Poll Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this since the teaser last year!

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Kelly Marie Tran as Raya
Awkwafina as Sisu, the dragon

Available to stream on Disney+ March. 5th!

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

When and where can I watch this?
Is it going directly to Disney+?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

When and where can I watch this?
Is it going directly to Disney+?

It'll be available with Disney+ and an additonal $29.99 rental fee. I can wait.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

It'll be available with Disney+ and an additonal $29.99 rental fee. I can wait.

Yup, same here. I've been really looked forward to this film, but while I'm sad I won't be able to see it on the big screen, I'm not going to shell out an additional $30 for a rental (especially since the monthly rate just went up a dollar). I'll just wait until it comes to Disney+ properly on June 4 as advertised on its page.

 

[DigificWriter]

When and where can I watch this?
Is it going directly to Disney+?

The film dropped today in both traditional movie theaters and on Disney Plus, but it costs significantly more to stream than it does to see it in a theater because a home rental is $29.99 whereas the average movie ticket from a theater is around $10.

 

[JD]

I'm really looking forward to this, but I'm gonna way until I can watch it for free.
It's getting pretty good reviews, it has a 76/100 with 38 reviews on Metacritic. It breaks down as 32 positive and 6 mixed, with no negative reviews. The highest score is a 100 from The San Francisco Chronicle, and the lowest is a 50 from The Times Picayune.
Is it one month before the Premiere Access movies become free to watch?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Is it one month before the Premiere Access movies become free to watch?

Nope...

I'll just wait until it comes to Disney+ properly on June 4 as advertised on its page.

 

[theenglish]

We watched this tonight--my wife and kids really enjoyed. My daughter expressed content that it wasn't as "hetero normative" as other Disney features. No Prince to be seen--and three strong women in the leads. The animation was really well done, but I thought that the story it a lot of predictable Disney tropes and beats.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I enjoyed it very much! Especially Sisu! Raya was a great main character. The animation was spectacular. Admittedly the story felt a little lackluster. I just wanted more.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

June 4 has finally arrived and it well worth the wait.

I absolutely loved the vibrant, lush animation that really brought the world of Kumandra to life. While the story might have been fairly straight forward, all is forgiven because of that beautiful animation, because of the phenomenal performances from Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan and the rest of the cast, and because of the powerful message about trusting one and another. I only wish I had gotten to watch it on the big screen.

This film certainly ranks among my favorite Disney films such as Moana, Zootopia, Big Hero 6, The Princess and the Frog, Lilo & Stitch, The Emperor's New Groove, and The Rescuers.

 

[kirk55555]

I just watched the movie. The animation was really nice, though not a huge step up from something like Moana (which itself has gorgeous animation, so I'm not complaining). I liked Raya herself as a character, and her voice actress does a great job. But, I'd say its only maybe slightly above average.

I can't stand the supporting cast, most of them are mediocre at best and the titular dragon sucks. Partially because I don't think that Awkafina was a good pick (she's not a bad actress/voice actress, but her voice coming out of the dragon here kind of took me out of the film), but the dragon is also just not written well and is generally just annoying. The voice acting in general is pretty mediocre for a Disney film, with only Raya and her arch enemy having really good performances (at least in my opinion).

The story was just stupid. Raya is right the whole film, the lesson of what she is supposed to learn not being a terrible one but also not being a lesson that the film justifies.

Spoiler

Raya was right to mistrust most people, and when the villain blamed Raya for the dragon's death I was really pissed. The villain is the one that was threatening to kill them and trying to kidnap the dragon, if it wasn't for her the dragon wouldn't have died, Raya was just trying to save everyone.

Also, none of the villains get any real punishment, and its frustrating. Disney used to have great villains (even in many of their weaker movies), and you loved seeing them lose, but they don't really do that anymore. Now, I'm fine with the occasional misunderstood, not really a villain antagonists, I think it worked well in Moana, but the bad guys in Raya (at least the arch rival and her mother) needed some kind of permanent punishment.

The message of trusting everyone is just not done well when some of the people are just assholes who are not trustworthy, learning not to trust everyone is also a legitimate lesson. The movie should have done something where Raya learns to trust more but the dragon learns to not be so naive, that would have at least made the message of the movie better.

Overall, this was an ok, but sometimes annoying and frequently forgettable, movie. I'd give it a 6/10, with one whole point probably given just for the main two vocal performances and the very good animation.

 

[FPAlpha]

5/10

It is a paint by the numbers Disney movie, nothing we haven't seen a thousand times over.

Movie designed by commitee and checking off all the usual boxes - moral message/check, cute animal sidekick/check, main hero learning the key moral message/check, quirky supporting cast/check and so on.

It's ok to watch it if you already have Disney+ but i would have been pissed if i had paid additional money to see it early. It's like the whole host of writers and producers ( i didn't count but there were more than a half dozen writers there for the story - really???) were more concerned with hitting the checkboxes and making sure it is culturally "breaking new ground", i.e. inspiration came from Southeast Asia this time, than to come up with a better written story and characters.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I like the movie and my SO thinks it’s right up there with the best of them.
We watched Moana the day after and that one edges Raya out a bit.

may main issue with the movie is, that it’s too short.
Maybe a mini series with distinct chapters to develop the characters better, would have been the way to go.
All the sidekicks barely got any development and they all have the same motivation.
And especially a few more POV scenes with Namath would have been nice.
I would have liked to see more of her world and why she made her choices.
And maybe a little more of their ongoing rivalry.

 

[Christopher]

I just got around to watching this. I'm not normally in the audience for Disney's animated movies, but the Southeast Asian focus interested me. I enjoyed it much more than I expected. It's a good, strong story, a fairly straightforward message but with some nice nuance to the characterizations, with no real villain, just conflicting beliefs about what's best for the world. The animation is fantastic, especially Raya's gorgeously nuanced facial expressions. Kelly Marie Tran is excellent as Raya. I was more lukewarm about Awkwafina as the dragon Sisu, but the character proved to be less obnoxiously comical than I feared, and actually rather soulful.

My daughter expressed content that it wasn't as "hetero normative" as other Disney features.

Ohh, absolutely. Raya and Namaari were obviously into each other. The film couldn't get away with showing it through more than their expressions and body language, but it was clear enough just from that.