First Impressions: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

So, Raya and the Last Dragon finally got out of Premier Access. Yeah, this one was a bit late, but Disney's decision to put films on Disney+ behind a paywall is legitimately one of those things I can criticize the service for. Like, we're already paying for the service, why must we pay extra to see a movie? I could have bought the movie on DVD but I wasn't gonna shell out forty bucks for this movie. Still, it is embarrassing how late I am to the punch on this one, but at least I have an excuse, I still need to cover The Mitchell's Vs the Machines and I have no excuse for why I'm late on that one.

So, Raya and the Last Dragon is... fine. It is perfectly fine, not a bad movie, I don't think it is anything spectacular, but it was fine. Yet, it is undeniably a Disney movie.

I think I should talk about what I did like about the movie, and there is a bit. There were some moments that I did enjoy, some scenes I thought were really well done, and actually took me into the movie a lot more. I don't think these scenes will really get up there for my favourite movie moments, but like, that is comparing to some of the timeless masterpieces which I don't think is really fair to this movie yet, a wine does have to age before it becomes fine after all. I also did like the design of the dragons, I don't think they're my favourite dragon designs, but they are unique, I don't see a lot of furry dragons... don't take that out of context.

I think the main story elements like the plot, characters and world building are all fine. The performances were good and the animation was not bad. I feel like this is one of those movies where a home release really kills it, some of the scenes, even ones I really liked, probably would have been better on a giant screen with surround sound in a specifically engineered room to optimize the viewing experience. In other words, this is a theater movie, through and through.

I guess it does make sense to make more of these "Theater movies" now since home theaters are becoming a reality and televisions are getting bigger and bigger. The thing is though, while these movies look and sound great in a theater environment, the same cannot be said for home environments, or travel environments, or really any place you might watch a a movie that is not the theater. Once in this movie I thought back to Abominable, which I liked, but had to admit a lot of that was because I did see it in the theater, it was a movie that needed the big screen and completely encompassing audio to mask what was, ultimately a rather simple story. I do feel Raya is, at the very least, in the same category of films, where they mostly live off the experience in the theaters.

Of course, I also can't deny that this is a Disney movie, through and through. Now, I love Disney, I literally have to stop myself from just going through every single Disney movie in a row on this blog. I grew up with Disney movies and TV, and at least a quarter of my favourite movies were made or owned by Disney. I do love Disney... but they have an undeniable formula, they love to hit on familiar beats and you do catch on quick. If there is a trope or cliché that people are familiar with in Disney movies, chances are it appears in this one. This does include the fast talking comic relief, who... I mean, it kind of was cool that she was also the powerful McGuffin of the movie, but I still didn't find her that amusing. Really I didn't find the movie that funny, I only laughed at one moment, but this isn't a comedy, it's an action/adventure movie. The fight scenes were okay, the editing on the first one was terrible, but overall they weren't bad, just not my favourite moments.

Though, all of that being said, I may be looking at this movie with bitter eyes. Yes, I am a critic so I should be able to slide personal stuff aside, but firstly, screw that nonsense, I am a person and my opinions can not only change, but also be swayed by outside influences. I want to embrace that, but secondly, I want to be totally fair to this movie, I want to lay my biases out in the open because I want to be fair to every movie I look at. So, let's talk about Nimona.

Salt in the wound here, as I am still a bit upset about the cancellation of Nimona, and it really was not this movie's fault that it came out during that whole debacle. I also don't want to make it seem like Raya is the only movie that Disney released recently that is covered by that particular shadow, the newest release of Cruella did bring up Nimona once more, for me at least, but it still is really upsetting that Disney released this movie behind a paywall around the same time they cancelled a movie that lots of people were excited for. I kind of went into this movie expecting a typical Disney affair, and I got a typical Disney affair, which is not the movie I needed in Nimona's place.

Yet, all of that having been said, Raya and the Last Dragon is still a fine movie. I don't think it is a bad movie, I think it is fine. If you have kids, they'll probably enjoy it more than I did, if you love everything Disney puts out, you should probably get some help, but you'll enjoy it more than me as well. I think most people will enjoy it more than me, I can admit when I am off the ball. There were some scenes I liked, and I do think the message of unity is very pertinent in this moment of history, though I'd also recommend watching Fraggle Rock for that message. Overall, I may be casting some unnecessary glares at this movie, I may unfairly bring up an issue that is not this movie's fault, and I may not think it is particularly great, but I would be wrong if I did not on some level recommend it. It is fine, it is a passable movie that will do more for other people, I'll admit that.

