It annoys me how Disney plug and push all the live action remakes that honestly no one cares for but have these original bomb ass movies and literally have no press for them ..
@Alex A ya seriously. I've been a little disappointed by a couple of Disney animated movies for a lack or originality but once something is original, they don't really give it credit and they push for the garbage Mulan movie
My dad was an animator for this movie (you can find his name in the credits: Brian F. Menz). I got to see behind the scenes stuff about this movie, and it seemed to mean a lot to the people making it. It took a lot of work to make this movie during the quarantine, but they managed to pull it off, and everyone involved seemed really proud of it. So I was praying that it would have a good reputation, and that critics and audiences would love it as much as the people who made it. And I'm so glad you did, and I was relieved to see you give it an A-. So I just wanted to say thanks for that.
And we thank your Dad for his hard work bringing us entertainment in these tough times. But seriously, I haven't seen Chris give an A- in awhile! Bravo
I’m Vietnamese and also have an intense respect for animation, and I’m just super glad Disney made a film dedicated to a different part of Asian culture. But I do agree that this worldbuilding is too immense to fit into a single film. still an amazingly created film :)
Not counting Pixar, it's been 5 years, half a decade, since we've had an original, non-sequel, non-live action remake, animated film from Disney. It's about time.
honestly, raya and the last dragon is super representative of my culture (i’m thai) and seeing a studio i loved as a child - before all the live action bullshit - doing a film inspired by something i hold so dear puts it up there as one of my favorite disney films of all time.
Not a musical? Makes me miss Atlantis: The Lost Empire. That movie was too far ahead of it's time. People couldn't accept a Disney movie for not being a musical princess movie. Glad to see Raya is getting much better treatment by critics!
Fun fact that may encourage you to see it even more: James Newton Howard scored both movies. And after seeing Raya I must say I've also been quite impressed by the soundtrack. By the way, I also love Atlantis. I think it was way too underrated by the critics.
I felt something missing in this movie. I mean I liked and enjoyed it, I think the message is very relevant right now, the world/characters were charming (especially loved Boun) and their designs were cool. However in the end the story just felt slightly superficial to me, not in the way that they didn't put thought into it because they clearly did, but I think there simply wasn't enough time to explore and deepen the characters and world, which ended up making them feel like a cliché and their arcs rushed. I actually really think this movie had a lot more potential, and I think it would've felt more fulfilling if it was either more focused (so less characters or lands) or in a series format so there was more time to deepen the characters and world. That's really the only gripe I have with this movie, that being said I applaud the creators for making something original and from home, taking that into account it's really impressive what they achieved
I agree. But for me, i hate it. They did what everyonr in the market have done with the same trope, they didn't add anything new to the Mcguffin hunt, or the Found Family, or Heros Journey. Every trope used made the narrative. And that sucks because they didn't even try to add something new, just followed the steps those tropes marked, and called it a day. It rages me, because narrative and writing is so dearly and precious to me. Knowing that they used tropes without adding nothing new to the existent trope, and made money out of it, discourages me so deeply. Makes me question Why am I even doing all this effort into my story if people will just love whatever they are given, good ot bad?
@@somethingaboutsomeone7641 Those are reasonable points but using tropes definitely doesn't make something less enjoyable to the general public; tropes are tropes because they often work. I understand your frustration, but I don't think anyone is praising this movie for its innovative story, it's just a nice looking movie with enjoyable characters and a story that feels familiar. Great stories don't go unappreciated so keep writing man, good luck!
For me it's the opposite. Musical number in it makes it way more unlikely for me to watch the movie. Not a very objective approach but I'm not a critic so whatever. But critics should be a bit more objective.
I guess I’m one of the few here that agrees with Chris. Raya and the Last Dragon wasn’t exactly a masterpiece but it sure beats most of the movies that Disney has produced in the last few years. At least Disney is trying to create original content and introduce us to a whole new world and story. I’m just tired of watching live remakes and sequels, so any effort from Disney’s end to get off of that beaten path is much appreciated.
It'll be called a masterpiece one day for sure only cz of it's legacy status .. long shelf life, will outlive any other decent Disney animated movies out there
This movie was made from home. From over FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY DIFFERENT HOMES in fact. VAs had to make their own recording booths from what they had-mostly recording in closests. Animators had to use their personal computers to animate. Lighting, rigging, character design it was ALL done from home and that needs to be talked about more. It's stunning it looks as good as it does. Animation is EXTREMELY collaborative so the fact that this film was made and finished and looks GORGEOUS all while during one of the worst pandemics in human history.....damn.
It's pretty insane. Had COVID been around 20 even 15 years ago and they were working on this movie then, it may very well had been cancelled or shelved indefinitely. It's a good thing we've come to a point where even during a global pandemic people can almost seamlessly continue working from home on animated projects thanks to our advancing technology.
Some corrections: we animators don't use our PERSONAL computers. they cant handle a production like this. the studios gave us our PC from work and through VPN connections we are connected to the main server in studio. The software's are all proprieties of the studio, not the software's you can buy yourself, and they are staying locked inside the PC the studio gave us. and they are locked so nothing can get copied from them outside. so no personal PC, and render farms are alive and well in the studio themselves to do the heavy works. its still impressive how we are making these films from home, but given that its basically the same workflow, as the dailies and notes are all through Emails (as they were) and video chats (as in many studios used to be before Covid), its mostly the impressive job of the IT who we all applaud! The only thing i miss personally, is the atmosphere of the studio! other than that, its actually nicer and easier to work from home :D
Yes. He made the score for Paul greengrass's News of the world. He also made a score for Terrance Malick's a hidden life. Wasn't he also the composer of Fantastic beasts 1 and 2?
I’m glad to hear it’s good, I just hate that Disney forcing all the live action movies at us has taken almost all of my excitement for any Disney release. I wanted to be excited for it but I just wasn’t. But hey if I see more people pushing it maybe I’ll see this one (probably cheaper to see it in theatres, 30$ yikes)
Me on the other hand just ignores the remakes. And will still be excited for disney. They sometimes miss the mark, but i see plenty of quality content.
30 dollars is a huge yikes considering that's on top of the extra 6/7/8 or however many bucks it is to actually have Disney+ for a month. I could get a 5 dollar ticket to see it at the cinema on a huge screen, so I'm going to wait until this one is available for rent. I would love to support this movie, but the fees for Disney+ is ridiculous
I came here just to say this. I've noticed she's been getting a lot of good roles lately and I know in my heart its because they know she got dealt a bad hand with the Trilogy That Shall Not Be Named and are giving her the chance she rightfully deserves.
Well that's what happened when you give her cringe lines and a bad character. Fuck last jedi. I'm happy this movie might save her career though here's hoping.
@@mysteryperson1958 Still the most acclaimed Star Wars film since Empire so... tough shit. Also Tran still voiced her character in the Lego Holiday Special so she wasn’t out just yet.
@@mysteryperson1958 I don’t think that her character was bad, but even if she was bad, the insults from internet trolls would still be morally wrong. If you don’t like a character, that does not authorize you to insult the actress with racist comments and body shaming tweets about the way she looks.
As a Filipino, this film has been getting way too much unnecessary hate and expectations. When we talk of representation I feel there tends to be a mindset that it always has to be one-to-one otherwise it's disrespectful to the represented group. I personally am just happy that there is a Disney film featuring Southeast Asian culture, and that it's getting good buzz. Stepping stones.
South East Asian culture but voiced from mostly East Asian (chinese and koreans). Only one Vietnamese voice actress. If it is all Vietnamese voice actors, I'll okay with it.
@@KhanMann66 because there are talented people within the southeast Asian community. Not giving them a chance to represent themselves, especially in a movie which revolves around their culture, is a tad bit insulting
@@youraveragepasser-by7367 I don't think those talented people are nearly as talented as you think. They will pick the actors they believe will sell. People need to stop making things about race.
Yep, advertising Disneys woke garbage and thereby validating a corporate regime built on hate and bullying and applying cancel culture to the slightest misstep. I'm out of here.
@Om Patel well yeah, the 2010s were such a dumpster fire of movies that looked so promising but failed, like batman v superman, suicide squad, kong skull island, godzilla king of monsters, ralph breaks the internet, i was hoping for them to be amazing but that never happened, i cant trust the trailer anymore
The moment I saw Asian food and fruits being featured in it, I had a good feeling that a lot of detail and thought went into it. Asians are very passionate about our food! I think it was also refreshing that it did not have the typical Disney boy/girl romance happening in the storyline. There was no need for it.
When Chris said he never saw any promotional material about the movie I just kinda went, "huh." I myself didn't even know this movie existed until like 3 days ago. Why have I seen next to nothing about Disney's new big animated movie?
I feel like they dumped the info that they were going to make a Southeast Asian inspired movie onto online Asian groups (like subtle asian traits)... then expected us to hype it up for them??? First time I saw a commercial for this movie was 3 days ago while watching hockey. Wtf
I saw a couple ads for it on TH-cam weeks before this came out. But I don’t know if u guys did, there was some promotion on my end. I don’t think Disney is completely “dumping” on this film, just saying.
I think the baby was a play on the saying “it’s as easy as stealing candy from a baby”, and in the land where a bunch of people steal there’s a baby that would steal your candy instead
The film is nice and everything but you got me fucked up if you think I'm paying $30 for this when this will be at no extra cost come like two months from now.
You must not have kids? I'll pay _anything_ to not watch the same shit from Disney+ on repeat. $30 for a new movie for the first time in ages, yes please.
Same with a movie in theaters...? You're paying to see it a few months before everyone else. My family of 4 was always over $30 for the movie theaters so it doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
If you have family members of friends who are willing to split the money then it's definitely worth it. Much cheaper than just going to the theaters if you have like 4 people. That's less than $8 per person.
As a Malaysian, i feel the film did a great job representing the region. From the scriptwriting and imagery to the local influences in the score. Raya means 'Celebration' in Malay, and I defo felt that it was a celebration of our culture. Thanks for the review, Chris!
@@StellarJones That's what I read as well, though to be fair, they didn't need to. The screenwriter is Malaysian and went to school not far from where I live.
The only thing I didn’t like how it was a tad rushed and the freaking dragon but other than that the animation was STUNNINGGGG and as a young Thai girl I feel so seen. It was amazing
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The weird baby REALLLLLLY puts me off when I see it in trailers. I'm relived to hear it can work somehow. That's the number one thing Ive been hoping to hear from reviews
I can't disagree more with Chris on this. The baby was so bad it made us nearly want to turn it off. At no point is there any explanation whatsoever about why the baby is this capable. And I made a joke that it was "the boss baby prequel" It's so forced and so completely stupid. There zero reason story wise for this to exist other than "kids will love this!"
I was crying halfway through the movie. The look of hope in Namaari's eyes when she sees Sisu. Raya lost her Dad to the Druun. She doesn't believe in the dream of Kumandra until she finds faith within herself. Later, Namaari wants to make the world a better place, but doesn't believe in Raya's dream of Kumandra. Raya makes the ultimate sacrifice by giving the Gem to Namaari hoping that she will do the right thing, turning to stone in the process. Namaari was going to leave them behind, but decided to sacrifice herself as well. With the Gem put back together, magic spreads throughout the land creating a cloud that purifies everything below, turning everyone petrified to life again. It has equivalencies to real life - we are all Human, and we are all one and the same. We disagree on how to make the world a better place, but we all want the world to be a better place.
She was willing to let all of the other kingdom suffer even though the dragon could've saved everyone.I understand wanting to save her kingdom but she literally had the solution to save everyone and still decided to betray Raya and Susu.Are we going to forget that she was more than willing to kill Raya if Susu didn't step in.She never apologized after betraying her twice. Her redemption wasn't earned. This movie promotes a bad message. Just give your trust it doesn't have to be earned. Susu who trusted blindly was almost killed by an old psycho old woman if it wasn't for Raya. I would've loved to have seen what Pixar would've done with this concept.
