in directors and multiple writers lead me to believe that was the case. While not a lost cause, the movie is forgettable and one of Disney’s weakest animated efforts in the last several years.… Expand

9 of 16 users found this helpful97

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4

macman7010Mar 6, 2021

Raya is cumbersome and difficult to follow. I couldn't make heads not tails of what was going on and the voice acting was awful.

6 of 12 users found this helpful66

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6

PhoenixReveiwsMar 9, 2021

The movie felt very fast. All movies move through their plot fast to tell the story, but you could feel it. the dialogue is fast, and the setup is over within 15 minutes. It is a good movie with fn characters, but overall the story was rushedThe movie felt very fast. All movies move through their plot fast to tell the story, but you could feel it. the dialogue is fast, and the setup is over within 15 minutes. It is a good movie with fn characters, but overall the story was rushed and had a few strange choices. Still an enjoyable time, just I wouldn't pay for it.

P.S the dragon looks a lot like Elsa from frozen.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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6

sebastianaliApr 24, 2021

La historia en si es bastante cliché, muchas de las leyendas que se cuentan no se explotan y Sizu se siente un poco fuera de lugar, siendo que muchos de sus chistes parecen sacados fuera del contexto de la época, aunque al menos el personajeLa historia en si es bastante cliché, muchas de las leyendas que se cuentan no se explotan y Sizu se siente un poco fuera de lugar, siendo que muchos de sus chistes parecen sacados fuera del contexto de la época, aunque al menos el personaje en si me gusto. Los demás personajes tampoco son malos, pero la película se siente en si muy apresurada y poco explotada en muchas ocasiones. Buena película, pero no una maravilla.
Raya y El Ultimo Dragón definitivamente no es mala, sin embargo, no valió la pena esperar mas de 1 mes para que pueda estar disponible en Disney + para la mayoría de usuarios.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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6

P4inskillerMar 7, 2021

Funny and entertaining. Typical Disney. The affected and pretentious behavior of the characters is typically American, but no Asian characters would behave that way. This lack of depth is representative of the entire film. A Happy MealFunny and entertaining. Typical Disney. The affected and pretentious behavior of the characters is typically American, but no Asian characters would behave that way. This lack of depth is representative of the entire film. A Happy Meal version of a cross-cultural film with no real reference to Asian culture. In typical Disney style, a bit of Asian culture is abused to help the film succeed in Asia as well. But why this mistake is repeated after Mulan, which was not very successful in Asia, is incomprehensible. Disney, if you already write intercultural understanding on the flags, then you should show it also in your films! Otherwise it remains with the marketing propaganda.… Expand

4 of 9 users found this helpful45

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6

RumentinoMar 14, 2021

I liked the movie... even when the graphics and animation are amazing....it's not one of my favourites... It ended up being a "princesses meet the avengers" movie... The story is weak and lacks that "wow" factor to get you crazy about it...I liked the movie... even when the graphics and animation are amazing....it's not one of my favourites... It ended up being a "princesses meet the avengers" movie... The story is weak and lacks that "wow" factor to get you crazy about it... this movie has something missing to become a great success like Frozen... I wouldnt watch it a second time… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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6

Kristoff_PLMar 21, 2021

Can watch if U want to , but its a cliche of other animated movies + lgbt propaganda... mediocrate overall

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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6

MetacriticOnurJul 14, 2021

admirable
[ ad-mer-uh-buhl ]

adjective
worthy of admiration; inspiring approval, reverence, or affection.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

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4

norseAug 1, 2021

This wasn't a terrible movie; the graphics were pretty good, the voice acting superb. It is a very far cry from the likes of Moana, Up, Zootopia or Soul, and that's mostly due to the writing. The setup is cookie cutter, the characters areThis wasn't a terrible movie; the graphics were pretty good, the voice acting superb. It is a very far cry from the likes of Moana, Up, Zootopia or Soul, and that's mostly due to the writing. The setup is cookie cutter, the characters are paper-thin and as the story develops, you yearn for the depth of other Disney releases. In a world where everyone backstabs constantly, blind trust is not a great strategy, and having it win the day due to some deus-ex-mahina nonsense is just disgraceful.… Expand