Raya and the Last Dragon
Might contain spoilers.
One of the most beautiful movies I’ve seen in a while, in every sense of the word. The stunning fidelity of the animation and the restrained but important stylization of the characters mesh in a way that they just didn’t in Soul . The vocal performances were superb. I must especially applaud Kelly Marie Tran, whose voice defines Raya. I admit I didn’t care for Awkwafina’s contemporary, American approach; however, I’m not certain that wasn’t an essential part of the whole, so I don’t want to dismiss it out of hand.
There are so many powerful, moving sequences, like Benja turning to stone and later returning to normal. My favourite is when Namaari sees Sisu for the first time in the midst of the chaos at Fang and her expression reveals the truth: despite everything, the sight of Sisu fills her with awe and the stirrings of hope. The film carries such a lovely message of unity and trust. The score, too, is first rate. (Not so much the song over the closing credits, sadly.)