WesternAnimation Grow a Pair, Disney
My first thought going into Raya and the last Dragon is, "this sure does look a lot like The Legend of Korra". My last thought coming out of the film was, "I wish this was a bit more like The Legend of Korra."
Beyond the the East/SE Asian influences and the action girl protagonist who in some scenes dresses almost exactly like Korra, this movie also queerbaits its audience like crazy. But whereas Korra actually followed through and gave us a queer protagonist, Raya sticks to implications and vaguely romantic frissons between its female characters. It is about the farthest Disney is going to get in terms of giving us a gay protagonist. That is my interpretation anyway, my wife argues I should stop looking for this stuff just because the film lacks a romantic male lead.
To talk about the movie properly, Raya is about a fantasy world blighted by a vague purple evil that turns people to stone. The hero Raya must find and reunite five fragments of a magic rock, and this, combined with a newly awakened ancient dragon, should return things to normal. It feels like a videogame plot, with Raya having to traverse and fight across a snow level, and then the swamp level, then the desert level etc, to collect the magic plot coupons. It takes a lot of clunkily delivered exposition to set all of this up, and I found the opening to be fairly boring up until Sisu, a fluffy blue dragon, eventually arrives out of thin air and adds a bit more liveliness to things. Sisu is this chatty, bubbly critter who helps stop the movie get a bit too serious for its own good, and is probably the thing I liked most about this film.
When it's not reminding me of Korra, the movie reminds me heavily of the formulaic quest plot of Moana, only now that Moana already exists, it feels extra formulaic this time around. Beyond recycling the environmentalist message, Maya introduces an antiwar, anti-xenophobia element as well. The central plot of the movie depends on Maya learning to get over her bigotry, as without this contrivance the story would be over in five minutes.
Raya is an okay movie. Despite the plot feeling cumbersome and too familiar, I appreciate Disney trying to do a more serious action plot with a badass female martial artist protagonist. There is also a lot of the style and artistry of the movie, and it is nice to see SE Asian culture getting more attention. But there is not much else to enjoy here when compared to other Disney flicks.
WesternAnimation Could be Great if Given the Chance
Raya and the Last Dragon is a film that can give birth to an Amazing series if given the chance. The World of Kumandra is easily the best original world Disney has made in a LONG time as it's a world I want to see more of. I want to go to this place and see how it works, see if there are other mythical creatures besides the Dragon and Druun, I want to see the politics of the different tribes and how this world deals with the Fallout of the film's ending.
Namaari is the best "villain" in the Disney Canon we've had in a LONG time as she avoids all the major missteps of the villains of the last 20+ years. She has an engaging personality, a great design and is genuinely intimating when she needs to be, which is better than the villains we've gotten post Hades from Hercules. As many of you have likely figured out,she's basically the Catra/Zuko of Disney as she's one of the few villains turned heroes (7 in total for those interested) and I WANT to see what happens to her after the film. Namaari is the one who both broke the world but was also the one who helped save but she still is one of the two chiefly responsible for breaking the world and she should face the consequence of her actions which can lead to great character development.
Raya is also fantastic and Kelly Marie Tran brings so much life to the character that I can't see anyone else playing Raya. I love how different Raya is from other Disney Princesses, even Elsa, as her goal isn't wanting something more but instead is just wanting to get her father back. I love how the film makes it so her arc is about looking past that and wanting to save everyone even if it means she must put her trust in someone she has every reason to hate.
And finally there's the relationship between Raya & Namaari and while I am shipping them I'm glad that they didn't get together in this film as they've spent too much time hurting each other and if there is a romance between the two it must take place AFTER they've spent time mending their relationship. I Hate Reylo and a big chunk as to why I hate it is because Kylo did everything in his power to hurt Rey and did nothing to show that he actually cared about her besides just saying he wanted her. Namaari, at least,was willing to show that she could be a good person and that she was willing to put in the work to earn Raya's trust.
Is the film flawed? Yes, but what works REALLY works and I think a sequel would help to make this a truly great series. The two leads and the world of Kumandra is so engaging that I can't help but hope that Disney continues this story in either a Video Game, TV Series, Comics and Novels. Not every series has a great start, Babylon 5, Borderlands, Steven Universe and even Star Trek: The Next Generation all had uneven or outright awful beginnings. Raya and the Last Dragon is a movie with flaws but can be great if given the chance someone just has to take the first step.