Film Review – Raya and the Last Dragon

For their latest production, Walt Disney Animation conjures a grand adventure with “Raya and the Last Dragon,” doing away with musical numbers to offer a more physical endeavor with multiple battles and ancient magic. The material remains mindful of the Disney Playbook, presenting light comedy and cute creatures along the way, but there’s more of a furrowed brow with the picture, which is directed by the unusual mix of Carlos Lopez Estrada (“Blindspotting”) and Don Hall, the gifted co-helmer of 2011’s “Winnie the Pooh,” “Big Hero 6,” and “Moana.” “Raya and the Last Dragon is in good hands, and while the team has a little trouble with funny business, the scope of the feature is remarkable, delivering a brilliantly animated odyssey across fantasy lands, with rich color and exact detail, giving family audiences a proper odyssey with an important message of hope in our increasingly divided world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com