Namaari came back because she had no other choice. She wanted to save herself,her mother and her kingdom. If there was another way then she would've left them.She didn't want to become a statue. I understand the message of opening your heart and learning to trust to make the world a better place but one also has to be careful. Blind trust is an awful lesson.Everyone isn't worth it and Raya was shown that over and over again. I wanted to like this movie. I loved the animation and the world building. Some of the characters were okay but the plot and message are very flawed.
I feel like the movie would have been better if they cut back a few characters and made the dragon more mysterious serious and wise .. but still kind, less kookie and pop culture..
I definitely think the dragon weighs the movie down, but they also use the fact that she's not skilled to show that the orb only required trust, it doesn't matter how 'strong' you are
That's mostly why ppl don't want trailers for cartoons... like I thought Into The Spiderverse was gonna be bad because of the trailers, but it's one of the best animated films ever
I love the ending. I didn’t even notice this until my boyfriend’s siblings was saying that the dragons are so colorful like a rainbow. It clicked in my head. In Hmong, rainbow is “zaj sawv” which is “dragon are up/awake.” Especially when you see a rainbow while it’s raining. It’s interpreted that the dragons are out to play because it’s raining. Everyone has their own interpretation. But this definitely made me feel so happy being able to see something like this in a Disney movie.
Coming back after watching the movie. Was quite let down, and I don't think my expectations were that high. The writing and story was so shallow and underdeveloped. As much as I love Raya and the other human character designs and how they look like South East Asian people, there's really nothing about movie that reflects the cultural identity of the region, it's a generic fantasy story beneath the aesthetics. Moana did the same premise but better, especially in representing the people it's inspired by. Literally, the story is about a princess stopping a dark force corrupting the world by seeking a mythological entity. I liked the potential the story had, the rivalry with Namaari, the theme of the good in humanity, but it was so underdeveloped and rushed. It came of as trite and contrived. You can see what I mean with Zootopia with how good the writing was where the message came across so well and everything that happened had weight. In Raya a lot of stuff happened for convenience of the plot progression. I liked what they did at the end with Namaari, but I also wish there was more development to her relationship with Raya. They drop some things in exposition, but I would have rather it been shown via visual storytelling. And there are parts where the movie acts like they know each other really well, but they spend a few hours tops one time when they were kids. And there was so much build up to Sisu's family, but when you see them in the end they have no presence, not even dialogue.
This is a movie for true Disney fans. Staying on the forefront of creativity and originality. All the remake movies are just for new parents to take their children to see the same movie they saw as a kid.
One of the co directors is the guy who directed Blindspotting...it's like an achievement going from indie comedy drama film about race to Disney animated adventure.
Thanks for that bit info had absolutely no idea! I mean it isn't like Chris mentions it at all in the video, nope not even at the beggining.......O wai.....
Thats because ATLA is has a lot of inspiration from south east asian cultures. The fire nation is based on thai culture for example. King Bumi’s name means King “Earth” in Malay. The more you know :)
I can see where you're coming from, but Zuko is someone who was abused Namaari is the direct opposite of Zuko she Abuses people and blames her own mistakes on others They could not be any more different.
@@90enemies When I compared Namaari to Zuko, I made it more based on the general role that their characters comply in the general story arc of their respective movie/series they are part of. Basically, both Namaari and Zuko are princes from enemy nations that are chasing the protagonists and want to capture them, both Namaari and Zuko think that what they are doing is the right thing to do for their nations and they both are not really bad guys at heart but the circumstances in which they are in make them act the way they do although they do not always hundred percent feel comfortable with that. Of course, if we start going as specifically as looking at every single detail of their characters, personalities and contexts, we are going to find a lot of differences between them too: Zuko is a man, Namaari is a woman, Zuko has a complicated relationship with his father and he wants to please him, Namaari has a good relationship with her mother and she wants to honor her, Zuko is banished, Namaari is not, Zuko has a scar, Namaari doesn't, and so on... And just in case, of course there have to be differences between they two! Otherwise we would be talking about plagiarism. Being that said, although your point is partially valid, I wasn't going as specifically as saying that Namaari is 100% Zuko. Also, Namaari did not put all the blame on Raya, she just said that Sisu's death was both hers and Raya's responsibility which is actually true. Also, Zuko kind of acted on a similar way with his uncle when he betrayed him at the caves of Ba Sing Se and put the blame on him of his situation when he visited on the prison.
Nope. The humorous/silly moments don't overshadow the serious moments at all. In that respect it's really well written. As best as I can recall, there's no bathos in this film.
I'm SE Asian. When I watched the trailer for the first time, the only wish I had is for the story to be good, and the characters to have a character. Because I'll be very disappointed if the SEA culture only became a marketing tool. So glad to see you give this movie A-, at least I can hope there's something worthwhile in this movie.
Hoping this one is worth it. Last really good disney animated flick we've had was Moana five freaking years ago. Edit: I meant disney-disney animated movies only, guys, not pixar-disney animated movies
This movie was fantastic. When I first saw the Dragon in the trailer I lost all my hopes, but seeing it in the movie it fits, and everything was better than expected. Original Story too, nothing like the comparison many people made with Avatar
I think the live action remakes/animated sequels have overshadowed the fact that Disney still releases original movies every year. Along with this we recently have had Onward, Soul, Inside Out, Wreck it Ralph, Moana, Coco, and more. I would like to see more originals and less sequels but I mean they still consistently do make original animated films.
As a fan of the Disney animated movies and a Filipino, I was honored that they would induct a south east Asian inspired film into their collection of legendary films. It was fun trying to figure out which "tribe" was an analog for what SE Asian country. My guess was Baby Noi (Talon) is a Filipina from Palawan or Gen. Santos area. I suspect Raya (Heart) is Indonesian and Namaari (Fang) is from Thailand. Boun (Tail) is possibly from Vietnam. Tong (Spine) is difficult to place because of the snow, so my best guess would be something like Mongolia or South Korea, even if I don't think they're part of the South East Asian region.
The Heart region's architecture resembles Thailand better than Indonesia. Fang, on the other hand, represents Indonesia the best. I mean, look at Fang's Balinese headgear, The shadow puppetry, decked ricefields, and funky pointy roofs.
Finally James Newton Howard composed for a good Disney movie! Don’t get me wrong, Treasure Planet and Atlantis were good too but finally now JNH is getting the recognition he deserves!
I’m a huge Disney fan, but this movie really disappointed me. This movie gets a D 1) there was no real Character development. I had a hard time caring and feeling for the characters 2) the dragons just seemed like weird My Little Pony’s/ unicorns. I kept forgetting that they were dragons. 3) the dragons were supposed to be wise but instead were more just goofy 4) how did Raya not see the dragons in stone where she LIVED 5) what in the heck was up with the weird baby??? It was so off putting, had zero point to it, and never addressed it. 6) I was hoping for more awesome Fighting. It was visually amazing, but that’s really all this movie has going for it.
1) the main character goes from desperate, not trusting anyone to having to trust the enemy. 2) that's subjective what did you want them to look like? 3) the dragons? You only got to know one. She was by her own admission not as good as her brothers and sisters. But there were moments beyond the jokes you could see she was more than that. 4) because it was behind the area where the stone was kept that she probably never went plus they were covered. 5) it was a con baby...it was a joke lighten up 6) again subjective
Also the main characters get "unstoned" at the end and Sisu magically resurrects. Like you see with the first time, the rest of the dragons remain as stone. And Sisu's ressurection feels kinda cheap. Not to say, how the stone worked. Basically a lot of plot holes and forced storytelling.
Kumandra = motunui Raya = Moana Sisu= Maui Heihei = Tuk Tuk (alan tudyk) Dragonstone = tefiti heart Druun = Blight Story of moana and raya. A princess trying to restore balance of nature by returning the stone with the help of a "God" like friend. Disney is retelling same story with different character arc.
i can't believe its the same studio that even let mulan 2020 artemis fowl go out!! shame on disney. it could have been great, animation team are more careful and passionate than live action debacle
I honestly hate that people are looking at this movie as overrated/mediocre. It’s honestly AMAZING. The music, the art, the Southeast Asian culture clash (dope thing btw), the message about trust and unity, the relationshipsssssss. I do wish we got to explore more of the clans other than Fang and Heart. Like Spine could’ve had had a sick action sequence that interacted with the bamboo shoots. I do kinda feel it was a bit rushed as the story progressed but not to the point where I wasn’t able to connect with characters and maybe have some laughs and cries. Loved it.
It’s because they don’t truly flesh out every location (because there’s so many) and the culture is nice but many south East Asians I know complained that the cultural was poorly handled only doing the bare minimum. Also the music and art slaps, but the multitude of side characters overshadow the main character and numerous points while also not being as fleshed out as they should. The movie still slaps but it low key feels like moana did it better because it was more focused and attentive to detail
@@liamgakodi2276 as someone who is descended from Southeast Asia, I thought it was dope how they combined cultures. Gave me total Avatar The Last Airbender vibes, but it also felt really fresh. Honestly I think if they gave them maybe 30 mins more of movie time to show off the clans and the side characters that join the main group it wouldn’t feel like they were overshadowing Raya with trying to get screen time. I think it makes sense that they had to have those many side characters to show the representation of each clan and how they can all work together. But no I do know what you mean tho. This one is, for me, is definitely up there with Moana.
@@juliacheng00 let’s be honest, it really should’ve been a TV show instead of a movie. They put way too many things in here that aren’t as fleshed out as they could be. Also, guess what? Many SEA countries do not have Disney+. So many SEA people won’t be able to see what this movie is......... well, let’s be honest, ATTEMPTING to represent. 🤷🏾♂️
I loved everything but the story and the moral. Anytime Raya has trusted anyone it literally blows up into her face. Even so far as leading to the death of Sisu. Yet, she trusted a cold hearted murderer who betrayed her several times to make the right decision? Who in their right minds would trust a murderer who betrayed her several times? And the murderer was the last one standing, so her decision wasn’t out of her learning anything. It was out of self preservation. Plus, the movie preaches that each faction is out for power. So why are they suddenly uniting under Hearts leadership, especially if the Fang one was bent on domination? It doesn’t make sense
@@xixingpooh As for sisu's death, we gotta remember that Raya is also to blame. Her trust issues caused her to unsheath her sword, causing Namaari to get scared and shoot. I really loved how did elaborated on how if everyone just learned to trust each other, maybe not everything would be so bad. But yeah, I think the ending was a bit rushed but maybe if it was a TV show, everything could have been fleshed out more
I'd rather see him review Wolfwalkers and the other 3 Cartoon Saloon films. Too few people know about them. To steal Chris's quote "[They're] fantastic. You must watch [them]. [They are] so fucking good and underrated."
I watched this in theatres... it was so damn good I loved this movie, I didn’t know what it was and was expecting to be disappointed but I was surprised on how good it was
This was visually stunning. The plot holes towards the end distracted me, I know its a kids movie, but still 🤣 Like, if everyone turned to stone 6 years prior, how did the baby have her mother turn to stone, cause she wasn’t six, she was a baby.
Not everyone turned into stone 6 years prior. Because the purple mist thing (can't remember the name) was still around, people got turned into stone at different times depending on when they encountered the mist thing. Still lots of plot holes, but at least this one is somewhat explainable.
Was that a plot hole though? The evil purple thing was an ongoing problem until the very end. I believe it explained that very well that the only thing to get away from it was water. So, it wasn't just an instantaneous thing that turned a certain number of people into stone. It was more like a 'don't go out after dark into the woods or you might get turned to stone' type thing. The kid and the baby could have had their parents turned to stone years apart.
