Raya and the Last Dragon: A Beautiful Failure

 




I have been far from the biggest fan of the films from the so-called "Disney Rebirth." I probably thought Tangled  was the best as its humor felt the most organic and it boasted truly memorable characters whether they be endearing, Rapunzel and Maximus the horse, or menacing, Mother Gothel. Other films, however, like Frozen or Moana boasted exemplary animation but were hampered by meandering plots, thin characters, and often teeth grindingly bad humor. Raya of the Last Dragon definitely suffers from this last problem, while admittedly continuing the trend of absolutely gorgeous animation. Many of the humor sequences do not work because too often it feels like the film is saying "stop, let's have an extended comic sketch" and thus it feels awkward. It also feels awkward because the world of the film is a dark dystopian one so random comic intervals feel like they're there because they're expected rather than that they should be there. 

Nevertheless, the film does shine when it comes to dramatic scenes. One moment specifically when certain characters put flowers in the water to commemorate lost loved ones is a beautifully quiet scene accentuated by the way the camera lingers on the flowers. The main antagonist is also written with excellent nuance that makes her actions believable throughout. Indeed, this work with the antagonist helps make a climactic point of the film work on its own terms as the film takes some unexpected narrative choices that caught me off guard but coupled with the earlier work worked well to create a poignant sequence. 

Unfortunately, however, the climax is undercut by two things. First, the film sets up that characters who are being affected by the monster of the film, Druun, get turned to stone. We know this is a Disney picture so we have very little doubt that characters who turn to stone are going to stay that way. This hurts the drama somewhat. This could have been offset if a character who was seemingly dead had stayed dead but the film cannot commit to that either. 

The far bigger problem than this, however, is the film's message. The film preaches a "why can't we all get along message" or perhaps more accurately a "we could all get along if we stopped having misunderstandings with one another." Clearly, the filmmakers thought they were being profound doing this as the US seems increasingly polarized and in a way I can see where they are coming from but it just doesn't work. First of all, the events at the Capital showed, the nation is far more broken than just "we keep having misunderstandings." Second of all, the filmmakers seem to miss that there are monsters among us who seek to inflict harm on others and no amount of reaching out will make a difference. Neville Chamberlin learned that the hard way back in 1938, and many of us have been seeing it in the US with Donald Trump and his stoking of hatred against minorities. Last year's Wolfwalkers also preached a message of tolerance but also recognized the demagogues amongst us who seek to turn us against our fellow beings. Raya and the Last Dragon seems unwilling to accept this and instead seeks to give us a pat ending where everything can work out perfectly. As a result the film feels not only hollow but also as if its head has been under a rock for at least the last four years. Disney probably sought to maximize profits by not pointing the finger at anyone, but while profits might be maximized, creative storytelling has been minimized. 

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