{"id":22294,"date":"2021-03-04T13:29:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T21:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22294"},"modified":"2021-03-04T13:29:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T21:29:15","slug":"raya-and-the-last-dragon-presents-a-familiar-story-with-some-great-visuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22294","title":{"rendered":"RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON Presents a Familiar Story with Great Visuals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8808\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This feature debuts Friday, March 5<sup>th<\/sup> at open\ncinemas and on Disney+ with Premier Access.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last pair of features from Walt Disney Animation Studios\nhave been the sequels <em>Frozen II<\/em> and <em>Ralph Breaks the Internet<\/em>.\nIt\u2019s nice to see that their latest production, <em>Raya and the Last Dragon<\/em>,\nis an original and not another follow-up. It\u2019s a beautifully animated fable that\nwill most certainly entertain kids. Still, despite the fact that it is well-produced\nand isn\u2019t a direct by-product of an earlier production, adult viewers may feel\nslightly less enamored with the predictable story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/raya-and-the-last-dragon-03-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22297\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This tale is set in the magical world of Kumandra and\nfollows Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), a warrior princess from the kingdom of Heart\nLand. She explains that long ago, dragons and humans used to live in harmony,\nbut that the serpents sacrificed themselves to save the world from a sinister,\nsmoke-like force called Druun. These dragons created a gem with special powers\nto stop the threat, leaving it in Heart Land. Hundreds of years later, humans\nfrom various kingdoms have yearned for the gem\u2019s power. When Raya is tricked by\nvisiting Fang Land princess Namaari (Gemma Chan), the kingdom is suddenly attacked.\nThe precious stone is broken into pieces, Druun is resurrected and the world\nfalls into decay. Years later, an older Raya and her pet Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk) set\nout to find the mythical dragon Sisu (Awkwafina) and collect all the gem pieces\nin the hopes of returning the world to normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/raya-and-the-last-dragon-04-1024x630.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22298\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned, the visuals on display are remarkable,\nparticularly when the characters venture out into the various kingdoms during\ntheir journey. There are impressive deserts, picturesque villages on the\nriverbanks and green forests that look greatly inspired by gorgeous regions in\nSoutheast Asia. Everything about the feature\u2019s appearance is striking and the\nmovie also features some impressive shots of Raya racing through the desert on\nTuk Tuk and fending off the Druun and villains out to collect gem fragments for\nthemselves. As a magical travelogue, it\u2019s all first-rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The protagonist\u2019s travels should offer thrills and laughs\nand it does to a degree, although much of the humor is hit-and-miss. When Sisu\nthe dragon appears, she is revealed to be a goofy serpent who isn\u2019t as\nquick-witted as expected. This character trait does add humor to the\nproceedings, although it does become tiring to see the figure repeat the same\nerrors again and again. As Raya comes into contact with various lands and their\npeople, others join her quest. Unfortunately, some of these supporting roles,\nincluding an infant thief, a child cook and a muscle-headed warrior don\u2019t have\nthe opportunity to stand out or generate many laughs. And, as with many Disney\nflicks, the movie introduces an animal pet designed to look cute, serve a\nsimple function and otherwise have little to no impact on the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/raya-and-the-last-dragon-07.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22300\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another minor issue is Raya herself. Despite living in a world\non the brink of destruction, she is a good-natured lead who never seems\nbothered by the various trials forced upon her. This results in action scenes\nthat don\u2019t feel particularly dangerous or tense. In general, things seem a\nlittle too easy for the warrior princess. The movie does eventually try to\nrectify the problem by adding a character flaw late in the story when Raya is\nforced to accept and deal with feelings of mistrust and bitterness towards\nNamaari. Unfortunately, this element is only introduced during the final act,\nwhen it would have added more drama and anxiety to the entire film had it been\nintroduced much earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/raya-and-the-last-dragon-06-1024x485.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22299\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the end, <em>Raya and the Last Dragon<\/em> should have incorporated more conflict and excitement into its narrative. Still, the movie\u2019s heart is certainly in the right place, it looks gorgeous and most children won\u2019t be troubled by these story problems. As such, parents looking for new entertainment for the kids should find the movie to be a diverting and enjoyable animated adventure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This feature debuts Friday, March 5th at open cinemas and on Disney+ with Premier Access. The last pair of features from Walt Disney Animation Studios have been the sequels Frozen II and Ralph Breaks the Internet. It\u2019s nice to see that their latest production, Raya and the Last Dragon, is an original and not another [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,785,919,1455,2114,5922,7283,7314,8150,11566,16703,16704,16705,16706],"class_list":["post-22294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-adventure","tag-alan-tudyk","tag-animated","tag-awkwafina","tag-disney","tag-family","tag-fantasy","tag-gemma-chan","tag-kelly-marie-tran","tag-raya-and-the-last-dragon","tag-raya-and-the-last-dragon-film-review","tag-raya-and-the-last-dragon-movie-review","tag-raya-and-the-last-dragon-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}