That and the baby could do all this amazing foot work running through town but could not say one word... the part that got me was when the dragon got her brothers rain ability. How the hell did they loose if the purple guys cant touch water... or how shes been riding through the desert for months and no sign of dirt or dust on her. Nope she had lipstick on, eyebrows did, skin was perfect. Plus there were Sooooo many plot holes, terrible movie, nothing new, all visuals thats it imo.
This is not a plot hole, people kept turning into stone literally every day and this is very well established, the movie was hard for you to follow it seems.
I just saw the movie and it was pretty enjoyable and had some really good features, but also some noticeable problems that were present throughout the film that stopped it from being a really good movie like other animated classics from Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks. The music was amazing, some of the best I've seen in a while, I'm not sure if there is ever a moment where the soundtrack has its "Let it Go" moment with an unforgettable soundtrack like Han Zimmer's "Oogwa Ascends" from Kung Fu Panda or "Where No One Goes" from How to Train Your Dragon or the "Circle of Life" in the Lion King. But it was still really great music throughout the film that set the mood really well. And I might be underappreciating the music because I saw it at home with a lot of noisy distractions around me. The action sequences were really well done, and I really enjoyed the scenery/landscape. It reminded me of how Finding Nemo instantly stood out because of its very unique and beautiful under the sea landscapes. For me the biggest problems were the pacing, the exposition, and the lesson it really tries to make you learn. The pacing was so rushed and I felt like this movie easily could have been an hour longer. So much of what happens is told through exposition, like when each character explains how they lost loved ones. In some ways it did make it feel more realistic since in real life people usually hear about others traumatic experiences through story telling, not some magical flashbacks or telepathy. But people watch movies because they want the story to be shown, not told, and it could have been a lot more emotional made the audience feel more invested and related to the other characters had we gotten to see their own experiences, or at least spend more time examining their own backstory. Nothing too long would have been needed, just an extra 5 minutes for the main characters to show the audience what they went through before they met Raya and Sisu, similar to when Tigress gave Shifu's back story in Kung Fu Panda, or the intro in Frozen where you see Elsa and Anna as kids and then they lose their parents. It would have been so easy to show some flashbacks of the characters with their family, before they lost them to the Druun. But instead they basically go "yeah I had a mom and dad or a wife and child, but then the Druun came and now I don't see them no more and I'm sad about it". The whole point of having all the characters lose their loved ones was to show that they are all humans and all have people that they love and care for or are cared by and want to see again. But it's done so many times with so little attention or time given their individual experiences that by the end it feels a lot less personal and significant, and becomes part of the cliche "the world is gonna end unless we defeat the evil monsters". If you're watching a Disney movie and before you've even made it halfway into the movie it's become clear that it will end with either everyone as stone or everyone is alive and together again happy and cooperative then you already know what's gonna happen and the stakes are gone. And yes I know that all Disney movies have a happy endings but most of them aren't about the world being saved and usually let you know that the characters can experience permanent losses and consequences so you don't know how it will end, who will change and what sacrifices will be made. Simba lost his dad, Nemo lost his mother, Tarzan loses his biological parents and his distant adopted father, The Beast learns to love, Stitch learns to care for Lilo and live on earth, Wreck it Ralph learns he can be a good guy despite literally being programmed to be a bad guy and Penelope finds out she's not a glitch and is accepted in the community while staying true to herself, Aladdin learns to be honest, and Mulan learns to overcome her weaknesses and accept who she is, etc. While there are some good themes in the movie about having more in common with others than you think and realizing our ability to work together to achieve something greater than we could by ourselves, it's all told to the audience right at the beginning of the movie with the guarantee that everyone will all come together by the end because otherwise the world will end. And because they gloss over each character's history and their initial distrust of each other so quickly through exposition, having characters go from hating each other to trusting each other in a couple minutes because they found something in common (which they literally have in common with everyone else in the world) it doesn't feel sincere or actually challenging. It's as if literally the only thing that prevented everyone from ending their hate and lack of trust for each other was just a 5 minute conversation where there introduce each other and talk about their dead relatives. That's just not realistic most of the time, literally everyone has dead family members, nobody has a 150 year old grandma. Again I know it's kids movie and the ending is always gonna be predictable, but when the success of the protagonist is guaranteed with no permanent consequences and the challenges they had to overcome are solved in a couple of minute through simple exposition and dialog, it's not a very compelling story. It's like if a 10th grader takes a 1st grade math test that they merely need to get a passing grade, with no reward for getting all questions right and no consequences for getting any questions wrong so long as they pass the exam. You know the outcome and you know the struggle isn't real and the consequences are non-existant so it's not very interesting. And finally the lesson the movie was trying to teach was both a bad lesson and executed poorly. They literally tell you to trust everyone, even those people betrayed you multiple times, which is absolutely not something you do. They even have Namaari try to gaslight raya by saying she's just as responsible for Sisu's death, even though Namaari literally aimes her crossbow at Sisu and pulled the trigger when Sisu was continously trying to gain her trust and Raya only acted when she saw Namaari's finger start to pull the trigger, which ironically showed the audience exactly why you shouldn't blindly trust others, especially those who have already betrayed you before and are prone to do it again. They literally only trusted each other in the end because they had no other option. The moral of the story is honestly a bad lesson that executed pretty poorly. Aside from those criticisms though I thought the movie did really well and it was still an enjoyable film to watch, even if it was lacking at times.
Odd. I feel like if I said about Frozen or Tangled 'Wow, as a man of white European descent, this really brings me home" would be really, really weird.
@@herbsuperb6034 Raya Indeed bring south east asian culture into the movie, just pay attention to the detail of the movie. as SEA people, this is my first time to see my culture represented in the pop culture in the world. because foreigner only know about china, japan and Korea when talking about asian.
I'm pretty sure that the only reason they didn't do a musical was because they couldn't find a singular tone that represented all of SEA, Disney didn't have a choice
I love this movie but i have a tiny tiny thing in the ending that i kinda dont understand. So...500 years or something long ago the dragon siblings trusted Sisu to “cleanse” or something with the orb thingy. But after the cleanse, her siblings dont turn back from the stone. BUT in the ending when the orb thingy get activated by the humans the dragons and people that have turned to stone turned back alive. Why? Can somebody fill me in this? Im kinda stupid in these kinds of thing. Still loved the movie tho.
I loved the movie. I'd like to see it again only in theater. One thing I did especially like is that her father wasn't killed like so many Disney stories start out. I hope they'll be doing more animated films like this.
Sorry, but I have ONE BIG problem with this movie. It teaches the OPPOSITE of the truth about actual trust. Trust is a very important issue, and this movie takes a steaming crap on it. Trust isn't just some willy-nilly thing you hand out for free, especially to people that have already betrayed you and the people you love MULTIPLE TIMES. This isn't trust - it is stupidity. The movie claims that the problem of trust is within the person who won't trust others. This is ONLY true when the person mistrusts them unjustly. But in Raya's case, her mistrust was not only justified, but critical to her survival. Fun fact kids - you're NOT supposed to trust everyone. That's a terrible idea. You should trust those who have EARNED your trust. And those who lie, cheat, and manipulate in order to abuse, control, or destroy you, must NEVER EVER be trusted. The moral of this story is ignorant, reckless trash... Don't suppose it's a coincidence that Disney released a movie telling us to blindly trust deceitful people right in the middle of a time when many of us are hesitant to trust leaders who have been proven to be power-hungry liars. Between the pandemic and all this political unrest, I'm forced to raise an eyebrow... Could be a coincidence, I suppose. I could be overthinking it. But let's not forget who Disney's powerful friends are...
Seriously . Thought it was dumb when Raya said at the end "I have to take the first step" but... She AND her father already took the first step multiple times and was betrayed time and time again. By the time the other girl showed up with the crossbow I was like, okay... She is beyond redemption. And she never did anything to make up for it. The movie treats Raya as cynical but she's just.. Being reasonable.
@@persephonene7421 Yup... If they wanted to teach us a lesson about actual trust, they could have made the whats-her-face villain girl take the first step and prove herself as trustworthy throughout the movie, and finally at the end, Raya forgives and trusts again. Sure, it might not have made as "enjoyable" of a movie. Fewer fights and chases, maybe. Either way, if your moral is trust, you can't fake it like this. It's really frustrating for those of us who have people we love in our lives with ACTUAL trust issues, or kids we want to bring up understanding true trust. Naive plots like this teach people to be dumb, and to sell themselves out blindly to people who hate them.
@@Tim.Hammer agree!! The villain girl should have felt guilt for what she did to sisu (which i know she probably did) but instead of her telling Raya off saying "You're to blame too!" (which I DONT think Raya should have any blame but thats just my opinion) the villain girl should have sought her own redemption by suggesting they put the pieces together and giving up her crystal FIRST!!! that would have made her a cooler character just in my opinion.
I don't understand. He gave Cruella a B- and and a A- to Raya. It doesn't make any sense, I mean the relativity of the ratings of these two movies (though one was rated three months back the other just last week). I watched both of these two just today on my tv, and for me, Cruella felt special, a spectacle, a visual and mental treat. Agree it doesn't fit perfectly in the dalmations universe, but who cares. On the other hand, Raya and the last dragon was an above-average animation movie. It didn't have a soul like Up, wall-e, or even Cruella, though it tried very hard. Raya failed to make me connect with the protagonist emotionally. Raya never seemed to be in any danger of losing. Though it was a good adventure. I hope I see Chris' ratings become more consistent in the future.
Gotta love all the edgelords in the comments celebrating no songs Like Disney didn't totally influence everyone's lives with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King...
no need to insult other different opinion, some like the musical some grew tired of it. i personally would like a song at the final act but the scene is so good that i'm find with no song.
I very much disagree, but I'm glad you liked it! I thought the film was rushed and shallow -- none of the challenges felt insuperable, none of the payoffs felt earned. The plot lacked a logical flow in many places, and almost every decision the characters made were unrealistically irrational. Literally only two characters had any nuance. The score was good, of course it looked pretty. But while my wife and kids had a blast, I was incredibly disappointed.
I just saw this in the theatre with my kids, and I usually agree with Chris, but I totally disagree that this movie deserves an A-. The animation is stunning, yes. But as another YTer would say, it's a movie that exists. It's not bad, not great.
I like it enough to want to go see it again in a theater... we will probably see it many times over, but I do have a feeling it won't be huge. And releasing it when they did was such a bonehead move.
One of the things I often find so refreshing about anime is that they don't really feel the need to explain everything. You're thrown into a world and you just accept the rules without lengthy exposition.
Yes, yes, yes! So glad you brought up this comparison, and that Chris brought forth his critique of exposition. Show don't tell, Disney! The most recent anime I watched was a perfect example of how to trust the viewer to put the pieces together by himself: "When Marnie was There."
Finally, an honest review. I feel most reviewers on here were paid to say this movie was cheap. I'm hearing the graphics were mediocre, but when I hear what they compare it to, I'm like, is mediocre and low animation considered better than high quality animation now?! People are saying it felt empty or comparing it to avatar the last airbender. I truly don't see it. I feel Americans, know so little about South East Asian they judge this as weak when they think other Disney films that have singing in 95% of the film is better. It's unfair. I loved this film and was extremely surprised at how this was the best Disney animated film I've ever since. I kept questioning if this was a Disney film because of the top quality animation and lighting, grittiness of the narrative and action sequences. They worked with real MA who practice South East Asian martial arts. This was done during quarantine at home!! I really thought this wasn't a kids film several times!
Hey Chris, I’d be curious to see a review of The Vigil. Really liked it! Looking forward to see this one too. Love the reviews as usual sir, hope all is well!
You pay 30 Dollars ONCE and can watch the movie as often as you want for 3 WHOLE FUCKING MONTHS before it will become accessible for everyone on June do your fucking math.
