Raya and the Last Dragon

[Sithborg]

The character animation was very impressive, though. At the very minimum, this film is a technical wonder from Disney. Add in the fact that this was finished at home, you have to be impressed with it. I hope it gets a documentary about the making of the film like Frozen 2 did.

Personally, "photo realistic" starts to miss the point of animation. This is a cartoon, not a live action movie with CG.

 

[TheVileOne]

What a beautiful film. Really surprised with some of you saying it's "average"

I do agree Soul and possibly Onward were better, but I'm a huge fan of Pixar to begin with.

Sure, you could say it was a little "by the numbers" but the story was unique enough that it didn't bother me at all.

The voice acting was pretty great too.

I think it's a beautiful looking film. I think the world looks beautiful and it's a solid premise.

IMHO average does not mean it's BAD, but you can kind of tell the movie had production problems as well. The humor needed work.

And like, it just seems that Raya finds Sisu easily and rather unceremoniously.

At D23, when Raya meets Sisu, Boon is already with her, and they meet Raya it's kind of scary almost. Like Sisu might attack them at first. It's actually kind of suspenseful.

 

[TheVileOne]

The character animation was very impressive, though. At the very minimum, this film is a technical wonder from Disney. Add in the fact that this was finished at home, you have to be impressed with it. I hope it gets a documentary about the making of the film like Frozen 2 did.

Personally, "photo realistic" starts to miss the point of animation. This is a cartoon, not a live action movie with CG.

Everything looked fantastic. I would've liked to have seen a better story around this world and characters. I feel like there was some unfulfilled potential.

The locations and designs looked imaginative and awe-inducing. A fantasy world you'd like to explore and spend more time in. The character models looked really good too.

 

[Sithborg]

I think it's a beautiful looking film. I think the world looks beautiful and it's a solid premise.

IMHO average does not mean it's BAD, but you can kind of tell the movie had production problems as well. The humor needed work.

And like, it just seems that Raya finds Sisu easily and rather unceremoniously.

At D23, when Raya meets Sisu, Boon is already with her, and they meet Raya it's kind of scary almost. Like Sisu might attack them at first. It's actually kind of suspenseful.

I definitely feel like the pandemic hurt the editing. The editing is fairly obvious, with a lot of weird cuts. Some due to keeping the violence down for the rating, I'm sure, as there were weird cuts there.

And I really want the cut scene that happens before the final fight. There is a lot of implication, but I think it is needed to have the audience aware of Namaari's emotional state. I am curious about other deleted scenes.

Everything looked fantastic. I would've liked to have seen a better story around this world and characters. I feel like there was some unfulfilled potential.

The locations and designs looked imaginative and awe-inducing. A fantasy world you'd like to explore and spend more time in. The character models looked really good too.

How it the animations was really hit me when Namaari first sees Sisu. They were able to convey a LOT with just the facial animations. I was very impressed.

 

[Web-Head]

I think it's a beautiful looking film. I think the world looks beautiful and it's a solid premise.

IMHO average does not mean it's BAD, but you can kind of tell the movie had production problems as well. The humor needed work.

And like, it just seems that Raya finds Sisu easily and rather unceremoniously.

At D23, when Raya meets Sisu, Boon is already with her, and they meet Raya it's kind of scary almost. Like Sisu might attack them at first. It's actually kind of suspenseful.

I just put a lot of that on the production problems like you said due to Covid and having to finish the film at home. What they showed at D23 does sound better, I will say that much. I didn't care too much for the humor either aside from a few jokes here and there and Noi.

 

[TheVileOne]

I definitely feel like the pandemic hurt the editing. The editing is fairly obvious, with a lot of weird cuts. Some due to keeping the violence down for the rating, I'm sure, as there were weird cuts there.

And I really want the cut scene that happens before the final fight. There is a lot of implication, but I think it is needed to have the audience aware of Namaari's emotional state. I am curious about other deleted scenes.



How it the animations was really hit me when Namaari first sees Sisu. They were able to convey a LOT with just the facial animations. I was very impressed.

Oh yeah, that was one of my favorite moments of the film. It really nailed those quiet dramatic moments. The animators did a good job of visual storytelling and expressing the emotions of the characters.

My other favorite shot was when you see Namaari and her minions and they are traveling through that valley and you see the valley of the frozen stone dragons. It felt very sad and melancholy.

I agree, I think pandemic likely did affect the editing and some of the writing. Namaari is actually an interesting character, and I think she could've been fleshed out a bit more.

 

[TheVileOne]

I just put a lot of that on the production problems like you said due to Covid and having to finish the film at home. What they showed at D23 does sound better, I will say that much. I didn't care too much for the humor either aside from a few jokes here and there and Noi.

I mean yeah, but a movie is still a movie. I can't really give it a pass just because of COVID.

I would've honestly even delayed this movie another year.

Now, The Good Dinosaur, that's another film where I wonder if the changes made really helped that film. The Good Dinosaur was kind of average, but I wonder if the original vision of that film could've been even better.

But Zootopia went through a lot of production changes as well, and I think all the changes made to Zootopia were for the better. I don't think it was as heavy as this film, but they did cut and re-edit a lot for Zootopia.

