#don’t make the gif weird btw. I’m talking about the dialogue

[wickjump]

hey btw this exchange but it’s crepic (epic wondering if the cross he knew years ago, now effectively entirely erased by xgaster, is still somewhere deep inside cross. and all cross, the cross now, can say is that.. he likes epic)

[film-diary-of-an-idiot]

Raya and The Last Dragon - It’s pretty good

 Hi. Welp, Raya and The Last Dragon recently came out on Disney + and I've got to say, I liked it. Since the trailers dropped, I've been wanting to see it, not only for the sweet-looking animation style (which made Raya look really hot btw) that I'm really into, but also because it just seemed so fresh. Watching the movie actually felt like a wave of freshness. Yes. It did. I think I'm just numb to the bullshit Disney has been putting out recently. Also **SPOILER WARNING** for anyone who hasn't watched the movie yet.

Raya

First of all, I really really enjoyed the character of Raya. I'm so glad they didn't go with the screaming WOMEN POWER move like they did with other female leads nowadays (ehem captain marvel ehem). Instead, they put a badass woman on screen with the coolest outfit busting out Spider-Man worthy moves all while wielding her sword. I mean, that's literally what women power is, showing that women can hold their own, not shoving the phrase down our throats. But I digress. I just love this character, who was so trusting, which cost her only family, and now is trying to fix her mistake with the glimmer of hope that everyone else had given up on, while trusting no one. She literally is suspicious of a little boy, thinking that he might have poisoned her food. Overall, I think her character works almost perfectly along with the storyline. I also HAVE to mention that there's one scene which I absolutely love, which is when everyone is just running away from the Druun while Raya is walking the opposite direction to finish off Namaari. I know it probably was done may times before, but I think that scene was just breathtaking.

Theme

So the theme of this movies is trust. And I think it worked really well with this story and the character of Raya. There's not much to talk about, except that I would have liked Raya to learn how to trust people along her journey instead of having Sisu just keep telling her to do so. There are also many instances where Raya is proved right, instead of wrong, which kinda makes the ending a tiny bit weird.

Side Characters

I liked the fact that each town is not necessarily evil, but more towards trying to achieve prosperity for their citizens. I was surprised when the chief of Fang wanted to capture Raya for the sole purpose to avoid social stigma against her people, and instead be recognized as heroes. That's not a bad motivation for a villain, and was certainly something new for the Disney animated movies. I was also concerned that Namaari was just going to just be a direct opposite for Raya to beat in the final battle. But guess what? Their rivalry was pretty well-done. Raya is perfectly justified for hating Namaari and especially during the last battle, since she killed Sisu. I found the rest of the side characters enjoyable enough. Captain Boun and Tong were pretty fun, I'm not sure about the baby though. I mean, I dont even know why she's there in the first place, and I personally could have done without her. It's not that I hate her or anything, its just that she doesn’t exactly contribute much to the plot.

Sisu

Ooooookay. A lot of people have been criticizing the shape and design of the dragon, but I for one, didn't have a problem with it. I don't think there's a specific way to draw dragons, it's not like anybody's seen any to tell what it really looks like. What I DID have a problem with was her overall character. I mean, first of all, I just didn't find her "quips" to be really funny. Such as the "one kid who didn't do much but ended up with the same grade". yeaaaah. There are many more, which I can't remember for the life of me, probably because it was bland, and I personally didn't find any of them funny. Also I found it really weird that whenever they found a gem, a certain dialogue would take place. It goes a little something like this :

Raya: OMG! You’re glowing!

Sisu: Oh YEAH! That’s my brother _________’s magic! And this dialogue is literally repeated every time they found a piece of the gem, which I found really weird. I think if they were to do that, maybe a little story about the brother in question would be in order.

Alternate Ending If it were me, I think that, since the dragons didn't come back before, I don't see the reason for them to come back now. They should stay dead. Who knows? Maybe you can use that for a follow-up movie. I think it would have been better if Sisu and Raya had more bonding scenes, because throughout the movie, you don't really think them as good friends or anything. Sisu was honestly more of a burden then a friend. This would make the Sisu death scene more hard-hitting, and mean something to Raya. It would also drive home the theme, where Sisu dies trying to prove the importance of trust.

Final verdict : 8.2/10