I’m so glad we share almost the exact same thoughts on this! I luckily saw it in the theaters, fantastic experience all around and thank you fir pointing out the score 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
I love her so much, she's very funny, iconic, relatable and she makes the movie more enjoyable, I don't get why people hate her so much. Glad to hear someone else likes it
I personally love the character of Sisu, but I absolutely cannot stand the character design of a dragon with Elsa's face. For some reason dragon Sisu just felt like a typical annoying animal sidekick while human Sisu felt like a fun comic relief friend (if that makes any sense). I wish Sisu had been a more mystical and non-speaking dragon that resembled the legendary figure they expected until she changed into a human form and revealed her true, goofy nature.
@@apparaya4225 Don’t get me wrong, I love Sisu and I think she’s a great character. I’m just personally not a big fan of the talking animal sidekick gimmick. If Sisu was designed more like Haku from Spirited Away, that would have been perfect. I think it’s the idea of Sisu being more animalistic as a dragon and more human when she’s in her human form as opposed to her having a very human personality as a dragon. Since it’s a kids movie though, a talking animal is kinda like a requirement.
I saw the movie last night in IMAX and I completely disagreed with Angry Joes reviews. I barely saw any of the trailers(I think I saw only the teaser) so I went into the movie with no predilections. The animation was GREAT. Seemed like many reviewers didn't like the side characters, but I don't think this movie was ever about them. It was mostly a Raya movie through and through, but the side characters were picked up for other reasons (avoiding spoilers). Now should you pay $30 on top of your disney plus subscription, yes but only if your family is of the size of "cheaper by the dozen". Or else wait for it to be free or go to the theater.
angry joe is more worried about yelling and making funny faces, than actually enjoying things, just a quick watch o some of his later videos, and you will go deaf if you use headphones. as someone who watched way back when he used his site, all i can say is, it became impossible for me to watch anything he does anymore. it also doesnt help how shallow his reviews are, or worse, how he will go for the "popular stuff" for views.
@Shot in the Heart he used to do pretty good reviews, back in the early 2010's, but the quality certainly dropped. probably when he started going more "corporate" when making them.
I really looked forward to this movie after watching this review, and I wanted to like it, but the experience left me a little disappointed. They tried to cram too much into too little. And there were many missed opportunities to tell a stronger story (that I won't spoil). Loved the voice work though, especially Kelly Marie Tran's, and the animation is beautiful as always.
As a Southeast Asian (Singaporean), it was particularly satisfying to see the rich cultures from Insular AND Mainland SEA being depicted in this film. The beautiful sceneries, cultural practices, etc., that you see come from the amazingly diverse landscapes of this region. Shout-out to the "jackfruit jerky".
thats no excuse for lazy bad writing, there are many many great examples of fantastic animated movies that are absolutely fantastic and can work on many levels for children and adults
I was lucky enough that my local theater is open again and I was able to see this on the big screen and I absolutely do not regret it as the first movie I saw on the big screen since last year. The movie is drop dead gorgeous and I was in awe of the animation. The story is also surprisingly good and well written/acted. One of the best Disney movies I've seen in years. 9.5/10 for me, easy.
Truly I can recommand this film. I was suprised how gorgeous it looks. No need of any singing sequences or other unnecessary stuff. I felt the plot and theire also was a development in the characters. Love it!
I loved this movie, just finished watching it with my mom. Sadly I heard a lot of people bashing it because they didn't like the way the dragon looked, saying it looked like something from Frozen. But I thought it was amazing.
You know what really sad Chris, many Southeast Asian girls will not be able to see this movie yet. This is the first Southeast Asian warrior princess but we still have no access to Disney plus. The fight scene is a combination of southeast asian culture and even the tools. It's entertaining because it's familiar and totally different from other Disney stories. It's a princess but for the first time, the legit "prince charming", is somehow real and not fiction. Every daughter's first-ever prince charming is their father. This is so much about family and friendship and as a father's girl, it really touches my heart. The first Disney story, that is not only about family or princess but about how a father raised his daughter with culture and love combined.
It annoys me how Disney plug and push all the live action remakes that honestly no one cares for but have these original bomb ass movies and literally have no press for them ..
@Alex A ya seriously. I've been a little disappointed by a couple of Disney animated movies for a lack or originality but once something is original, they don't really give it credit and they push for the garbage Mulan movie
Because they know their remakes will make 10x their budget.
Pretty much, I've come across this nice jewel by accident after not knowing what to watch when I finished WandaVision
It doesn’t help that they add a $30 pay wall to this one during a time when people are cancelling their subscriptions.
We should all see it, to support movies like these, and show disney we want more of these kinds of movies instead of all those garbage remakes
My dad was an animator for this movie (you can find his name in the credits: Brian F. Menz). I got to see behind the scenes stuff about this movie, and it seemed to mean a lot to the people making it. It took a lot of work to make this movie during the quarantine, but they managed to pull it off, and everyone involved seemed really proud of it. So I was praying that it would have a good reputation, and that critics and audiences would love it as much as the people who made it.
And I'm so glad you did, and I was relieved to see you give it an A-. So I just wanted to say thanks for that.
And we thank your Dad for his hard work bringing us entertainment in these tough times. But seriously, I haven't seen Chris give an A- in awhile! Bravo
Respect for your dad for working on this great film. Wish you and your dad the best. 😊
We thank your dad and all artists who contributed hardwork and dedication to make this film possibly successful.
Good. I was afraid this would be another soulless studio film.
Ayy that's so cool! Congrats to your dad😄
I’m Vietnamese and also have an intense respect for animation, and I’m just super glad Disney made a film dedicated to a different part of Asian culture. But I do agree that this worldbuilding is too immense to fit into a single film. still an amazingly created film :)
This honestly should've been a series instead
They should do a Zelda type game
Reminded me of Avatar
Not counting Pixar, it's been 5 years, half a decade, since we've had an original, non-sequel, non-live action remake, animated film from Disney. It's about time.
And Moana was amazing
They’ve only released 2 movies in that time both sequels so it’s not like crazy crazy
@@DUBS720 Moana was good,but I think Zootopia was a lot better.
But yeah,we need new original content.
@@DUBS720 To me, Moana had a good start, but it was lacking as a whole.
At least it was better than frozen...
honestly, raya and the last dragon is super representative of my culture (i’m thai) and seeing a studio i loved as a child - before all the live action bullshit - doing a film inspired by something i hold so dear puts it up there as one of my favorite disney films of all time.
Not a musical? Makes me miss Atlantis: The Lost Empire. That movie was too far ahead of it's time. People couldn't accept a Disney movie for not being a musical princess movie. Glad to see Raya is getting much better treatment by critics!
Atlantis was amazingly crafted.
There is a reason their are rimless classics
Atlantis is a hidden gem.
check out the angry joe show review to see a real review
Fun fact that may encourage you to see it even more: James Newton Howard scored both movies. And after seeing Raya I must say I've also been quite impressed by the soundtrack.
By the way, I also love Atlantis. I think it was way too underrated by the critics.
Wreck-it Ralph, Zootopia, and Big Hero Six aren't musicals either.
I felt something missing in this movie.
I mean I liked and enjoyed it, I think the message is very relevant right now, the world/characters were charming (especially loved Boun) and their designs were cool. However in the end the story just felt slightly superficial to me, not in the way that they didn't put thought into it because they clearly did, but I think there simply wasn't enough time to explore and deepen the characters and world, which ended up making them feel like a cliché and their arcs rushed.
I actually really think this movie had a lot more potential, and I think it would've felt more fulfilling if it was either more focused (so less characters or lands) or in a series format so there was more time to deepen the characters and world.
That's really the only gripe I have with this movie, that being said I applaud the creators for making something original and from home, taking that into account it's really impressive what they achieved
Who tf is boun?
@@maniac9554 the boy / captain / shrimp cook, unless I spelled his name wrong
@@ObviouslyASMR oh yeah
I agree. But for me, i hate it. They did what everyonr in the market have done with the same trope, they didn't add anything new to the Mcguffin hunt, or the Found Family, or Heros Journey. Every trope used made the narrative. And that sucks because they didn't even try to add something new, just followed the steps those tropes marked, and called it a day.
It rages me, because narrative and writing is so dearly and precious to me. Knowing that they used tropes without adding nothing new to the existent trope, and made money out of it, discourages me so deeply. Makes me question Why am I even doing all this effort into my story if people will just love whatever they are given, good ot bad?
@@somethingaboutsomeone7641 Those are reasonable points but using tropes definitely doesn't make something less enjoyable to the general public; tropes are tropes because they often work.
I understand your frustration, but I don't think anyone is praising this movie for its innovative story, it's just a nice looking movie with enjoyable characters and a story that feels familiar. Great stories don't go unappreciated so keep writing man, good luck!
Chris gets it. Some reviews were actually complaining about no musical numbers. Gimme a fucking break.
That's how Treasure Planet, Dinosaur and Atlantis got bad reviews.
I think its actually nice Raya has no songs because musical numbers have been bogging down the phasing of disney's recent films
For me it's the opposite. Musical number in it makes it way more unlikely for me to watch the movie. Not a very objective approach but I'm not a critic so whatever. But critics should be a bit more objective.
Couldn’t have said it any better! Tired of these ridiculous musical numbers and the endless sequels
Because this is the same guy who created Big Hero 6 and Big Hero 6 doesn't have musical number
I guess I’m one of the few here that agrees with Chris. Raya and the Last Dragon wasn’t exactly a masterpiece but it sure beats most of the movies that Disney has produced in the last few years. At least Disney is trying to create original content and introduce us to a whole new world and story. I’m just tired of watching live remakes and sequels, so any effort from Disney’s end to get off of that beaten path is much appreciated.
It'll be called a masterpiece one day for sure only cz of it's legacy status .. long shelf life, will outlive any other decent Disney animated movies out there
... Zootopia was leagues better than Raya. What acid are you on?
Damn, people these days can’t say their piece without triggering someone lol
big reason Star Wars failed. To much nostalgia and keeping the same story as the originals.. So done with Star Wars.
@@doubleasworkshop1692 They didn't even mention Zootopia being less better than Raya ö-ö
This movie was made from home. From over FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY DIFFERENT HOMES in fact.
VAs had to make their own recording booths from what they had-mostly recording in closests. Animators had to use their personal computers to animate. Lighting, rigging, character design it was ALL done from home and that needs to be talked about more. It's stunning it looks as good as it does. Animation is EXTREMELY collaborative so the fact that this film was made and finished and looks GORGEOUS all while during one of the worst pandemics in human history.....damn.
It's pretty insane. Had COVID been around 20 even 15 years ago and they were working on this movie then, it may very well had been cancelled or shelved indefinitely. It's a good thing we've come to a point where even during a global pandemic people can almost seamlessly continue working from home on animated projects thanks to our advancing technology.
Some corrections: we animators don't use our PERSONAL computers. they cant handle a production like this. the studios gave us our PC from work and through VPN connections we are connected to the main server in studio. The software's are all proprieties of the studio, not the software's you can buy yourself, and they are staying locked inside the PC the studio gave us. and they are locked so nothing can get copied from them outside. so no personal PC, and render farms are alive and well in the studio themselves to do the heavy works.
its still impressive how we are making these films from home, but given that its basically the same workflow, as the dailies and notes are all through Emails (as they were) and video chats (as in many studios used to be before Covid), its mostly the impressive job of the IT who we all applaud!
The only thing i miss personally, is the atmosphere of the studio! other than that, its actually nicer and easier to work from home :D
Deserve more 💰💰💵💵💸💸💲💲💲
@@boromirofgondor1856 And nobody can shoot you with an arrow.
Right. But you lost me at 'the worse pandemics in world history'. Must be joking...
The animation is breathtaking, the story is just to simple.
Exactly
@MS 92 It was a really good movie who is going to be critical of it?
Why didn’t Raya show the dragon to the antagonist at the beginning? People worshiped dragons, they would have helped the dragon immediately!
@@drdrdrk She didn’t trust them
Yeah, kids movie need to be way more complex. Also there was no dragon love interest. Too much animation as well. I give it a 4 out of -15.
