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What are your thoughts on Raya and the Last Dragon?

What did you think of Raya and the Last Dragon

  • I loved it

    Votes: 84 16.2%

  • I liked it

    Votes: 249 48.2%

  • I was neutral on it

    Votes: 128 24.8%

  • I disliked it

    Votes: 45 8.7%

  • I hated it

    Votes: 11 2.1%
  • Total voters
    517
TheGamingNewsGuy

TheGamingNewsGuy

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 5, 2017
31,496
I just saw Raya and the Last Dragon and overall I thought it was pretty good but I had some issues with it. I felt like the theme of trust was a little bit heavy handed in the movie and I felt it could have been a bit longer as some elements felt on therl rushed side but that's my own personal opinion. I would be curious to know your thoughts on the movie.
 
DrForester

DrForester

Mod of the Year 2006
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,705
I enjoyed it. Raya and Sisu were lots of fun and the animation was amazing.

Didn't really care for any of the supporting characters through.
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,658
It was fine. Disney movies differ from Pixar in that no matter how interesting or novel a setting and cast they have, the actual structure of the movie is formulaic to a fault. It's a movie I felt like I've seen ten times before, just in a different setting. This is true of almost all recent Disney movies, even ones I really enjoyed like Moana. It's to the point that I honestly can't remember 70% of what happened in Raya, but I feel like I could sketch out the plot with at least 70% accuracy haha.

Pixar movies, despite not always hitting it out of the park, generally try to be a bit more ambitious from a storytelling perspective.
 
Lump

Lump

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,034
A modern example of a setting that should've been given a television/streaming series to flesh out its world building instead of the time constraints of a much shorter feature film.
 
Finaj

Finaj

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,360
Good time, wonderful art direction and world, but it felt overstuffed in terms of plot/character.

Felt like they took several seasons of a tv show and cut it down to 100 minutes.
 
QisTopTier

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
Lump said:
A modern example of a setting that should've been given a television/streaming series to flesh out its world building instead of the time constraints of a much shorter feature film.
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100% My thoughts. Nothing felt earned and it all felt so rushed. All that time with goofy silly baby shit could have been used for some extra fleshing out.

I disliked it despite liking the visuals, characters, and general ideas.
 
Surakian

Surakian

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
10,875
Beautiful film with good world-building. Solid story that probably would have been better served in a TV format.

Disney missed out on having their first lesbian couple in an animated feature film in Raya and Namaari. They have mad chemistry.
 
Fuzzy

Fuzzy

Completely non-threatening
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
18,134
Toronto
I'll find out in two weeks when it's on normal Disney+. I didn't want to pay extra to watch it.
 

JDSN

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,129
It's a movie that has a runtime and things happen and then it ends.

Theres a giant donut on it too.
 
Surakian

Surakian

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
10,875
HStallion said:
They didn't miss out. This is classic Disney.
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I mostly meant in the sense of actually receiving praise from the masses instead of exasperation like they get every time they announce their "first gay character" for the hundredth time and it's just some random, forgettable character or a comedic relief character.

Also like Finaj said, they have Luz and Amity on The Owl House. If they had made this film a TV show, I have no doubt they would have gone way more in with Raya and Namaari.

I definitely get that Disney does this all of the time with their films, though.
 
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TheGamingNewsGuy

TheGamingNewsGuy

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 5, 2017
31,496
Thinking on it, yeah in terms of a plot and story perspective - Raya would be better as a TV Show
 
Seneset

Seneset

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,079
Limbus Patrum
I liked it if I don't think to hard. When I do, I feel it could have and should have been better. They could have easily expanded the world as a TV show and fixed some of the issues.
 

Deleted member 3542

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,889
Gorgeous and love the art direction, but the plot is a little too familiar to make an impression on me.
 
Mesoian

Mesoian

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 28, 2017
26,527
It was fine. A little cluttered in the back half, but it's a fun watch.

I absolutely understand what people mean when they say it's a stifled queer anthem though.
 
ForKevdo

ForKevdo

Member
Nov 2, 2017
1,102
The whole bit where Namaari is like "hey i'm here to betray you and take the gem" and then goes straight to "it's your fault Sisu is dead because you didn't trust me!!!!!!!" had me like whuuuuuuut

Would've liked some more overt romance but I guess I don't really expect Disney to go all in on a gay relationship ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
QisTopTier

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
ForKevdo said:
The whole bit where Namaari is like "hey i'm here to betray you and take the gem" and then goes straight to "it's your fault Sisu is dead because you didn't trust me!!!!!!!" had me like whuuuuuuut

Would've liked some more overt romance but I guess I don't really expect Disney to go all in on a gay relationship ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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The entire last 1/5th is ass from a story telling perspective. Their relationship doesn't even make sense.
 
Nepenthe

Nepenthe

When the music hits, you feel no pain.
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
20,699
It's a little above Big Hero 6 tier in terms of enjoyable, mainly elevated by its setting, a few mildly interesting story choices, and the little kid running the restaurant. He was great.
 

Gorgosh

Member
Oct 26, 2017
957
Just watched it with my daughter (today free release on Disney+). We both really liked it. And these movies just look so amazing on my 4k OLED. The water, some backgrounds and details (like Sissus fur) were insane in this one, even better than in Frozen 2.
 
Lost Lemurian

Lost Lemurian

Member
Nov 30, 2019
4,297
Looked great, great cast, but the pacing was awful. They tried to cram too many characters and relationships into the runtime, and sequences waivered between feeling either rushed or bloated.

