Levi
[Movies] So I finally got to watch Raya and the Last Dragon
Levi
And it was ok
Levi
I think the main issue I had with it was that it felt like a TV series that got retooled into a movie
Levi
So many things are crammed into the space of a two hour movie that they just really lack punch
Levi
Both plot points and character development just seems to whizz by at the speed of light because the movie needs to get so many things done in its runtime
Levi
and it's like. it's only been 2 hours since i finished the movie and i've already forgotten 70% of the characters' names
Levi
because the movie just doesn't have the time to devote to establishing and developing the characters who aren't Raya or Sisu
Levi
which is bad because (I assume) that bonding with individuals from other nations was supposed to be part of helping Raya get over her trust issues
Levi
so it sort of feels like at sometime between Talon and Spine Raya just decides to start trusting people because the plot needs her to
Levi
I know she emphasizes with the people she meets, but that doesn't necessarily equate trust, especially because the root cause of her trust issues was someone she heavily emphasized with who betrayed her
Levi
I'm also surprised that Sisu just seemed to. Not have a character arc at all.
Levi
Like when it's brought up that she's "not the greatest dragon" and that she essentially received all the credit for what her siblings did while their names were lost to history or the fact that humanity went down the dumpster in her absence seems to just not affect her at all
Levi
I was really expecting her to have some kind of imposter syndrome story or grapple with how bad humans became in the last few centuries, a "maybe Raya was right" thing or something, especially after the Talon portion
Levi
where it seemed like the point of that was to show Sisu that yeah the world has gotten worse and she almost died due to trusting the wrong person
Levi
Like it's pretty clear her main purpose in the narrative was to be an instrument for Raya's change but it just sort of magnifies the issue that the cast of characters was pretty weak in this movie
Levi
Anyway I also think that there was just a huge tonal dissonance in the movie too, it tries very hard to be dark and serious, but also put in a lot of humor, but it doesn't mix
Rindude
I mean some people are also just that okay with who they are
Rindude
Not every character needs to be dynamic. Flat characters are good too
Levi
idk if it was just the jokes didn't land for me, but man it did not work
Levi
I do agree that not every character needs to change, but it really felt like they were trying to set up something for Sisu to struggle with but then they just. Don't.
Levi
Honestly it think like 90% of these issues I had just all trace back to my general feeling of "this needed to be a TV series, not a movie"
Rindude
See I got the opposite feel. That Sisu was mant to be an unchanging rock for Raya and boat boy to actually rexamine their motives. Which would only really work as you in a TV Series
Rindude
Sorta in a, this is what the world was like and what it can be again if you all stop being douchebags
Levi
I didn't expect Sisu to actually change her views or anything, just sit down and contemplate them and reaffirm them after some thinking
Levi
It's probably just opinion, but I think Sisu would've been a much stronger character if she was shown being affected, but choosing to continue to believe in people anyway instead of (what looked like to me) just seemingly not being affected by it
Levi
Anyway let's talk about the things I liked
Levi
I really liked the use of color, I remember seeing the trailers for this movie and was worried it was going to be bland because the trailers I saw consisted mostly of the Tail scenes but I'm glad that turned out to not be the case
Levi
I do like the implication that the nation leaders who beefed it seemed to have done so due to their own vices
Levi
gotta say it was pretty hardcore of the Tail chieftan to boobytrap her own corpse
Levi
Raya says she died to her own traps, but I'm not sure that's the case
Levi
I do like the theme of shared loss, which not only bonds the characters, but also empowers them in a "hey you're not the only tragic figure here, buddy" way
Levi
I also like the message of "you have to take the first step, especially when others won't"
Levi
I did like the worldbuilding, even if I have zero sense of scale of how large the world is
Levi
It seems like the nations are primarily small settlements in the middle of their respective territories? Fang definitely is at least
Levi
although Tail looks like it doesn't have any centralized civilization just big open space with a hideyhole for the chief
Levi
or that could be the result of the thousands of people who got turned to stone
Levi
since by nature only small settlements on or near water can work without the protection of an orb fragment
Levi
While I'm pretty lukewarm on this finished product as a movie, I think it's a good thing that it left me feeling like it should've had more, because that says to me it had a solid enough foundation to make me feel like that
Levi
(oh also the running joke of Tuk Tuk struggling to just be able to eat in peace was the one joke I really liked)
Levi
just let the fuzzy pillbug eat
TENtacle :3c
Yeah, totally agree that it felt like it should've been a TV series instead of a movie. That seems to be the general consensus of everyone I've talked to about it. Like, you can see that there's quite a lot of worldbuilding there and it really feels like it'd be a territory spanning series in a similar way ATLA was
TENtacle :3c
It really does feel like they start with character development but before the movie has time to really cook it, they serve the resolution because it's a movie and they gotta chop chop and give us the happy ending