I can't remember the last time I heard a James Newton Howard score on a movie. Glad to know he's still well in the game.
He made that Netflix film with Tom Hanks
Yes. He made the score for Paul greengrass's News of the world. He also made a score for Terrance Malick's a hidden life. Wasn't he also the composer of Fantastic beasts 1 and 2?
Yeah he does Fantastic Beasts.
I am Legend
Boy, you slept on Fantastic Beasts 2? The movie wasn't great but the score was perfect, no cap. "Wands into the Earth" still gives me goosebumps
i like that Raya doesn't have a typical Disney body, she's slightly muscular build
I've been waiting for a more muscular Disney "princess"
I feel like Ginny from Ginny and Georgia could play her in a live action.
Well, the girl knows martial art so she must have muscular build type.
Wait till you see the villain
Which, depending on Your tastes, is still hot
I’m glad to hear it’s good, I just hate that Disney forcing all the live action movies at us has taken almost all of my excitement for any Disney release. I wanted to be excited for it but I just wasn’t. But hey if I see more people pushing it maybe I’ll see this one (probably cheaper to see it in theatres, 30$ yikes)
"forcing"
Gangster
Me on the other hand just ignores the remakes. And will still be excited for disney. They sometimes miss the mark, but i see plenty of quality content.
30 dollars is a huge yikes considering that's on top of the extra 6/7/8 or however many bucks it is to actually have Disney+ for a month. I could get a 5 dollar ticket to see it at the cinema on a huge screen, so I'm going to wait until this one is available for rent. I would love to support this movie, but the fees for Disney+ is ridiculous
Forcing. Are they threatening you ? Lol. Youre not forced to nothing. If you watch, you made the choice to watch
If this was an apology to Kelly Marie Tran for the shit she went through with Star Wars fans, then mission accomplished Disney.
I came here just to say this. I've noticed she's been getting a lot of good roles lately and I know in my heart its because they know she got dealt a bad hand with the Trilogy That Shall Not Be Named and are giving her the chance she rightfully deserves.
@@IaMaPh1991 Dude she was good in Last Jedi but some large swath of assholes bullied her off social media- that’s not cool
Well that's what happened when you give her cringe lines and a bad character.
Fuck last jedi.
I'm happy this movie might save her career though here's hoping.
@@mysteryperson1958 Still the most acclaimed Star Wars film since Empire so... tough shit. Also Tran still voiced her character in the Lego Holiday Special so she wasn’t out just yet.
@@mysteryperson1958
I don’t think that her character was bad, but even if she was bad, the insults from internet trolls would still be morally wrong.
If you don’t like a character, that does not authorize you to insult the actress with racist comments and body shaming tweets about the way she looks.
As a Filipino, this film has been getting way too much unnecessary hate and expectations. When we talk of representation I feel there tends to be a mindset that it always has to be one-to-one otherwise it's disrespectful to the represented group. I personally am just happy that there is a Disney film featuring Southeast Asian culture, and that it's getting good buzz. Stepping stones.
South East Asian culture but voiced from mostly East Asian (chinese and koreans). Only one Vietnamese voice actress. If it is all Vietnamese voice actors, I'll okay with it.
@@schubert06sebastian39 I was actually surprised there was no backlash when the voice cast was announced.
@@schubert06sebastian39 Why does race matter?! See that’s the problem with you sjw these days. Y’all don’t want talent, y’all want race.
@@KhanMann66 because there are talented people within the southeast Asian community. Not giving them a chance to represent themselves, especially in a movie which revolves around their culture, is a tad bit insulting
@@youraveragepasser-by7367 I don't think those talented people are nearly as talented as you think. They will pick the actors they believe will sell. People need to stop making things about race.
Ahh yes, the patented Stuckmann dead eyed, fake smile stare that we all know precedes a favorable review.
Chris grew up with dead eyes
Yep, advertising Disneys woke garbage and thereby validating a corporate regime built on hate and bullying and applying cancel culture to the slightest misstep. I'm out of here.
@@Dharzjinion w h a t
@@Dharzjinion h o w
@@Dharzjinion "Waaaaahhhhhh actions have consequences, mommy make it stop!!! Waaaaahhhh!!!"
So fucking glad this movie is good 😌
yo I love ur content
@Om Patel as of recently with all the remakes and bs. I guess people were a little worried of it being bland or worst.
@Om Patel well yeah, the 2010s were such a dumpster fire of movies that looked so promising but failed, like batman v superman, suicide squad, kong skull island, godzilla king of monsters, ralph breaks the internet, i was hoping for them to be amazing but that never happened, i cant trust the trailer anymore
@Om Patel ugh ugh ugh go whine and complain
@@finnmcmisslefanchannel-pt3xu lets not fight in this reply thread and get along, shall we?
The moment I saw Asian food and fruits being featured in it, I had a good feeling that a lot of detail and thought went into it. Asians are very passionate about our food! I think it was also refreshing that it did not have the typical Disney boy/girl romance happening in the storyline. There was no need for it.
Color me surprised that there are no songs for this animated Disney film.
That sounds awesome
They go full marvel
For some reason, I'm kind of wishing that Sishu rapped
@@thevarietychannelofyoutube4769 Isn't her voice actress a musician of sorts ?
Oh, here comes the singing, the singing.... huh? There's no singing?! I'm relieved and maybe excited to watch this, lol.
When Chris said he never saw any promotional material about the movie I just kinda went, "huh." I myself didn't even know this movie existed until like 3 days ago. Why have I seen next to nothing about Disney's new big animated movie?
because it's a dump. Saying nothing about its quality but it literally feels like Disney dumped it.
It had a Superbowl spot. But yeah, it could be marketed more.
@@MadHermit95 Well that would explain it. I don't care about football.
I feel like they dumped the info that they were going to make a Southeast Asian inspired movie onto online Asian groups (like subtle asian traits)... then expected us to hype it up for them??? First time I saw a commercial for this movie was 3 days ago while watching hockey. Wtf
I saw a couple ads for it on TH-cam weeks before this came out. But I don’t know if u guys did, there was some promotion on my end. I don’t think Disney is completely “dumping” on this film, just saying.
I think the baby was a play on the saying “it’s as easy as stealing candy from a baby”, and in the land where a bunch of people steal there’s a baby that would steal your candy instead
Oooh right. In SEA there's also folktales and epics about babies that are just too ahead for their age. 😂
Baby groot merch competition
Ya I didnt really like the baby character
The film is nice and everything but you got me fucked up if you think I'm paying $30 for this when this will be at no extra cost come like two months from now.
You must not have kids?
I'll pay _anything_ to not watch the same shit from Disney+ on repeat. $30 for a new movie for the first time in ages, yes please.
agreed. especially when you have to pay for disney+ to pay 30 more dollars for it. it's such bullshit.
Live Long Torrent.
Same with a movie in theaters...? You're paying to see it a few months before everyone else. My family of 4 was always over $30 for the movie theaters so it doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
If you have family members of friends who are willing to split the money then it's definitely worth it. Much cheaper than just going to the theaters if you have like 4 people. That's less than $8 per person.
As a Malaysian, i feel the film did a great job representing the region. From the scriptwriting and imagery to the local influences in the score. Raya means 'Celebration' in Malay, and I defo felt that it was a celebration of our culture. Thanks for the review, Chris!
The film makers went to quite a few SE Asian countries but didn't set foot in Malaysia.
@@StellarJones That's what I read as well, though to be fair, they didn't need to. The screenwriter is Malaysian and went to school not far from where I live.
confirmation bias.
@@ngawangphuntsok3199 probably!
@@NicholasOon it's more to Thai culture compared to Malaysian.
The only thing I didn’t like how it was a tad rushed and the freaking dragon but other than that the animation was STUNNINGGGG and as a young Thai girl I feel so seen. It was amazing
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So you don't like the character that is in 90% of the movie?
The weird baby REALLLLLLY puts me off when I see it in trailers. I'm relived to hear it can work somehow. That's the number one thing Ive been hoping to hear from reviews
Yeah!!!!!
I was scared it would suffer from having way too many characters
Like I know boss baby made a lot of money, but a baby that's super developmentally advanced just creeps me out 😂
They did a smart move by having it have like 3mn of screen time
I can't disagree more with Chris on this. The baby was so bad it made us nearly want to turn it off. At no point is there any explanation whatsoever about why the baby is this capable. And I made a joke that it was "the boss baby prequel"
It's so forced and so completely stupid. There zero reason story wise for this to exist other than "kids will love this!"
I was crying halfway through the movie. The look of hope in Namaari's eyes when she sees Sisu. Raya lost her Dad to the Druun. She doesn't believe in the dream of Kumandra until she finds faith within herself. Later, Namaari wants to make the world a better place, but doesn't believe in Raya's dream of Kumandra. Raya makes the ultimate sacrifice by giving the Gem to Namaari hoping that she will do the right thing, turning to stone in the process. Namaari was going to leave them behind, but decided to sacrifice herself as well. With the Gem put back together, magic spreads throughout the land creating a cloud that purifies everything below, turning everyone petrified to life again. It has equivalencies to real life - we are all Human, and we are all one and the same. We disagree on how to make the world a better place, but we all want the world to be a better place.
She was willing to let all of the other kingdom suffer even though the dragon could've saved everyone.I understand wanting to save her kingdom but she literally had the solution to save everyone and still decided to betray Raya and Susu.Are we going to forget that she was more than willing to kill Raya if Susu didn't step in.She never apologized after betraying her twice. Her redemption wasn't earned. This movie promotes a bad message. Just give your trust it doesn't have to be earned. Susu who trusted blindly was almost killed by an old psycho old woman if it wasn't for Raya. I would've loved to have seen what Pixar would've done with this concept.
Namaari came back because she had no other choice. She wanted to save herself,her mother and her kingdom. If there was another way then she would've left them.She didn't want to become a statue. I understand the message of opening your heart and learning to trust to make the world a better place but one also has to be careful. Blind trust is an awful lesson.Everyone isn't worth it and Raya was shown that over and over again. I wanted to like this movie. I loved the animation and the world building. Some of the characters were okay but the plot and message are very flawed.
Bruh how tf did that make u cry hahaha
@@bigolehamburger173 😂😂😂
B.e.S.T f'u"l'l D.a.T.i.n.G -L-o-V-e-S-e-X-----۞------------
livegirls19. com 》》 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝘼𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙩 《《
!❤️ 在整個人類歷史上，強者，富人和具有狡猾特質的人捕食部落，氏族，城鎮，城市和鄉村中的弱者，無`'守和貧窮成員。然而，人類的生存意願迫使那些被拒絕，被剝奪或摧毀的基本需求的人們找到了一種生活方式，並繼續將其DNA融入不斷發展的人類社會。
說到食物，不要以為那些被拒絕的人只吃垃圾。相反，他們學會了在被忽視的肉類和蔬菜中尋找營養。他們學會了清潔，切塊，調味和慢燉慢燉的野菜和肉類，在食品市場上被忽略的部分家用蔬菜和肉類，並且學會了使用芳香的木煙（如山核桃，山核桃和豆科灌木
來調味食物煮的時候
1618764373
I feel like the movie would have been better if they cut back a few characters and made the dragon more mysterious serious and wise .. but still kind, less kookie and pop culture..
I definitely think the dragon weighs the movie down, but they also use the fact that she's not skilled to show that the orb only required trust, it doesn't matter how 'strong' you are
This movie’s trailers made it look pretty terrible, guess it’s another case of adding all the childish stuff to appeal to family audiences.
