Have you ever thought about being a lone rider in a dystopian world trying to save the one you love the most? A world broken because of fear. Raya and the Last Dragon is a movie released in 2021 produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios that captures your attention with beautiful, vivid images. It is a very realistic movie that is in many ways the same as our world. The theme in this movie is to have trust in people and that when we work together we are stronger. This movie, directed by Don Hall and Carlos López, has many flaws, but the theme is what really makes it worth watching. It starts off by showing us Raya, the main character, riding through a desert alone in an empty world. We then get to see a flashback of her childhood which shows us how her father, Chief Benja of Heart, deemed her worthy to be a guardian of the dragon gem. Raya then explains how the five lands, Heart, Talon, Tail, Spine, and Fang were all connected once as Kumandra. The people of Kumandra lived happily with the dragons only to have a horrible monster called the Druun come and turn everything they touched into stone, including the dragons. Then Sisudatu, the last dragon, combined her powers with her siblings to create the dragon gem and blasted the Druun away. Everyone who was turned to stone came back–except the dragons, and all that was left of Sisu was her gem which humans fought to possess. 500 years later, a war broke out between the five lands, and the dragon gem was broken into five pieces. Each land took one. That also brought back the Druun who turned Raya’s father into stone. In the flashback, we see that the war between the five lands started because Chief Benja trusted that the five lands would want to come together and become Kumandra again. Raya decides to trust her father and makes friends with Nammari, the princess of Fang, who tells her that Sisu might still be alive at one of the ends of the many rivers. Out of trust, Raya brings Nammari to the place where the dragon gem was placed only to find Nammari using her to get the dragon gem. In the process of taking it, they break the gem. From that point forward, Raya begins looking for Sisu and the rivers’ ends so that she can find some way to revive her father. This movie has a great theme, but there is still more to it! This movie connects a lot to the real world. We often don’t trust each other because of fears, traumatic events, or betrayals in our past. Perhaps the Druun doesn’t just exist in Raya’s world but also ours. The Druun is like a part of us that doesn’t trust anybody and is full of hate and fear instead of trust and love. The point of this movie is to show us that we need to overcome our inner Druun to be really successful and content in our lives. It also does a good job of showing two characters who are surprisingly similar, but not exactly the same. Chief Benja, Raya’s father, was a very hopeful and brave person who thought he could bring together the world by taking the first step. He was unfortunately turned to stone before he could tell Raya, but then Sisu came along and finished the job for him. Sisu was the one that finally got Raya to trust their greatest enemy and to take the first step in saving the world. Chief Benja and Sisu both have a selfless and hopeful personality, despite the fact that one is a dragon and the other is a human. It is very entertaining to see how a human and a dragon can be so similar and how a movie can connect so much to our world, which is why you should watch this movie and experience these things yourself. While this movie has many good things, there are also some bad sides to it. One of the bad things is that the movie moved at a very fast pace. Every event, whether it is happy or sad, doesn’t give you any time to feel with the character. After each heartbreaking event, there is no time to stop and soak up all the sadness, and it is hard to feel what the main character is feeling. Even in happy or funny scenes, we don’t have time to feel the moment of joy or the feeling of accomplishment a character is feeling. Sisu, the last dragon in this movie, also seems to act too quickly, which makes the movie seem kind of silly and unwise. For example, on their ride to Spine, Raya just told Sisu how there is no point in trusting anyone because the world is broken. When their ship gets to Spine, Sisu races in front of Raya so she can show her that people can be trusted and ends up being trapped. This move is silly and unwise because Sisu has been asleep for 500 years and knows nothing about what happened and how mean people can act. Despite the fast pace of this movie, it still shows the theme very clearly, which is why you should watch this movie. Even though we did not have time to feel the world inside the movie with the main characters, we still see very clearly how Raya transformed after she was revived by taking the first step to show her friends the importance of trust. In the end, she saw what her father (as well as Sisu) wanted her to do and helped them make their dreams come true. She saved the people of her world, and she saved the people she loved most. Raya and the Last Dragon is a story of our world that has been changed into a more fantastical version.