I would've combined the boat kid with the monkeys and cut the big guy entirely, so that stuff like the Raya/Namari relationship and Namari's character arc would have more time to breath.
 
Mr. Sam

Mr. Sam

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,031
The moral is horribly executed, unless the message they're trying to get across is that you should blindly trust people who've repeatedly proven themselves unworthy of trust.
 
Miles

Miles

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
639
San Diego, CA
I thought it was alright, reminded me a bit of ATLA. I'll probably never watch it again and I already forgot everyone's names. So par for the course for most Disney movies.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

#1 Waluigi Fan! Current Status: Crying
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,940
I liked it but yeah, could've used being a TV show or something to flesh out the world and expand on things and make it seem like this larger adventure.

But yeah, I enjoyed it. Entertaining and very pretty!
 

Deleted member 83599

Banned
Oct 22, 2020
6,280
I liked/loved it. Somewhere on the border.

It's got some impressively ambitious world building for a Disney animated movie, but it was a lot to fit in a single film.
 
MikeProtagonist

MikeProtagonist

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,337
Kelly and Awkwafina (god that name is stupid, what was she thinking?) were both great, lots of emotion and great timing.
Story was okay, very rushed by the very fact that they needed to collect all the McGuffins. I think it could have better starting out with the crew all heading into Fang for the last piece and going from there, and build the characters from adventures in a single place. Namaari didn't make much sense. She really could have used more time to actually show some conflict with her mother and build towards some trust, so Raya didn't just blindly have faith in her at the end. I did like how Raya surrendered the lead character role at the end, and I think Namaari could have used a scene or two actually doing something with that trust, not just piecing together the crystal and peaceing out. Like, if Namaari had to find Sisu's body with the collected crystal, and that's what brings everyone back but Sisu is gone (or a star sign or something). Oh well. As it was, the ending was too happy with ALL the people and ALL the dragons coming back. I was surprised they didn't repair everything too while they were at it.

I think there's a slight problem with trope overlap, where Sisu is part Falcor, part Mushu and part My Little Pony, so she comes across as not too original even though she's well made. She was completely adorable though - while her human form was nightmare fuel.
 
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Imperial Bishop

Imperial Bishop

Member
Oct 26, 2017
35,590
I really liked it. It was a very ensemble cast-driven movie. The pace doesn't really slow down so that you can spend more time with the other cast.

Sisu(?) is probably the weakest part of the film, even though I didn't dislike her. Her role was very archetypal of other Disney fantasy characters.

The theme of self-sacrifice during the climax was executed very well, in my opinion. I still think about it to this day.
 
QisTopTier

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
Imperial Bishop said:
The theme of self-sacrifice during the climax was executed very well, in my opinion. I still think about it to this day.
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Was it though? Nothing felt like it led to that making sense. The end was a rushed mess.

Mr. Sam said:
The moral is horribly executed, unless the message they're trying to get across is that you should blindly trust people who've repeatedly proven themselves unworthy of trust.
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Indeed. Really makes me wonder about who was in charge
 
jett

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,659
Mediocre and creatively defunct. Could barely stand Awkwafina.
 
HouseDragon

HouseDragon

Member
Dec 4, 2017
545
Maybe I expected to much out of it, but I didn't like it. Even though the world building and visuals were good, the characters and storyline were a mess, especially the third act.
 
Tavernade

Tavernade

Tavernade
Moderator
Sep 18, 2018
8,633
I thought it was wonderful, but I wish it was 30-60 minutes longer. The movie has a really fast pace and crams a LOT into that (really well!), but I wish it had more time to breath and explore the world and characters. There's not a lot of down time in it.

I actually watched it twice in the same week week when it came out and was kind of amazed at howgood the script was, pacing and character-wise. Everyone gets backstory and a bit of depth and the plot never stops moving but also the script ensures there's constant building and new things and it's really well done.

I just want more (D+ series?)

I will admit that I think a lot of the jokes were pretty hit or miss.
 
Imperial Bishop

Imperial Bishop

Member
Oct 26, 2017
35,590
QisTopTier said:
Was it though? Nothing felt like it led to that making sense. The end was a rushed mess.
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I've only seen it once, but

the only way for the jewel/orb thing to work was with an act of trust/selflessness.
Each of the characters was a microcosm of the divided lands that pretty much caused the curse monsters to take over due to their selfishness. Raya and Namaari couldn't trust each other (it's undercooked but the point still stands) because of the tribes they come from still holding grudges.

When Raya realized what she had to do and Namaari saw how everyone else trusted her and willingly sacrificed themselves, that whole moment worked for me.
They hated Namaari in that moment and yet, they were willing to risk death because trust was the only way they would survive.
Even if I know in the back of my head that they would all be already, and even if the way leading there was rocky, everything kinda came together at that moment. Like that was the main scene they wanted to build up to for the entire movie.
 
Mivey

Mivey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,827
Loved it, very enjoyable. Raya was a great protagonist, and the setting was interesting enough.
 
HiLife

HiLife

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
39,677
Visually amazing and the fight choreography was probably the best Disney has done for their animated movies. But I'd put it below Soul (in recent memory).
 
darkhunger

darkhunger

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,270
USA
Reminds me of old school Disney movies that spend more time on characters, visuals and worldbuilding and less on plot. I enjoyed it.
 
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