Why is this cartoon made for kids yuck
That's mostly why ppl don't want trailers for cartoons... like I thought Into The Spiderverse was gonna be bad because of the trailers, but it's one of the best animated films ever
Right? The trailers for this movie were fucking horrible
That's because it's not meant to be marketed towards us, but kids and families with young children
You mean an animated film made by Disney is targeted towards young children and families? WoW HoT tAkE.
i really don't like how the dragon looks, but the rest is interesting
Agreed its literally elsa painted into a dragon
@@Ronnie17-o5b how about you shut up?
@@Ronnie17-o5b Username checks out.
@@Ronnie17-o5b make me idiot
Agreed it looks like a furry designed it
I love the ending. I didn’t even notice this until my boyfriend’s siblings was saying that the dragons are so colorful like a rainbow. It clicked in my head. In Hmong, rainbow is “zaj sawv” which is “dragon are up/awake.” Especially when you see a rainbow while it’s raining. It’s interpreted that the dragons are out to play because it’s raining. Everyone has their own interpretation. But this definitely made me feel so happy being able to see something like this in a Disney movie.
Disney’s animation is the last bastion of original IPs from them.
true, with the exception of some sequels
This is the first original Disney Animated film since Moana from 2016, after two sequels.
@@WritingGeekNL Damn 2016?!?! That was five years ago!
Correct me if I'm wrong but Merida, frozen and Moana, that was it I think for a whole decade.
@@troillandford7679 Wreck it Ralph, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia
I hope the lead is a strong female CHARACTER and not just another STRONG FEMALE character.
Really well said. I second that, I'm gonna steal this :D
Couldn't have said it any better myself.
Nice 👍
I hope so too, I don’t want another Star Wars moment
Yeah, exactly.
I don't care what gender they are, I just want to see an interesting and well written character.
Coming back after watching the movie. Was quite let down, and I don't think my expectations were that high. The writing and story was so shallow and underdeveloped. As much as I love Raya and the other human character designs and how they look like South East Asian people, there's really nothing about movie that reflects the cultural identity of the region, it's a generic fantasy story beneath the aesthetics. Moana did the same premise but better, especially in representing the people it's inspired by. Literally, the story is about a princess stopping a dark force corrupting the world by seeking a mythological entity.
I liked the potential the story had, the rivalry with Namaari, the theme of the good in humanity, but it was so underdeveloped and rushed. It came of as trite and contrived. You can see what I mean with Zootopia with how good the writing was where the message came across so well and everything that happened had weight. In Raya a lot of stuff happened for convenience of the plot progression. I liked what they did at the end with Namaari, but I also wish there was more development to her relationship with Raya. They drop some things in exposition, but I would have rather it been shown via visual storytelling. And there are parts where the movie acts like they know each other really well, but they spend a few hours tops one time when they were kids. And there was so much build up to Sisu's family, but when you see them in the end they have no presence, not even dialogue.
This is a movie for true Disney fans. Staying on the forefront of creativity and originality. All the remake movies are just for new parents to take their children to see the same movie they saw as a kid.
I agree, all generations has its own legacies
It's those kinds of movies, and our taxpayers, that funds this kind of movie.
@@herbsuperb6034 Not sure if I can justify cash grabs, but that is at least one positive thing to come out of it.
@@chancho1010 idc if its a cash grab or not its still a good movie
@@solol2909 I am saying it’s a good movie... unless you’re talking about an unmentioned movie I’m not aware of?
One of the co directors is the guy who directed Blindspotting...it's like an achievement going from indie comedy drama film about race to Disney animated adventure.
and have them both be critical successes
Thanks for that bit info had absolutely no idea!
I mean it isn't like Chris mentions it at all in the video, nope not even at the beggining.......O wai.....
Nice profile picture. I'm guessing that you don't need and instructions to know how to rock
This movie reminded me a lot of _"Avatar, the Last Airbender"_ with Raya being Katara, Sisu being Aang, and Namaari being Zuko :)
Thats because ATLA is has a lot of inspiration from south east asian cultures. The fire nation is based on thai culture for example. King Bumi’s name means King “Earth” in Malay. The more you know :)
I can see where you're coming from, but Zuko is someone who was abused
Namaari is the direct opposite of Zuko she Abuses people and blames her own mistakes on others
They could not be any more different.
@@90enemies When I compared Namaari to Zuko, I made it more based on the general role that their characters comply in the general story arc of their respective movie/series they are part of. Basically, both Namaari and Zuko are princes from enemy nations that are chasing the protagonists and want to capture them, both Namaari and Zuko think that what they are doing is the right thing to do for their nations and they both are not really bad guys at heart but the circumstances in which they are in make them act the way they do although they do not always hundred percent feel comfortable with that.
Of course, if we start going as specifically as looking at every single detail of their characters, personalities and contexts, we are going to find a lot of differences between them too: Zuko is a man, Namaari is a woman, Zuko has a complicated relationship with his father and he wants to please him, Namaari has a good relationship with her mother and she wants to honor her, Zuko is banished, Namaari is not, Zuko has a scar, Namaari doesn't, and so on... And just in case, of course there have to be differences between they two! Otherwise we would be talking about plagiarism.
Being that said, although your point is partially valid, I wasn't going as specifically as saying that Namaari is 100% Zuko. Also, Namaari did not put all the blame on Raya, she just said that Sisu's death was both hers and Raya's responsibility which is actually true. Also, Zuko kind of acted on a similar way with his uncle when he betrayed him at the caves of Ba Sing Se and put the blame on him of his situation when he visited on the prison.
Finally, someone making the comparison but not in a bad way lol
I admit to joking to my son in the prologue, “And then the Fire Nation attacked.”
Woah I was like “I wonder if Chris Stuckmann reviewed Raya yet...” checks youtube* “uploaded 1 minute ago”
Nice timing!
The trailer had a conflicting tone. Do the silly moments overshadow the serious moments?
Maybe, it’s how the trailers for Soul were. A lot of those silly moments weren’t in the actual movie.
@@bugsyn Disney only seems to market their animated movies towards children, despite how serious they may get.
not at all. this movie is really good but its so short!!!!!!!!!! i wish it was 30 min longer.
Nope. The humorous/silly moments don't overshadow the serious moments at all. In that respect it's really well written. As best as I can recall, there's no bathos in this film.
Definitely not, it has some very dark moments actually.
I'm SE Asian. When I watched the trailer for the first time, the only wish I had is for the story to be good, and the characters to have a character. Because I'll be very disappointed if the SEA culture only became a marketing tool.
So glad to see you give this movie A-, at least I can hope there's something worthwhile in this movie.
Hoping this one is worth it. Last really good disney animated flick we've had was Moana five freaking years ago.
Edit: I meant disney-disney animated movies only, guys, not pixar-disney animated movies
Soul was great as well you should check it
@@KevloMaN it’s Pixar
@@finlandstanley2370 scam, you're not the real stuckman
@@KevloMaN oh i was talking about non-pixar disney animated films
Moana was awful, Aquaman with extra surfers and awful animation
Surprised nobody mentioned Soul because that movie is an original masterpiece hope you do a review on it
To anyone who didnt notice, the reason that people pose like that when stoned is because of the theme of offering and trust in the movie.
Except when they're the main character's side kicks that form a group pose when they turn to stone.
@@ZephyrinSkies SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
this is what we want to see from Disney , original storytelling
This movie was fantastic. When I first saw the Dragon in the trailer I lost all my hopes, but seeing it in the movie it fits, and everything was better than expected. Original Story too, nothing like the comparison many people made with Avatar
I think the live action remakes/animated sequels have overshadowed the fact that Disney still releases original movies every year. Along with this we recently have had Onward, Soul, Inside Out, Wreck it Ralph, Moana, Coco, and more.
I would like to see more originals and less sequels but I mean they still consistently do make original animated films.
I do think this one could make for an awesome live action movie
Pixar isn't Disney.
As a fan of the Disney animated movies and a Filipino, I was honored that they would induct a south east Asian inspired film into their collection of legendary films. It was fun trying to figure out which "tribe" was an analog for what SE Asian country.
My guess was Baby Noi (Talon) is a Filipina from Palawan or Gen. Santos area.
I suspect Raya (Heart) is Indonesian and Namaari (Fang) is from Thailand.
Boun (Tail) is possibly from Vietnam. Tong (Spine) is difficult to place because of the snow, so my best guess would be something like Mongolia or South Korea, even if I don't think they're part of the South East Asian region.
Fun Fact: There's a province in Vietnam that has winter. and that place is called "Sa Pa"
The Heart region's architecture resembles Thailand better than Indonesia. Fang, on the other hand, represents Indonesia the best. I mean, look at Fang's Balinese headgear, The shadow puppetry, decked ricefields, and funky pointy roofs.
@@christian_swjy Yeah, I thought Fang is Indonesian ... and Heart is more like Thailand
Finally James Newton Howard composed for a good Disney movie! Don’t get me wrong, Treasure Planet and Atlantis were good too but finally now JNH is getting the recognition he deserves!
lol james newton howard is too fancy for this movie 🤣. and it did sound too fancy(european) for southeast asian
as an indonesian, i love every South east Asian culture being represent in this big world..
Nobody cares
@@rezafirmansyah9043 I do
@@rezafirmansyah9043 who asked your opinion?
@@rezafirmansyah9043 actually a lot of south east asian people would love their culture represent in any state of art. Especially global market..
Well, i care
I’m a huge Disney fan, but this movie really disappointed me. This movie gets a D
1) there was no real
Character development. I had a hard time caring and feeling for the characters
2) the dragons just seemed like weird My Little Pony’s/ unicorns. I kept forgetting that they were dragons.
3) the dragons were supposed to be wise but instead were more just goofy
4) how did Raya not see the dragons in stone where she LIVED
5) what in the heck was up with the weird baby??? It was so off putting, had zero point to it, and never addressed it.
6) I was hoping for more awesome
Fighting.
It was visually amazing, but that’s really all this movie has going for it.
1) the main character goes from desperate, not trusting anyone to having to trust the enemy.
2) that's subjective what did you want them to look like?
3) the dragons? You only got to know one. She was by her own admission not as good as her brothers and sisters. But there were moments beyond the jokes you could see she was more than that.
4) because it was behind the area where the stone was kept that she probably never went plus they were covered.
5) it was a con baby...it was a joke lighten up
6) again subjective
i agree. it was very visually appealing, but i didn't find the storyline original in any way.
Also the main characters get "unstoned" at the end and Sisu magically resurrects. Like you see with the first time, the rest of the dragons remain as stone. And Sisu's ressurection feels kinda cheap. Not to say, how the stone worked. Basically a lot of plot holes and forced storytelling.
Kumandra = motunui
Raya = Moana
Sisu= Maui
Heihei = Tuk Tuk (alan tudyk)
Dragonstone = tefiti heart
Druun = Blight
Story of moana and raya.
A princess trying to restore balance of nature by returning the stone with the help of a "God" like friend.
Disney is retelling same story with different character arc.
Yes but this story in particular goes a little deeper than Moana. Hope you get to see it. Maybe you already have.
The style of this anime is chinese anime movies inspired.
It’s not an anime
its not even chinese. holy fuck how rascist can you get.
I mean, it is anime by definition
All that bs hype for wack ass Mulan should've gone to this. Shame on you, Disney.
i can't believe its the same studio that even let mulan 2020 artemis fowl go out!! shame on disney.
it could have been great, animation team are more careful and passionate than live action debacle
We’re still waiting for THE ONE Jet Li’s Hilariosity.
Soe Ricky definitely i can't wait for that tho honestly
I guess I'm the only one who liked that movie...
Yes thats the one review that are still waiting for
The One was amazing.
The One goated 💯
Bought it for the family and we loved it. Add to that, it didn’t have the requisite romance in it and no singing. What a breath of fresh air.
I honestly hate that people are looking at this movie as overrated/mediocre. It’s honestly AMAZING. The music, the art, the Southeast Asian culture clash (dope thing btw), the message about trust and unity, the relationshipsssssss. I do wish we got to explore more of the clans other than Fang and Heart. Like Spine could’ve had had a sick action sequence that interacted with the bamboo shoots. I do kinda feel it was a bit rushed as the story progressed but not to the point where I wasn’t able to connect with characters and maybe have some laughs and cries. Loved it.
