Omgggg I loved this movie too!!!!! I love how Namaari was the villain but she wasn’t really bad if you read in between the lines you can see her motives. And she ends up saving the world (along with the other main characters too) ... this is a real tear jerker and full of surprises!!!
Honestly, even with the muddled messaging at times, this was definitely a fun movie and a really good example of using music with world-building, not to mention Southeast Asian cultural representation! I personally appreciated the grey areas in Raya and Namari's characters, as they both make mistakes and even have decent reasons for why they do what they do. Last note: can we all appreciate how this movie and its themes were honestly MADE for 2021 and post pandemic humanity? 😁
This movie was nice. Great visuals, great soundtrack. The story is a bit predictable and it suffers from too many comic relief characters imo. The character dynamic between Raya and Namari was nice, but it could have used more backstory. Namaari being a ward in Raya's household and the two of them having a genuine friendship montage together until Namaari's betrayal for example. I love the dragon. She's great. Her collecting all the different powers didn't really have a pay off in the end. Lot's of unused chekhov's guns there. The ending though? Selfless sacrifices are always great signs of trust. Even if I still think Raya's character arc could have used more small scenes where we see her overcoming her trust issues.
I agree, my one true gripe with the movie was the dated dialogue/jokes. But I really understood and felt the weight of every character’s loss in this story. And I love the message of the value of unity and therefore trust that it shows the audience.
So my big problem with the film is the subtitle messaging of pro unification of greater nations with none of the subilty of what happens when greater lands or nation states unite under one state. Example is modern Ethoipia where the region and Eritrea have a long history of various regional empires uniting some version of a greater Ethoipian empire, but normally after a couple hundred to 500 years of history a combination or human and physical geographies make a greater Ethiopian kingdom or empire devolve back into local war lording. This movie sends the message of because our lands had a history together 500 years ago that our greater national borders should be restored and everything will be fixed. Which is not the case in most cases. Look at the attempt to create a pan Arab nation state between Egypt and Syria in the mid 20th century. The rulers of Egypt or Syria couldn’t decide who would govern who and the situation fell flat.
This movie feels like Avatar The Last Airbender meets Kung Fu Panda. Also, fun fact: this is the fourth Disney film to have score by James Newtown Howard; he previously scored Dinosaur, Atlantis The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet.
