For No Other Reason Than Because It Was The Only New Movie I Watched This Year (Contains Spoilers)
Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of the entire plot, but that climax.
Here’s my overall rating, using a (really arbitrary) 5-star rating system: +1 star for plot, awesome climax, -0.5 star for unbalanced pacing; +1 star for characters (development, dynamics, motivations - basically anything that helps me empathize with the characters); +1 star for cultural representation in the visuals, -0.5 star for lack of proper representation in casting; +1 star for aesthetics (all the pretty colors and all the familiar patterns and elements and facial features); +1 star for being genuinely engaging and appealing to my personal preference, -0.5 star for not living up to its potential, though. Final rating: 3.5/5 🌟
Now, I can’t talk about all five points at length, so this is just going to be me gushing about that first point: awesome climax.
Raya wasn’t a hero, and Namaari wasn’t a villain. They just appeared to be in an antagonistic relationship because their cultural ideologies happened to be in direct conflict. Additionally, the tragedy of the Druun being released in their childhood overpowered the development their social skills - as far as they (and we) know, they’re the only children of royalty around, they had no one else they could truly befriend and relate to, and the death and destruction of the Druun’s reign violently took that integral childhood experience from them. Not only were they robbed of a normal childhood, they were also burdened with trauma. They’re just socially awkward, emotionally unstable teenagers, lonely and scared.
Anyway, Raya literally sacrificing her life to the Druun is, in my personal opinion, the most fitting act to symbolize her letting go of her trauma, the fear and anger and righteousness and solitude - this is Raya realizing that someone else also wants to do the right thing, that she’s not alone in losing family and wanting to fix their circumstances, and “taking the first step” was exactly what she needed to do to find peace within herself. Death triggered her journey, and death shall conclude it. The fact that the friends she’d unwittingly gained from the regions she visited in her travels, including her apparent foe who’d she’d been locked in combat with just minutes before, in turn believed in her choice and stood with her despite it meaning that they’d die by her side just cements the idea of how pivotal their trust was. The differing clans had learned to trust in each other, thus allowing the climax to show the image of Kumandra, together finally. Sue me, I’m never gonna get over that.
What can I say? Bling is Raya’s thing, and satisfying endings are mine.
Edited by: Rin Farzana
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