Running Time: 114 minutes. Rated PG for some violence, action and thematic elements. In theaters and on Disney + (for an additional fee) on Fridays.
DragonTraction has the latest Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
Hollywood likes Scally Scamp a lot. One of the best CGI family movies ever made, “Game of Thrones,” “Dragonheart,” “Pete’s Dragon,” the 2016 remake of “Pete’s Dragon,” and the gold standard of fireball, “How to Train Your Dragon,” .
There is something so cynical about a pet that one can destroy all its enemies without lifting a paw.
“Raya,” who has a lot of it, is not emotionally involved in those other movies or TV shows. The title Princess, Disney’s first South-East Asian, does not bring tears during moments of victory, and the story is lost in the geopolitical conflict of feudal countries that try too hard to be relevant. Sometimes, I used to think, “Do we think this is the European Union?”
Disney’s CGI work, independent of Pixar, finally found continuity, and “Raya” joins “Frozen,” “Zootopia” and “Moana” on its roster of high-level, enjoyable films.
There is a lot of plot. Those warring states were once part of the land of Kumandra, a mass surrounding a dragon-shaped lake. The territories are called Heart, where Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran), is from Talon, Phang, Tale, and Spine. This map is a spitting image of the Revolutionary War “Join, or Die” flag, which every eight-year history buff will surely recognize.
Five hundred years ago, all five people peacefully teamed up with colorful talking dragons whose magic brought them prosperity and water as ancillary objects.
Then, a packet of terrifying smoke demons called drones swooped in and drove many of the civilians, and the dragons into stone. But a dragon named Sisu (Akwafina) created a powerful gem to save the world.
At the beginning of “Raya”, the enemies quarrel over the stone and break it into five pieces, releasing the drone once again and wrecking the Kumandrans. It is up to Raya to travel to each distant country, put the stone together and bring back her father, who was frozen by a drone while taking friends along the way.
All this exposure is daunting – not too bizarre to mention that “Lord of the Rings” – but once we get to the lesson of a long history, the film settles into “finding the rocks” . Anyone can understand “find the rocks.”
We leave six years after the drone disaster, when Raya calls Sisu to assist her in her heroic quest. Awakavina sensibly voices the lizard, which is much like caffeine from Eddie Murphy’s Mushayu “Mulan”.
When Raya reveals that Sisu’s skin is “glowing” with magic, she replies, “Thank you! I use aloe and river mud.” She’s here overnight, folks.
All jokes are along those lines.
They also stick out, because the Disney film is actually an action film that is more than the usual princess routine. Raya has no commuting experience, she does not sing, she is not trying to please her father, there is no romance subplot, no one helps her undress. What are crossbows and swords.
And on that front, it is a success. The battles and missions at each different place are visually exciting. One is a beautifully presented Asian-style floating market, while the other is the “Mad Max” desert, with Charlize Theron matching haircuts.
However the tragic ending is not as satisfying as it thinks at least you are still high on adrenaline.
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