It’s because they don’t truly flesh out every location (because there’s so many) and the culture is nice but many south East Asians I know complained that the cultural was poorly handled only doing the bare minimum. Also the music and art slaps, but the multitude of side characters overshadow the main character and numerous points while also not being as fleshed out as they should. The movie still slaps but it low key feels like moana did it better because it was more focused and attentive to detail
@@liamgakodi2276 as someone who is descended from Southeast Asia, I thought it was dope how they combined cultures. Gave me total Avatar The Last Airbender vibes, but it also felt really fresh. Honestly I think if they gave them maybe 30 mins more of movie time to show off the clans and the side characters that join the main group it wouldn’t feel like they were overshadowing Raya with trying to get screen time. I think it makes sense that they had to have those many side characters to show the representation of each clan and how they can all work together. But no I do know what you mean tho. This one is, for me, is definitely up there with Moana.
@@juliacheng00 let’s be honest, it really should’ve been a TV show instead of a movie. They put way too many things in here that aren’t as fleshed out as they could be.
Also, guess what? Many SEA countries do not have Disney+. So many SEA people won’t be able to see what this movie is......... well, let’s be honest, ATTEMPTING to represent. 🤷🏾♂️
I loved everything but the story and the moral. Anytime Raya has trusted anyone it literally blows up into her face. Even so far as leading to the death of Sisu. Yet, she trusted a cold hearted murderer who betrayed her several times to make the right decision? Who in their right minds would trust a murderer who betrayed her several times? And the murderer was the last one standing, so her decision wasn’t out of her learning anything. It was out of self preservation. Plus, the movie preaches that each faction is out for power. So why are they suddenly uniting under Hearts leadership, especially if the Fang one was bent on domination? It doesn’t make sense
@@xixingpooh As for sisu's death, we gotta remember that Raya is also to blame. Her trust issues caused her to unsheath her sword, causing Namaari to get scared and shoot. I really loved how did elaborated on how if everyone just learned to trust each other, maybe not everything would be so bad. But yeah, I think the ending was a bit rushed but maybe if it was a TV show, everything could have been fleshed out more
thumbs up if you want Chris to review Pixar's Soul.
I truly enjoyed that movie. A lot more emotional and thoughtful than I expected
I'm fairly certain he's seen it since he mentioned the movie in his top 10 movies in 2020. But no review.
I'd rather see him review Wolfwalkers and the other 3 Cartoon Saloon films. Too few people know about them.
To steal Chris's quote "[They're] fantastic. You must watch [them]. [They are] so fucking good and underrated."
I watched this in theatres... it was so damn good I loved this movie, I didn’t know what it was and was expecting to be disappointed but I was surprised on how good it was
The face looks like he likes the movie and doesn't like it at the same time. Hey he gave A- which was nice
He said it drags a little in the middle, which let's be real, the vast majority of Disney animated movies do.
I’m glad you liked it! I also agree that seeing Disney do an original story again is like a breath of fresh air.
Yeah!!! IT'S ABOUT DANG TIME
Im a grown ass men, i was moved to tears by this disney kid's animation. The score is simply brilliant
“You can kinda guess what’s going to happen from an emotional standpoint during the first act” Disney movie instantly knew what that meant
This was visually stunning. The plot holes towards the end distracted me, I know its a kids movie, but still 🤣 Like, if everyone turned to stone 6 years prior, how did the baby have her mother turn to stone, cause she wasn’t six, she was a baby.
Not everyone turned into stone 6 years prior. Because the purple mist thing (can't remember the name) was still around, people got turned into stone at different times depending on when they encountered the mist thing. Still lots of plot holes, but at least this one is somewhat explainable.
Was that a plot hole though? The evil purple thing was an ongoing problem until the very end. I believe it explained that very well that the only thing to get away from it was water. So, it wasn't just an instantaneous thing that turned a certain number of people into stone. It was more like a 'don't go out after dark into the woods or you might get turned to stone' type thing. The kid and the baby could have had their parents turned to stone years apart.
Ikr I was thinking the same thing lol
That and the baby could do all this amazing foot work running through town but could not say one word... the part that got me was when the dragon got her brothers rain ability. How the hell did they loose if the purple guys cant touch water... or how shes been riding through the desert for months and no sign of dirt or dust on her. Nope she had lipstick on, eyebrows did, skin was perfect. Plus there were Sooooo many plot holes, terrible movie, nothing new, all visuals thats it imo.
This is not a plot hole, people kept turning into stone literally every day and this is very well established, the movie was hard for you to follow it seems.
I just saw the movie and it was pretty enjoyable and had some really good features, but also some noticeable problems that were present throughout the film that stopped it from being a really good movie like other animated classics from Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks.
The music was amazing, some of the best I've seen in a while, I'm not sure if there is ever a moment where the soundtrack has its "Let it Go" moment with an unforgettable soundtrack like Han Zimmer's "Oogwa Ascends" from Kung Fu Panda or "Where No One Goes" from How to Train Your Dragon or the "Circle of Life" in the Lion King. But it was still really great music throughout the film that set the mood really well. And I might be underappreciating the music because I saw it at home with a lot of noisy distractions around me. The action sequences were really well done, and I really enjoyed the scenery/landscape. It reminded me of how Finding Nemo instantly stood out because of its very unique and beautiful under the sea landscapes.
For me the biggest problems were the pacing, the exposition, and the lesson it really tries to make you learn. The pacing was so rushed and I felt like this movie easily could have been an hour longer. So much of what happens is told through exposition, like when each character explains how they lost loved ones. In some ways it did make it feel more realistic since in real life people usually hear about others traumatic experiences through story telling, not some magical flashbacks or telepathy. But people watch movies because they want the story to be shown, not told, and it could have been a lot more emotional made the audience feel more invested and related to the other characters had we gotten to see their own experiences, or at least spend more time examining their own backstory. Nothing too long would have been needed, just an extra 5 minutes for the main characters to show the audience what they went through before they met Raya and Sisu, similar to when Tigress gave Shifu's back story in Kung Fu Panda, or the intro in Frozen where you see Elsa and Anna as kids and then they lose their parents. It would have been so easy to show some flashbacks of the characters with their family, before they lost them to the Druun. But instead they basically go "yeah I had a mom and dad or a wife and child, but then the Druun came and now I don't see them no more and I'm sad about it". The whole point of having all the characters lose their loved ones was to show that they are all humans and all have people that they love and care for or are cared by and want to see again. But it's done so many times with so little attention or time given their individual experiences that by the end it feels a lot less personal and significant, and becomes part of the cliche "the world is gonna end unless we defeat the evil monsters". If you're watching a Disney movie and before you've even made it halfway into the movie it's become clear that it will end with either everyone as stone or everyone is alive and together again happy and cooperative then you already know what's gonna happen and the stakes are gone. And yes I know that all Disney movies have a happy endings but most of them aren't about the world being saved and usually let you know that the characters can experience permanent losses and consequences so you don't know how it will end, who will change and what sacrifices will be made. Simba lost his dad, Nemo lost his mother, Tarzan loses his biological parents and his distant adopted father, The Beast learns to love, Stitch learns to care for Lilo and live on earth, Wreck it Ralph learns he can be a good guy despite literally being programmed to be a bad guy and Penelope finds out she's not a glitch and is accepted in the community while staying true to herself, Aladdin learns to be honest, and Mulan learns to overcome her weaknesses and accept who she is, etc. While there are some good themes in the movie about having more in common with others than you think and realizing our ability to work together to achieve something greater than we could by ourselves, it's all told to the audience right at the beginning of the movie with the guarantee that everyone will all come together by the end because otherwise the world will end. And because they gloss over each character's history and their initial distrust of each other so quickly through exposition, having characters go from hating each other to trusting each other in a couple minutes because they found something in common (which they literally have in common with everyone else in the world) it doesn't feel sincere or actually challenging. It's as if literally the only thing that prevented everyone from ending their hate and lack of trust for each other was just a 5 minute conversation where there introduce each other and talk about their dead relatives. That's just not realistic most of the time, literally everyone has dead family members, nobody has a 150 year old grandma. Again I know it's kids movie and the ending is always gonna be predictable, but when the success of the protagonist is guaranteed with no permanent consequences and the challenges they had to overcome are solved in a couple of minute through simple exposition and dialog, it's not a very compelling story. It's like if a 10th grader takes a 1st grade math test that they merely need to get a passing grade, with no reward for getting all questions right and no consequences for getting any questions wrong so long as they pass the exam. You know the outcome and you know the struggle isn't real and the consequences are non-existant so it's not very interesting.
And finally the lesson the movie was trying to teach was both a bad lesson and executed poorly. They literally tell you to trust everyone, even those people betrayed you multiple times, which is absolutely not something you do. They even have Namaari try to gaslight raya by saying she's just as responsible for Sisu's death, even though Namaari literally aimes her crossbow at Sisu and pulled the trigger when Sisu was continously trying to gain her trust and Raya only acted when she saw Namaari's finger start to pull the trigger, which ironically showed the audience exactly why you shouldn't blindly trust others, especially those who have already betrayed you before and are prone to do it again. They literally only trusted each other in the end because they had no other option. The moral of the story is honestly a bad lesson that executed pretty poorly.
Aside from those criticisms though I thought the movie did really well and it was still an enjoyable film to watch, even if it was lacking at times.
One of the Best Disney Movies! As a Southeast Asian, this movie brings me home.
Odd. I feel like if I said about Frozen or Tangled 'Wow, as a man of white European descent, this really brings me home" would be really, really weird.
As someone who lives near a beach, Moana really brought me home
@@herbsuperb6034 well, i don't know if Frozen based on your culture but Raya does. From the setting, clothing and food it really does.
I don’t know man, I’m actually confused which is which.
@@herbsuperb6034 Raya Indeed bring south east asian culture into the movie, just pay attention to the detail of the movie. as SEA people, this is my first time to see my culture represented in the pop culture in the world. because foreigner only know about china, japan and Korea when talking about asian.
I'm pretty sure that the only reason they didn't do a musical was because they couldn't find a singular tone that represented all of SEA, Disney didn't have a choice
I'm actually glad it's not a musical
actually there is a bunch of traditional music in SEA, yeah but maybe disney didn't find the right ones for the movie
@@zohoney9288 what I mean is that SEA music is so diverse that they cant just do one or two songs to represent all of us
I love this movie but i have a tiny tiny thing in the ending that i kinda dont understand. So...500 years or something long ago the dragon siblings trusted Sisu to “cleanse” or something with the orb thingy. But after the cleanse, her siblings dont turn back from the stone. BUT in the ending when the orb thingy get activated by the humans the dragons and people that have turned to stone turned back alive. Why? Can somebody fill me in this? Im kinda stupid in these kinds of thing. Still loved the movie tho.
Didnt expect that. When I saw the trailers I though "Oh, its gonna be one of THOSE movies eh?"
Yeah, the trailers were terrible.
Finally a new Disney animation that isn’t a sequel or remake (excluding Pixar)
I loved the movie. I'd like to see it again only in theater. One thing I did especially like is that her father wasn't killed like so many Disney stories start out. I hope they'll be doing more animated films like this.