The Adventures of Tintin (AKA: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn) (2011) - A fine adventure for fans and newcomers alike

So, I said I was gonna try and review older movies this year. I am not backing out of my promise, I am still going to try and review movies from the 1990s and before, but I think I should be allowed some leeway here. Especially since 2011 was ten years ago, my does time fly. I figured since I had the opportunity I should give this movie a go, especially since I am a big Tintin fan. When I was a kid, there was this channel called "Teletoon Retro", it was pretty much Boomerang for you readers with Cartoon Network, it played all of the old kids shows and is where I first discovered such wonderful shows like Fraggle Rock, Rocket Robin Hood, and of course, The Adventures of Tintin. After that I read some of the comics, and I really love them. They're definitely my favourite comics and I kind of wish someone took the license and made more of them, I dunno maybe Dark Horse or IDW, but regardless, given my enjoyment of the franchise, how does the movie hold up?

The plot follows Tintin, an English reporter, as he tries to figure out what makes a model ship he purchased so alluring to others, a model ship that gets him kidnapped, introduces him to the drunkard Captain Haddock, and takes him to the Middle East to find the secret that these model ships are holding. It's kind of an amalgamation of different Tintin comics, The Secret of the Unicorn most notably, but with elements of a few others. Overall I do think that the plot moves along solidly, being an adventure/mystery movie I feel both elements are done very well and in keeping with the comics, well sort of.

Watching this movie, it really does highlight the differences in expectations between comics and cinema. Comic audiences don't typically expect long, epic chase sequences, thrilling and exciting action scenes. This is because of the fundamental differences between the comic and cinema mediums. Comic books are not very long, sure you have graphic novels and manga, but other comic books, especially the serialized ones, like the superhero and Tintin comics, are rather short affairs. For the most part (From my bare minimum of research so feel free to correct me in the comments) Tintin comics are 62 pages long, with a few exceptions, notably the first book which is 141 pages long. Even so, the amount of action you can convey is limited, so a chase scene would need to be a handful of panels, a page at most if you can get away with it. With cinema, that handful of panels to a page can be translated to two to five minutes maybe, so you can get away with some of the flowing camera work and more... outlandish elements that this film gets away with.

I am rather split on the action scenes in the movie. The chase seen in Bagghar was pretty well done, if a bit more destructive than I think would happen in a regular Tintin comic. The crane duel between Haddock and Sakharine though, that was just stupid. I'm also not a huge fan of the camera flow in the chase scenes, maybe that is just a me thing.

I think this transitions decently well into the animation which... is a mixed bag. On one hand, the movie looks incredible. The lighting and the textures almost made me think this film was shot live action, which can be a problem, you know this is animation, but I think the characters were exaggerated enough to make it not too realistic. In fact, that character design is really good, Haddock looked just like a three-dimensional, more realistic version of Haddock would look like, Thomson and Thompson looked great, but on the other hand I think they erm... well reduced Madame Castafiore's size a bit, and gave her a different nose, and as for Tintin, some of his facial expressions looked really off to me, that may just be a me thing, but some of his looks just gave an uncanny valley kind of vibe.

Character wise, they're all the same characters you know and love from the original comics. Tintin is a curious and determined fellow that tends not to go down without a fight. Captain Haddock is a drunken excitable man of action, and Thomson and Thompson are the same bumbling police officers they were in the comics. They included Madame Castafiore in the movie as a bit of fan service, personally I would have also enjoyed to see Professor Calculus as he is one of my favourite characters. Overall though, the characters have largely been unchanged, and the voice cast did a decent job as well. Andy Serkis was really good as Haddock, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg worked great as Thomson and Thompson, even if they probably only got the role because of Hot Fuzz, let's be honest. I think my only real complaint is Jamie Bell as Tintin, but that is definitely a me thing. See, I grew up with the 1990s animated series, which (if you were an English speaker like me) had voice actor Colin O'Meara as Tintin, and that obviously not at all British voice is the voice I most associate with the character. Again, totally a me thing, and Jamie Bell did an excellent performance, I'm just used to the voice I grew up with.

Over all The Adventures of Tintin was a fine movie. Unlike Coraline, it does translate what I liked about the comics to the big screen. I really should stop being so mean to Coraline. Anyway, while I do have my issues with the movie, it had some good action scenes, a solid mystery, faithful characterizations, and had some genuine moments of good humour. I think whether you're a fan of the comics, or are a newcomer to the series, you'll get something out of this movie. While I don't think it's one of my favourite movies, I am glad I saw it. Solid recommendation. Maybe I should try to find the other Tintin movies as well.