Metrics
Genre:
Coming-of-age, Family, (Animated)
Rating:
7.7 /10
Audience:
People who like disney movies. Kids, adults who have seen too much conflict.
Rewatch Time:
1h35, and decently entertaining. Great visuals. Once in a year maybe.
Winner:
Sisu (Awkwafina)
Review
The south-east-asian influence was quite strong with this one. Naming the 5 lands after parts of the dragon is cool, and honestly just including dragons is always a plus. The idea that they incorporated the ASIAN dragon (water-centric, more snake-like and long) is definitely really cool. Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) is definitely a likeable protagonist, and the initial scene does a great job of introducing her, her father (Daniel Dae Kim), and the cutest ever baby armadillo-looking-thing Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk). Big props to the animators for that. I'm usually not too into Awkwafina's humour, but her quips are pretty funny coupled with Raya's more badass personality. Then there's Namari (Gemma Chan, who's beautiful) who does have good chemistry with Raya - their little slang that the creators made up (binturi, dep la, etc.) was really cool and brought a new level to their dynamic, especially since they're based on real languages. The supporting cast of Raya's friends are pretty funny too, but the visuals and the music do some REALLY heavy lifting, especially near the end, and got me in the feels. That's what gets this movie this high. They really capture the right tone in the climax, and their command over emotion is definitely really impactful. Good show all around.
Spoiler Territory
Not really spoiler-sensitive.