Does Raya succeed in her quest? Does the kingdom get reunited? Will there be peace and harmony? Will the Druun be defeated? And will Sisu really be the last dragon? Do you need any more questions? This is, after all, a Disney picture. The direction, by Don Hall (who has been a Disney story person or director since 1999) and Carlos Lopez Estrada (Frozen II) is adequate for what is really a misfit-gang-on-a-magical-quest movie with very few nuances or twists in the telling. The third movie involves the story, screenplay, and direction, and this is where Raya and the Last Dragon has a few problems. I’m avoiding spoilers, but be assured that trickery, betrayals, and untrustworthy characters await our heroes at every turn. Along the way, Raya and Sisu pick up allies from each tribe, including 10-year-old Boun, a budding nautical chef, Baby Noi and her trio of bizarre tiny pets, and Tong, a big-hearted giant warrior. Thus begins the quest for the stones, which takes up the rest of the film.
This Raya does, but the dragon, Sisu, is certainly less than imposing. The first step is to find the long-hidden last dragon. The Druun soon return, and Raya is next seen six years later, determined to reunite the stones, defeat the Drunn, and realize her father’s wishes for universal piece. All hell breaks loose and all the tribes scuffle over the orb, breaking it into five pieces. At the great feast, Raya is lulled into revealing the location of the great orb by Namaari, who uses the occasion to try and steal it for the Fang tribe. His young daughter Raya, who has been in training helps to guard the orb, helps him issue an invitation of peace to the remaining tribes. The orb ended up in the possession of Chief Benja of what became known at the Heart tribe, since Kumandra split into five tribes out of jealously of Benji’s prosperous people.īenji, however, dreams of reuniting the kingdom and believes that the other tribes should work together to rebirth Kumandra.
Their final act was transferring their unique essences in a magic orb and leaving it in the care of Sisu, who then went into hiding. Five hundred years ago, an ancient, deadly scourge known as the Druun (shapeless masses of angry chaos who turn their victims into statues) were defeated by a cadre of dragons, who sacrificed their lives in the effort. There is a prologue set in the land of Kumandra which is a mythical hodge-podge of East Asian countries. The second film consists of the plot, which is less inspiring than the visuals. This film could (largely) be viewed without any sound at all and would still be a marvel to anyone watching it. The dragons (Sisu in particular) are marvelously sinuous in rapid, airborne motion without losing shape or volume. The layout artists are in for special kudos there are several scenes of girl-on-girl combat in the film, and the action surpasses most live-action fight scenes, which would have to be speeded up to replicate what the animated characters do in this film. Each one is brilliantly animated and varyingly lit, without one false note from the production team. Some are lush jungles, while others are bustling cities and others in ruins.
For the record, they are the Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail. The movie involves five separate kingdoms (more like tribes), and each one has a different ecosystem. One scene, which is plainly showing off the skills used to produce the effects, shows Sisu gamboling beneath the waves it is frankly incredible. Therefore, the film is rife with depiction of water in all forms never in the history of animation has water, above or below its surface, rain, or fog been depicted with such photorealistic accuracy. The titular last dragon, named Sisu, is a water dragon. The first (and best) film, taken apart from the story, is a technological masterpiece, the new cutting edge of CGI animation until 3D holography replaces it even then, it may not look as good. In my count, we have three separate films here. By the time I sat down to write this review, I found myself feeling like the shattered dragon orb (the McGuffin of the movie, trying to reunite the disparate elements of the picture into an integrated whole. Raya and the Last Dragon, in production since 2017, is Disney’s 59th film, or should I say, films, because there is more than one movie at work here.
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