Sorry, but I have ONE BIG problem with this movie. It teaches the OPPOSITE of the truth about actual trust. Trust is a very important issue, and this movie takes a steaming crap on it. Trust isn't just some willy-nilly thing you hand out for free, especially to people that have already betrayed you and the people you love MULTIPLE TIMES. This isn't trust - it is stupidity. The movie claims that the problem of trust is within the person who won't trust others. This is ONLY true when the person mistrusts them unjustly. But in Raya's case, her mistrust was not only justified, but critical to her survival. Fun fact kids - you're NOT supposed to trust everyone. That's a terrible idea. You should trust those who have EARNED your trust. And those who lie, cheat, and manipulate in order to abuse, control, or destroy you, must NEVER EVER be trusted. The moral of this story is ignorant, reckless trash... Don't suppose it's a coincidence that Disney released a movie telling us to blindly trust deceitful people right in the middle of a time when many of us are hesitant to trust leaders who have been proven to be power-hungry liars. Between the pandemic and all this political unrest, I'm forced to raise an eyebrow... Could be a coincidence, I suppose. I could be overthinking it. But let's not forget who Disney's powerful friends are...
Seriously . Thought it was dumb when Raya said at the end "I have to take the first step" but... She AND her father already took the first step multiple times and was betrayed time and time again. By the time the other girl showed up with the crossbow I was like, okay... She is beyond redemption. And she never did anything to make up for it. The movie treats Raya as cynical but she's just.. Being reasonable.
THANK YOU! I thought the same thing when I watched the movie
@@persephonene7421 Yup... If they wanted to teach us a lesson about actual trust, they could have made the whats-her-face villain girl take the first step and prove herself as trustworthy throughout the movie, and finally at the end, Raya forgives and trusts again. Sure, it might not have made as "enjoyable" of a movie. Fewer fights and chases, maybe. Either way, if your moral is trust, you can't fake it like this. It's really frustrating for those of us who have people we love in our lives with ACTUAL trust issues, or kids we want to bring up understanding true trust. Naive plots like this teach people to be dumb, and to sell themselves out blindly to people who hate them.
@@Tim.Hammer agree!! The villain girl should have felt guilt for what she did to sisu (which i know she probably did) but instead of her telling Raya off saying "You're to blame too!" (which I DONT think Raya should have any blame but thats just my opinion) the villain girl should have sought her own redemption by suggesting they put the pieces together and giving up her crystal FIRST!!!
that would have made her a cooler character just in my opinion.
My friend Qui was the co-writer on this movie. We are all excited for him!!
Wasn't it a big team lead by a Thai?
The Southeast Asian nuance here is very well done.
I don't understand. He gave Cruella a B- and and a A- to Raya. It doesn't make any sense, I mean the relativity of the ratings of these two movies (though one was rated three months back the other just last week).
I watched both of these two just today on my tv, and for me, Cruella felt special, a spectacle, a visual and mental treat. Agree it doesn't fit perfectly in the dalmations universe, but who cares.
On the other hand, Raya and the last dragon was an above-average animation movie. It didn't have a soul like Up, wall-e, or even Cruella, though it tried very hard. Raya failed to make me connect with the protagonist emotionally. Raya never seemed to be in any danger of losing. Though it was a good adventure.
I hope I see Chris' ratings become more consistent in the future.
Gotta love all the edgelords in the comments celebrating no songs
Like Disney didn't totally influence everyone's lives with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King...
no need to insult other different opinion, some like the musical some grew tired of it.
i personally would like a song at the final act but the scene is so good that i'm find with no song.
I've been looking through Chris's playlists, surprised that he hasn't reviewed Red dead redemption 2 yet....
He doesn't review alot of video games
I'm surprised he hasn't reviewed ghost of Tsushima either, especially since that games heavily inspired by kurosawa movies
@@kianpratt8662 ikr!
I very much disagree, but I'm glad you liked it! I thought the film was rushed and shallow -- none of the challenges felt insuperable, none of the payoffs felt earned. The plot lacked a logical flow in many places, and almost every decision the characters made were unrealistically irrational. Literally only two characters had any nuance. The score was good, of course it looked pretty. But while my wife and kids had a blast, I was incredibly disappointed.
Its a 10 for me.Had mixed emotions,laughing then crying all of sudden,surprised...We need more movies like this.👏👏👏❤❤❤❤
I just saw this in the theatre with my kids, and I usually agree with Chris, but I totally disagree that this movie deserves an A-. The animation is stunning, yes. But as another YTer would say, it's a movie that exists. It's not bad, not great.
I like it enough to want to go see it again in a theater... we will probably see it many times over, but I do have a feeling it won't be huge. And releasing it when they did was such a bonehead move.
aa Schaffrilis
One of the things I often find so refreshing about anime is that they don't really feel the need to explain everything. You're thrown into a world and you just accept the rules without lengthy exposition.
Yes, yes, yes! So glad you brought up this comparison, and that Chris brought forth his critique of exposition. Show don't tell, Disney! The most recent anime I watched was a perfect example of how to trust the viewer to put the pieces together by himself: "When Marnie was There."
if you have the chance to see it in theaters, the animated short before it is truly spectacular. like La La Land meets the first 10 minutes of Up
I saw it at a screening Saturday, I liked it. I really liked the musical shirt that played before the movie. I love your reviews bro. Keep me up
Finally, an honest review. I feel most reviewers on here were paid to say this movie was cheap. I'm hearing the graphics were mediocre, but when I hear what they compare it to, I'm like, is mediocre and low animation considered better than high quality animation now?! People are saying it felt empty or comparing it to avatar the last airbender. I truly don't see it. I feel Americans, know so little about South East Asian they judge this as weak when they think other Disney films that have singing in 95% of the film is better. It's unfair. I loved this film and was extremely surprised at how this was the best Disney animated film I've ever since. I kept questioning if this was a Disney film because of the top quality animation and lighting, grittiness of the narrative and action sequences. They worked with real MA who practice South East Asian martial arts. This was done during quarantine at home!! I really thought this wasn't a kids film several times!
This is the type of movie that gives me hope. The ending actually made me tear up a little.
this is probably the best disney animated movie since..
since..
Its a good movie.
Hey Chris, I’d be curious to see a review of The Vigil. Really liked it!
Looking forward to see this one too.
Love the reviews as usual sir, hope all is well!
I'm just annoyed that the dragon looks like a furry
They look like My Little Ponies.
Asian Dragons have hair.
anything can be a dragon if its big enough...
@@culturecanvas777 Yeeeeah, the resemblance is very uncanny. But I still enjoyed her character. Good thing we also had her other "form" to compensate
@@johnboy4025 Asian dragons only have tufts of hair or mohawks, not full body fur.
The trailer looks cool but my local theater is closed and I will never pay $30 for a movie. Especially one that I won't even own
Yar har har the pirate life for you then lmfao
Yo ho ho me harteys yo ho...a pirate's life for me
You pay 30 Dollars ONCE and can watch the movie as often as you want for 3 WHOLE FUCKING MONTHS before it will become accessible for everyone on June
do your fucking math.
I’m so glad we share almost the exact same thoughts on this! I luckily saw it in the theaters, fantastic experience all around and thank you fir pointing out the score 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
just a question, does any of y’all like the dragon? cuz honestly I like sisu
I love her so much, she's very funny, iconic, relatable and she makes the movie more enjoyable, I don't get why people hate her so much. Glad to hear someone else likes it
@@apparaya4225 right? Like why do people hate her so much
I personally love the character of Sisu, but I absolutely cannot stand the character design of a dragon with Elsa's face. For some reason dragon Sisu just felt like a typical annoying animal sidekick while human Sisu felt like a fun comic relief friend (if that makes any sense). I wish Sisu had been a more mystical and non-speaking dragon that resembled the legendary figure they expected until she changed into a human form and revealed her true, goofy nature.
@@LianLore I don't see it that way at all, but go off I guess.
@@apparaya4225 Don’t get me wrong, I love Sisu and I think she’s a great character. I’m just personally not a big fan of the talking animal sidekick gimmick. If Sisu was designed more like Haku from Spirited Away, that would have been perfect. I think it’s the idea of Sisu being more animalistic as a dragon and more human when she’s in her human form as opposed to her having a very human personality as a dragon. Since it’s a kids movie though, a talking animal is kinda like a requirement.
A- on this channel and Angry Joe trashed this movie.
I saw the movie last night in IMAX and I completely disagreed with Angry Joes reviews. I barely saw any of the trailers(I think I saw only the teaser) so I went into the movie with no predilections. The animation was GREAT. Seemed like many reviewers didn't like the side characters, but I don't think this movie was ever about them. It was mostly a Raya movie through and through, but the side characters were picked up for other reasons (avoiding spoilers).
Now should you pay $30 on top of your disney plus subscription, yes but only if your family is of the size of "cheaper by the dozen". Or else wait for it to be free or go to the theater.
angry joe is more worried about yelling and making funny faces, than actually enjoying things, just a quick watch o some of his later videos, and you will go deaf if you use headphones.
as someone who watched way back when he used his site, all i can say is, it became impossible for me to watch anything he does anymore. it also doesnt help how shallow his reviews are, or worse, how he will go for the "popular stuff" for views.
@Shot in the Heart he used to do pretty good reviews, back in the early 2010's, but the quality certainly dropped.
probably when he started going more "corporate" when making them.
Thank you for making this review without making any comparisons to other films.
ALSO - almost all the characters in the main cast are voiced by Asian actors and actresses.
And yet most of them have American accents, so how would you know?
@@BeeDub57 30 second Google.
And who cares?
@@BeeDub57 This is 2021 and you don’t know how to use the Internet?
Yet only 1 southeast asian
I really looked forward to this movie after watching this review, and I wanted to like it, but the experience left me a little disappointed. They tried to cram too much into too little. And there were many missed opportunities to tell a stronger story (that I won't spoil). Loved the voice work though, especially Kelly Marie Tran's, and the animation is beautiful as always.
As a Southeast Asian (Singaporean), it was particularly satisfying to see the rich cultures from Insular AND Mainland SEA being depicted in this film. The beautiful sceneries, cultural practices, etc., that you see come from the amazingly diverse landscapes of this region.
Shout-out to the "jackfruit jerky".
I think we forget that this film is intended for a younger audience that don’t usually understand sophisticated storytelling
thats no excuse for lazy bad writing, there are many many great examples of fantastic animated movies that are absolutely fantastic and can work on many levels for children and adults
Nah, Pixar does a really good job at doing nuanced storytelling that also works for kids. E.g. think of how Toy Story 4, Up, Coco worked
I was lucky enough that my local theater is open again and I was able to see this on the big screen and I absolutely do not regret it as the first movie I saw on the big screen since last year. The movie is drop dead gorgeous and I was in awe of the animation. The story is also surprisingly good and well written/acted. One of the best Disney movies I've seen in years. 9.5/10 for me, easy.
Truly I can recommand this film. I was suprised how gorgeous it looks. No need of any singing sequences or other unnecessary stuff. I felt the plot and theire also was a development in the characters. Love it!
I loved this movie, just finished watching it with my mom.
Sadly I heard a lot of people bashing it because they didn't like the way the dragon looked, saying it looked like something from Frozen. But I thought it was amazing.
Chris should review Soul even though he mentioned it in his best 2020 movies!
To be fair, not a lot of good movies came out in 2020.
@@thesnatcher3616
To be fair, not a lot of movies are better than Soul. (Percentage wise)
I'm black and Soul is nothing but pandering trash I wish Trump was still president
@@eatme6752 I don't think the guy being black is even important in that movie.
@@eatme6752 this is the most low effort troll i've ever seen
You know what really sad Chris, many Southeast Asian girls will not be able to see this movie yet. This is the first Southeast Asian warrior princess but we still have no access to Disney plus. The fight scene is a combination of southeast asian culture and even the tools. It's entertaining because it's familiar and totally different from other Disney stories. It's a princess but for the first time, the legit "prince charming", is somehow real and not fiction. Every daughter's first-ever prince charming is their father. This is so much about family and friendship and as a father's girl, it really touches my heart. The first Disney story, that is not only about family or princess but about how a father raised his daughter with culture and love combined.
Me: Mom, can we see Mulan?
Mom: No, we already have Mulan at home. Besides... look what I got for you!
Me: Wow, you’re the best mommy ever!