In a time rife with division over ideology and morality, there is a need for a story of hope and that is where Raya comes in.
Raya is a guardian, raised to protect the heart of the land, both literally and figuratively speaking. When the heart is broken, it then falls to her to bring back the source of that heart to overcome the blight that has befallen everything around her.
Raya and the Last Dragon attempts to tell a story that is difficult to do successfully and while there are plenty of opportunities for technical criticism around the plot, pacing and even some animation issues, it is the heart that shines through and brings enough to overcome those hurdles for those looking for an uplifting tale.
Turn on Raya and you're encouraged to forget the real world long enough to find messages of hope through unity and trust for one another. These themes permeate the dialogue, the music and even the artistic style of the film. It is in a word: beautiful to look at. Bright colours bring life in contrast to the sinister dark purple orbs that represent the scourge that steals life, freezing people as stone statues in its wake. In keeping with asian influences, the story has many shades of grey in the characters, leaving room for redemption and weakness in the heroes and protagonists.
Of course, there are criticisms to be levelled, in particular in the realm of disjointed transitions for a few scenes with awkward fade outs or lack of attention to background animation. In one case a large number of cats use what appears to be the same animation script, creating the unnatural appearance of them all moving at exactly the same speed and with too much similarity.
The plot follows a video game trope, and the story itself isn't all that original, borrowing from many other genres, but in Disney's case, this is not without precedent or without its merit. It was refreshing to see major characters engage in all out mortal physical battle. This is rare for Disney, even if there are some convenient issues around the end of the film that if dwelt on too closely, you might lose the whimsical joy of the film's message.
Apart from the heavy handed moral ideology, which is common for Disney films to begin with, Raya doesn't address many of the social issues in political debate today. Diversity doesn't feel forced, and other issues aren't shoe-horned in with pretentious and unnecessary scenes. As a result, it does its job well of presenting a heart-warming and uplifting tale.
Raya is a guardian, raised to protect the heart of the land, both literally and figuratively speaking. When the heart is broken, it then falls to her to bring back the source of that heart to overcome the blight that has befallen everything around her.
Raya and the Last Dragon attempts to tell a story that is difficult to do successfully and while there are plenty of opportunities for technical criticism around the plot, pacing and even some animation issues, it is the heart that shines through and brings enough to overcome those hurdles for those looking for an uplifting tale.
Turn on Raya and you're encouraged to forget the real world long enough to find messages of hope through unity and trust for one another. These themes permeate the dialogue, the music and even the artistic style of the film. It is in a word: beautiful to look at. Bright colours bring life in contrast to the sinister dark purple orbs that represent the scourge that steals life, freezing people as stone statues in its wake. In keeping with asian influences, the story has many shades of grey in the characters, leaving room for redemption and weakness in the heroes and protagonists.
Of course, there are criticisms to be levelled, in particular in the realm of disjointed transitions for a few scenes with awkward fade outs or lack of attention to background animation. In one case a large number of cats use what appears to be the same animation script, creating the unnatural appearance of them all moving at exactly the same speed and with too much similarity.
The plot follows a video game trope, and the story itself isn't all that original, borrowing from many other genres, but in Disney's case, this is not without precedent or without its merit. It was refreshing to see major characters engage in all out mortal physical battle. This is rare for Disney, even if there are some convenient issues around the end of the film that if dwelt on too closely, you might lose the whimsical joy of the film's message.
Apart from the heavy handed moral ideology, which is common for Disney films to begin with, Raya doesn't address many of the social issues in political debate today. Diversity doesn't feel forced, and other issues aren't shoe-horned in with pretentious and unnecessary scenes. As a result, it does its job well of presenting a heart-warming and uplifting tale.
