The pacing can be off, with some of the storytelling later on feeling over-crowded. To me, it is too safe with not a lot of risk taking and trying to be a little too closely indebted to older Disney conventions rather than doing something new. 'Raya and the Last Dragon' is far from perfect though. The titular character is incredibly winning and easy to root for. The writing again isn't perfect, with it mostly failing in one crucial component, but it is smart and well meaning with it not coming over as awkward. The action excites and the screen blade is really cool. Loved how there was a mix of old and new Disney with its embracing of conventions and loved the cultural element, which was nostalgic, educational and didn't come over as stereotypical. While the story is not perfect, it has a good deal of energy, rouses in the beautifully and imaginatively animated action and to me it did have heart. The voice acting is fine also, Kelly Marie Tran is absolutely impeccable and Gemma Chan is suitably sinister as Namaari. James Newton Howard's music score is a beautiful mix of haunting, rousing, melancholic and spirited, with lots of lush orchestration, energetic and atmospheric rhythms and some nice Asian flavour too. The animation is stunning, with backgrounds that dazzle in their vibrancy and rich attention to detail. Those things done right are going to be mentioned first. This reviewer actually liked it a lot though on the whole, a few issues but a lot is also done right. 'Raya and the Last Dragon' is not one of Disney's best by any stretch and can understand why there are people disappointed totally. As well as their tackling of bold and more mature themes. Have also really appreciated how Disney became more diverse over the years, with more exploring of different cultures (like 'Raya and the Last Dragon' does with South East Asia) which have really broadened the horizons. When it missed however, like 'Chicken Little', it was not worthy of the Disney name. It did become very hit and miss post-'Tarzan', when it hit like with 'Tangled' the results were wonderful.

Due to being a huge lifelong fan of Disney, especially their 30s-60s work and a vast majority of the Renaissance era. Even if it were, there's nothing to suggest that they would follow the customs of that area as it is today.ĭespite seeing and hearing a lot of mixed reactions, with the disappointment being strong, this reviewer was still up for seeing 'Raya and the Last Dragon'. Though this would, of course, assume that Kumandra is in what is known today as South East Asia.

So Raya would call Tong 'Uncle Tong', Boun would call Raya 'Sister Raya', and Raya would address deity-ish Sisu as 'Master Sisu' or 'Lady Sisu'. In Asian cultures usually you would address people using familial relationship: you would call a person who is around your age or slightly older than you with 'brother/sister', person who is in the range of your parent's age with 'uncle/auntie', person who is older than that with 'grandpa/granny', and revered/high status/deity figure with something like 'master/lord/lady'. In South East Asian cultures in particular and Asian cultures in general, it's considered very rude to address people who are older or in higher status than you with only their names, such as when Raya calls Tong or Boun calls Raya or Raya calls Sisu (a deity-like figure) with their names only.

Noi raya