 

[Web-Head]

I mean yeah, but a movie is still a movie. I can't really give it a pass just because of COVID.

I would've honestly even delayed this movie another year.

Now, The Good Dinosaur, that's another film where I wonder if the changes made really helped that film. The Good Dinosaur was kind of average, but I wonder if the original vision of that film could've been even better.

But Zootopia went through a lot of production changes as well, and I think all the changes made to Zootopia were for the better. I don't think it was as heavy as this film, but they did cut and re-edit a lot for Zootopia.

The Good Dinosaur is one of Pixar's weakest films. It didn't feel like Pixar at all so I'd be curious to see what that original vision would have looked like.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

I definitely would not have minded seeing this in a theatre eventhough I perfectly enjoyed it at home. I don't know how to justify spending $30 dollars on it though, especially when your not getting the complete bigscreen experiance, but I know there's still alot of people out there who are not ready to risk going to the theatres yet.

I do think its kind of worth it if you don't mind spending the money and want to actually see a quality animated film with the whole family. It's a huge step up from Tom and Jerry atleast and man I really did love the visuals along with the animation for the characters and the voice cast.

 

[#root]

I really liked it but I think it very easily could’ve been a lot better. You get the feeling that there’s definitely a much better movie in here somewhere that just got lost in editing maybe. The animation was beautiful and the characters are all likeable including Raya, Namaari and Sisu but the screenplay needed a bit more work. The first 20 minutes or so are basically one long exposition dump. And not really the good kind so immediately you start off with a meh feeling. It does pick up however and I quite liked the ending.

I think it's a beautiful looking film. I think the world looks beautiful and it's a solid premise.

IMHO average does not mean it's BAD, but you can kind of tell the movie had production problems as well. The humor needed work.

And like, it just seems that Raya finds Sisu easily and rather unceremoniously.

At D23, when Raya meets Sisu, Boon is already with her, and they meet Raya it's kind of scary almost. Like Sisu might attack them at first. It's actually kind of suspenseful.

I really didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

Spoiler

Immediately after the flashback, she finds Sisu. I honestly thought they were going to show her struggle a bit. Show how the whole thing affected her and how she has become distrustful. But nope. Straight to Sisu. That was jarring.

The D23 version sounds cool. I wonder why they changed it. It’s interesting how animated movies go through so many changes even in their very late stages. Like how for the longest time Elsa was supposed to be the bad guy in Frozen until they came up with Let It Go.

 

[TheVileOne]

I really liked it but I think it very easily could’ve been a lot better. You get the feeling that there’s definitely a much better movie in here somewhere that just got lost in editing maybe. The animation was beautiful and the characters are all likeable including Raya, Namaari and Sisu but the screenplay needed a bit more work. The first 20 minutes or so are basically one long exposition dump. And not really the good kind so immediately you start off with a meh feeling. It does pick up however and I quite liked the ending.
I really didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

Spoiler

Immediately after the flashback, she finds Sisu. I honestly thought they were going to show her struggle a bit. Show how the whole thing affected her and how she has become distrustful. But nope. Straight to Sisu. That was jarring.

The D23 version sounds cool. I wonder why they changed it. It’s interesting how animated movies go through so many changes even in their very late stages. Like how for the longest time Elsa was supposed to be the bad guy in Frozen until they came up with Let It Go.

Chaos At Disney Animation? 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Replaced Directors, Recast Lead Voice, Added Extra Producer

I'm not sure what sparked all the changes. At some point during production they brought on two new directors and a new producer. Also, Raya was recast from Cassie Steele to Kelly Marie Tran. I got the sense that some of that was that since the story was based in Southeast Asian myth, they wanted Raya to be voiced by an actress of Southeast Asian descent. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Disney wanted to try and make it up to Tran for how her character was marginalized in Rise of Skywalker after all the harassment she endured post Last Jedi.

It seemed like the kid Boun joined up with Raya first before she finds Sisu. But yeah they piled on so much exposition upfront and then boom she finds Sisu in like a minute. Granted, I realize this is an animated movie and the don't have as much time as like a two hour feature, but maybe they could've used that time a bit more creatively. I think in that iteration Boun was trying to be more of a bard or chronicler, or amateur storyteller, rather than a chef.

I feel like Sisu's magic was her compassion for others, and that's why the other dragons entrusted her. I think they could've explored Sisu's role with the dragons a bit more.

I did generally like the characters like Sisu, Raya, Tong, and even Nemaari. While I didn't find Sisu funny, Awkwafina actually nailed the dramatic parts fairly well. I think Tong and Nemaari could've used even more screentime.

 

[#root]

Chaos At Disney Animation? 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Replaced Directors, Recast Lead Voice, Added Extra Producer

Oh wow. I knew about the recast but I had no clue they added new directors and producers too. And while I like Kelly Marie Tran and I think she did really well in the role, I still kinda feel bad for the other actress.

