Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Movie Review
Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Movie Review
Written By: Jacob Scarberry
3D
I had high hopes for the 3D aspect of Raya and The Last Dragon, sadly the 3D seems like your standard Pixar 3D animated film ( A Nice Afterthought ). Based on the excellent Disney + 4K 2D stream of this movie and the abundance of vibrant colors popping off the screen I expected more from the 3D aspect of this movie.
Starting with the positive aspects of the 3D, everything just seemed natural. The 3D has natural spacing between the layers of fore, middle and background elements. Overall the 3D details were amazingly abundant and the depth was just outstanding. The settings were beautifully designed and fully enveloped to the point of it looking like the real deal, instead of a computer creation. The water effects are bar none the best that I have ever seen. The 3D greatly increased how real various objects felt on screen. Overall the 3D depth is rather spectacular.
Depth wide the 3D works well, however, nothing really popped out of the screen towards the audience. Beyond a slight jutting out of the sword, some water / rain splashes , nothing really broke out of the screen, despite the massive opportunities throughout this movie. We do have a few examples of pop out 3D: The water droplets from Sisu (The Last Dragon), the several fights between the characters, and some random shrimp being thrown at Raya. I wanted more pop out 3D for this movie.
All in all the 3D highlights are few and far between. The various rain scenes where the camera is panning up or down look very nice in 3D. Another noteworthy scene is where, one character aims the crossbow at Raya and a bit of it pops out of the screen. Finally the cave scene with the exploding beetles looks especially nice in 3D.
The 3D aspect of Raya and the Last Dragon is a very solid effort from Disney, but it simply left me wanting more.
Final Verdict: Good 3D
Movie
I traveled nearly fifty miles in the hills of West Virginia to watch this movie in 3D. This was during the covid-19 pandemic. My epic long journey to watch this movie in 3D took me through winding roads, up and down the various mountains, into a few valleys and I even crossed a few rivers. All this to watch a movie that I already seen at home but now in 3D in a theatre. Call me crazy if you must, but I just had to do it, partially because no closer theater had it available in 3D, but mostly because I am so dedicated to 3D . These are desperate times and I rose to the occasion, for Raya and the Last Dragon.
Raya and the Last Dragon is a Disney animated movie that takes place in a fictional asian land, that has been splintered into five nations: Talon, Spine, Tail, Fang and Heart. After a series of errors and mistrust, Raya must reawaken Sisu the titular last dragon. Sisu is the only hope to try to reunite this divided world. Sisu is able to do many amazing feats, but it can’t help me love this movie. Asian lore is abundant in this movie. All the usual Disney tropes are also present in this movie. This movie has a young princess, cute animals, and some surprising racial stereotypes. It’s all very familiar and it’s told with a lack of grace and talent. The film just keeps hitting you over the head with obvious metaphors and awkward modern humor. This style of humor makes no sense at all in this story. Raya and the Last dragon fumbles the narrative ball.
Raya and the Last Dragon’s vocal cast is largely decent. Kelly Marie Tran is better here as Raya than she was as Rose in the Star Wars sequels. Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae, Sandra Oh and Benedict Wong are all delivering fine work. The one noteworthy exception is Awkwafina who is woefully miscast as Sisu. I like Awkwafina, she's funny and can act, but this character and her portrayal are jarring and downright grating at times. I feel bad for poor Alan Tudyk who was Tuk Tuk (a pillbug/armadillo-like creature that Raya rides on). Alan Tudyk is sorely underused to the point of not being needed to voice the basic grunts of this creature. What a waste!
Luckily, the movie looks and sounds amazing. This movie showcases many beautiful locations and it has top notch animation. The sets, character designs, particle / hair effects, and water effects are all amazing throughout. I cannot deny how pretty this movie is. The sound design and musical compositions are also very well done. The score by James Newton Howard is excellent and it really captures the asian vibe. The sound and visuals match each other perfectly. The movie has no musical numbers and that is fine by me.
Raya and the Last Dragon is a good but not a great movie. This film has a basic storyline with underdeveloped ideas, forced humor, and a miscast co-lead (Awkwafina). The 3D is nice and it satisfied me enough to make rewatching this movie worthwhile. This is a beautifully animated movie that sadly doesn’t live up to its potential.
