Tag: #disneymoviereview

Movie Review: Raya and the Last Dragon

Image via: https://movies.disney.com/raya-and-the-last-dragon

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

W-O-W! Disney delivers with Raya and the Last Dragon!

I’ve posted before that we are big Disney fans. I REALLY LOVE Disney. We have Disney+, but I won’t normally shell out extra money for Premier access.

Well, Disney sucked me in with this one. The previews looked so good and winter in Wisconsin is very…cold and boring. So, on a particularly cold snowy day, I bought this movie.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The colors and graphics in this movie are absolutely beautiful! It has a Moana-ish and Star Wars feels in the characters and landscape. Sadly, there isn’t the Moana music 🙁 But it’s okay, because it doesn’t need it.

The story sucked me and my 4 year old in right away. This story is about a land where humans and dragons in peace live together until an evil force attempts to destroy everything. The final dragons band together and place all their magic in a single gem that saves the the world, but divides the humans. 500 years later, the humans fight over who controls the gem and it’s broken in the process. When the gem breaks, the evil returns. Now Raya seeks to find Sisu, the last dragon, and save her father.

SISU

Sisu, the last dragon, is one of my favorite characters of all. She helps guide Raya on her quest to restore humanity and the dragons. She’s young, but wise in so many ways. She has the best manners!

Really Jamie? Manners? Yes! I feel like we’re at risk of losing these manners in today’s world. Did I just say that? I must be getting older.

Anyhow, Sisu constantly talks about bringing presents to the chiefs of the different lands. That’s what my Mom always taught me. Bring a gift when you visit someone. 🙂 Sisu says that’s a way of saying I can trust you, can you trust me? Trust is a big theme of the movie.

Also, Siso always tries to compliment people when she meets them. She ate Raya’s terrible jerky, but complimented her on it regardless. Then she complimented Namaari and her big cats despite Namaari obviously wanting to attack them.

OVERALL

This movie was well worth the extra movie! My daughter and I have watched it at least a dozen times. I cry EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Yup, it wouldn’t be a really good Disney movie if I didn’t cry at least once during the movie. On a really “good” day, this movie will make me cry in at least three different spots.

I love the themes in the movie and how Raya meets people and brings them together to be their own family. How she learns to trust others. There are so many good lessons here.

Definitely see this movie! It’s planned to release to Disney+ June 4, 2021. So, consider the cost/benefit to waiting. I personally feel it’s worth the money even now. It was that good. Happy movie watching y’all!

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Movie Review: Mulan (2020)

Rating:
4.5/5

If you don’t know this yet, I love all things Disney, but I’ve really struggled with all these remakes. I was a 1980’s kid and grew up with the cartoon versions of these movies and I loved everything about them, especially the songs. I think I can still sing almost every Disney song and Mulan had one of my favorites. I bet you can’t guess which! 😉

Did you guess I’ll Make a Man Out of You? I did enjoy this song a lot, but it wasn’t my favorite. Nope. Guess again!

Did you guess Christina Aguilera’s Reflection? Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!! Have you heard the latest version? No? Why not?? It’s wonderful! I made it easy on you…have a listen below 😀

As a parent of a 4 and 8 year old, I’ve wound up watching all these remakes. The Lion King and Aladdin both stay very close to the original movies. I think both added in one new song, and resistant to change as I am, I didn’t like them at first, but now the new song, Speechless, from Aladdin has a space in my heart like all the other Disney songs I love.

But in this Mulan? There’s no music with words. There’s some phantoms of my favorite songs, which I’m grateful for, but the actual songs with words are gone. 😢

This lead me to feel more like I was watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It was beautiful and artistic, but it felt like it was missing some of that Disney magic I love. There was some magic in the phoenix that came to watch over Mulan, but that phoenix was no Mush, and I missed the comedy from Mushu and the lucky cricket terribly.

Beyond the phoenix, there was a shape shifting witch! A witch who started just like Mulan. A woman with amazing talent, but unlike Mulan, she was shunned and dishonored. So, she sought revenge and teamed up with Böri Khan to destroy the Emperor.

No worries though, because the witch is offered the opportunity to redeem herself and what Disney movie would it be if a villain couldn’t be redeemed? Always have faith! Beyond faith, this movie placed emphasis on virtues the soldiers needed to embody and make a pledge to be:

  • Loyal
  • True
  • Brave

I feel like we could all use these pledges in our lives.

Overall, this movie kept my 8 year old and I engaged the whole time. Neither of us wanted to leave long enough to even let the dogs outside (sorry to hubby for making him do that while we sat on the couch like lumps on a log). There were even a few parts where I held my breath or clenched my hands, anxious for what was to come! I mean sure, the nostalgic 1980’s kid in me missed everything I listed, but the 2020’s me is embracing the change and enjoying this remake. I included the new song from the new Mulan soundtrack below. Maybe it’ll grow on you! Happy movie watching y’all!

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