movie review
Incredibles 2, Reviewed by Wilson Chen, 11
I was attracted to Incredibles 2 ever since I saw the vibrant poster. I couldn’t help but investigate the family of superheroes running at the train, all while holding a baby, who was astonishingly shooting lasers at a frightened raccoon. When I squinted even closer, I saw even more superheroes lurking in the background. The mysterious figure over the iconic Incredibles logo only added to the anticipation of watching this movie. When I finally got the chance to see it a couple of months later, it exceeded my extremely high expectations … by a lot. Incredibles 2 is an electrifying movie directed by Brad Bird, a famous director who shares an Oregon upbringing with me. Bird’s exceptional talents won him two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and many Best Original Screenplay nominations. He also directed Ratatouille and The Iron Giant, which paved his path to later directing Incredibles 2. Incredibles 2 is a sequel to the movie Incredibles, and both revolve around the Parr family (a.k.a The Incredibles). After Helen accepts a job in order to regain public trust for superheroes, Bob struggles to simultaneously deal with Dash’s math homework and Violet’s boyfriend, who had his memory wiped after discovering Violet’s role as a superhero. Brad Bird manages to fit the entire story in only 1 hour 58 minutes! This allows you to watch it, even if you don’t have a lot of time. One of my favorite parts about the movie is the vivid designs and stunning animation. One of the advantages Pixar had with this film was its team of highly talented animators, which enabled them to have more flexibility over character designs. Another great part about this movie is the variety of characters. Brad Bird also introduced six new “superheroes” to Incredibles 2 with the names of: Screech, He-Lectrix, Reflux, Brick, Krushauer, and Voyd. These additions provide the movie with a rich array of characters and personalities. They play an important role in the final battle, since their abilities are used for good and bad, giving the viewer both perspectives on superpowers. My favorite character in the movie is Jack-Jack (the baby). He has a variety of superpowers such as multiplying himself, turning into a purple demon-looking thing, and becoming a human torch. Even though this movie was a smashing success, I believe there were some parts that could have been done better. One of the criticisms I have is the repetition of superpowers. For example, Mr. Incredible and Brick share the same ability, making each one less special. In the film, Voyd, Elastigirl, and Screech all survived a free fall at some point. Another main problem in this film is the sheer amount of characters. It can help make the movie diverse, but ruin it at the same time. Incredibles 2 cannot focus on one group of people without leaving the others behind. Therefore, they don’t really spend a lot of time on an individual character. This blocks the viewer’s ability to go in-depth on the characters they like. Some characters only appear once or twice in this movie, even though they are really well written and have a unique personality. Overall, this is a fantastic film. It uses high-tech animations and technologies to create a visually pleasing effect. The thrilling plot keeps you on your toes throughout the entire movie, while maintaining a humorous outline at the same time. Even though I believe there are some things they could have improved on, it still deserves a standing ovation at the end. This movie is perfect for people who like superheroes, comedy, and a whole lot of action!
Turning Red, Reviewed by Tonia Wu, 11
Last spring, as a fifth grader, I watched the movie Turning Red for the first time. I was excited to see this movie because it was written and directed by Domee Shi. Shi was born in Chongqing, Sichuan and later moved to Newfoundland, then to Toronto in Canada. While researching her life, I learned that she watched many Studio Ghibli and Disney films throughout her childhood, inspiring her to be the storyboard artist for films like Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Toy Story 4, and Incredibles 2. In 2018, she wrote and directed her first short film, Bao, and in 2022, when Turning Red was released by Disney/Pixar, she became the first female solo director (Brenda Chapman co-directed Brave) of a Pixar film! While watching the movie, I felt particularly drawn to Meilin, a thirteen year-old girl living in Toronto whose life in some ways seems reflective of Shi’s complex international heritage. Turning Red depicts Meilin as she grapples with her identity as a straight-A student desperate for her mother’s approval and her rebellious desire not to seal her wild “panda soul” according to tradition. In the film, the panda soul tradition dates back to Meilin’s ancestors who turned into pandas whenever their emotions ran free. Over time, generations learned to suppress their panda souls through participating in a ceremony for sealing their red panda souls into a pendant or another type of jewelry that could keep the soul locked away. One of my favorite parts of the movie was Meilin’s own ceremony, when the red moon appears to mark this transformational time of her life. First, Mr. Gao, who is a regular guest of these ceremonies, draws a circle into the dust, and then all of the women begin chanting from their hearts. As they chant, Meilin’s body hovers a few feet in the air, and then her soul lifts into a kind of dreamland. From there, she can walk into a mirror that allows her panda soul to separate from her human soul, all while allowing her to return to the real world after the ceremony is over. After that, her soul is supposed to be safe to live in a piece of jade jewelry, but Meilin defies this expectation by deciding not to seal her panda soul into eternity. By refusing not to seal her panda soul, Meilin has the power to unleash her inner panda whenever she isn’t feeling calm, a fact that is made more extreme through anime. The clouds, for example, turn a poofy pastel pink whenever her panda soul is aroused, like when Meilin is angry at her mother or another classmate, and also her eyes mimic oversized anime eyes whenever she sees a boy that she likes. By using anime, the film effectively shows what it is like to be a tween who is not only hyper aware of her surroundings, but who is also warring with her inner demons as she transitions from a child into a teenager searching for social acceptance. Overall, I think Turning Red should be seen as a major accomplishment for Domee Shi, because it both gives voice to her own experience growing up in Toronto as an awkward tween and represents the universal experience of transitioning out of childhood that I think a lot of teenagers can relate to.