It seemed like the kid Boun joined up with Raya first before she finds Sisu. But yeah they piled on so much exposition upfront and then boom she finds Sisu in like a minute. Granted, I realize this is an animated movie and the don't have as much time as like a two hour feature, but maybe they could've used that time a bit more creatively. I think in that iteration Boun was trying to be more of a bard or chronicler, or amateur storyteller, rather than a chef.

For sure. Meeting Boun earlier would’ve helped the story and it would’ve helped Boun too. I liked him enough as he was but there wasn’t a whole lot to him. Meeting him earlier would’ve helped flesh him out. Same with the baby who was cute but a very barebones character. She was essentially just a joke that IMO wore out it’s novelty fairly quickly... and wasn’t that funny to begin with. I did like Tong though who they managed to make very memorable even with his brief screen time.

I did generally like the characters like Sisu, Raya, Tong, and even Nemaari. While I didn't find Sisu funny, Awkwafina actually nailed the dramatic parts fairly well. I think Tong and Nemaari could've used even more screentime.

I did really like Awkwafina in the role. The humour wasn’t great but she did great in the role. Actually now that I think of it, the humour in this movie felt more like Dreamworks than Disney to me. Which was very odd.

 

[:eek:]

"Raya" Scores Quiet Box-Office Start - Dark Horizons

 

[Mysteryman]

Any chance that Disney might release the streaming numbers so we see how Raya REALLY performed?

 

[Sithborg]

Any chance that Disney might release the streaming numbers so we see how Raya REALLY performed?

Any numbers that Disney releases is suspect. That goes for any company. Netflix likely changes what counts as a "view" whenever they want.

Frankly, the biggest sign of whether the premium access was a success or not will be if they toss Black Widow on it.

 

[Prison Mike]

Oh boy that would be interesting if they did that. Theaters wouldn’t like it but I don’t know if they have the guts to boycott showing a film like BW.

 

[Mysteryman]

Yeah But, how much can BW really make right now?

 

[Marvolo]

I really liked this, but that third act climax needed more work in the editing bay.

Spoiler

The way it cuts from Nemaari's failed parlay with Raya to Fang already being destroyed, Nemaari's mom already being stone, and Raya marching towards the palace was jarring as hell.

Seemed like there was a scene or two that didn't make the cut.

And the Drune needed to be fleshed out more as an antagonist. Nemaari was barely an antagonist.

I think this story would have worked much better as 6+ episode series. Giving each heist room to breathe, and allowing more development of the world and the Drune. In its current state it feels like a series that was edited into a 2 hour film.

 

[Sithborg]

I really liked this, but that third act climax needed more work in the editing bay.

Spoiler

The way it cuts from Nemaari's failed parlay with Raya to Fang already being destroyed, Nemaari's mom already being stone, and Raya marching towards the palace was jarring as hell.

Seemed like there was a scene or two that didn't make the cut.

And the Drune needed to be fleshed out more as an antagonist. Nemaari was barely an antagonist.

I think this story would have worked much better as 6+ episode series. Giving each heist room to breathe, and allowing more development of the world and the Drune. In its current state it feels like a series that was edited into a 2 hour film.

Spoiler

Yeah, I think the scene of Nemaari's mom getting turned to stone is an important scene that was deleted, as it is clearly playing into Nemaari's mindset in that final fight.

 

[Silvermoth]

Saw it yesterday and loved it.

a lot of people are comparing it to the last airbender which I think is a compliment because like avatar it’s about confronting what makes a villain not just bashing up someone who is a villain

 

[lespaul59]

You'll get to keep the film and access it indefinitely so it does include a digital copy. And its in 4K on Disney+.

I thought you paid $30 got access to the movie for 30 days then you could no longer watch the movie. Did they change this or have I misunderstood how Premier Access works?

 

[zephyrinthesky]

I thought you paid $30 got access to the movie for 30 days then you could no longer watch the movie. Did they change this or have I misunderstood how Premier Access works?

Paying for Premier Access means you don’t have to wait the four months or whatever until it’s “free” on Disney+ for everyone else. You can watch an unlimited number of times for as long as you are subscribed.

 

[TheVileOne]

I really liked this, but that third act climax needed more work in the editing bay.

Spoiler

The way it cuts from Nemaari's failed parlay with Raya to Fang already being destroyed, Nemaari's mom already being stone, and Raya marching towards the palace was jarring as hell.

Seemed like there was a scene or two that didn't make the cut.

And the Drune needed to be fleshed out more as an antagonist. Nemaari was barely an antagonist.

I think this story would have worked much better as 6+ episode series. Giving each heist room to breathe, and allowing more development of the world and the Drune. In its current state it feels like a series that was edited into a 2 hour film.

The Druun were my other issue with the film.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

It's a decent movie. The world building and visual are amazing.

However, it's too short IMO. Should have been 30 minutes longer. There is a lot of potential with the 5 world that they introduced but I feel the movie wasted it by skipping through every land. It's a shame because the premise impressed me so much, maybe the best part of the movie.

Also the movie was too childish in some part that it's hard to be invested. I wish it took itself a little bit more serious.

Overall, 7/10. Better than Soul, though.

 

[Albright]

Was great - gave me lot Zelda BotW vibes...