Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Movie Review

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Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Movie Review

Written By: Jacob Scarberry

3D


I had high hopes for the 3D aspect of Raya and The Last Dragon, sadly the 3D seems like your standard Pixar 3D animated film ( A Nice Afterthought ). Based on the excellent Disney + 4K 2D stream of this movie and the abundance of vibrant colors popping off the screen I expected more from the 3D aspect of this movie.

Starting with the positive aspects of the 3D, everything just seemed natural. The 3D has natural spacing between the layers of fore, middle and background elements. Overall the 3D details were amazingly abundant and the depth was just outstanding. The settings were beautifully designed and fully enveloped to the point of it looking like the real deal, instead of a computer creation. The water effects are bar none the best that I have ever seen. The 3D greatly increased how real various objects felt on screen. Overall the 3D depth is rather spectacular.

Depth wide the 3D works well, however, nothing really popped out of the screen towards the audience. Beyond a slight jutting out of the sword, some water / rain  splashes , nothing really broke out of the screen, despite the massive opportunities throughout this movie. We do have a few examples of pop out 3D: The water droplets from Sisu (The Last Dragon), the several fights between the characters, and some random shrimp being thrown at Raya. I wanted more pop out 3D for this movie. 

All in all the 3D highlights are few and far between. The various rain scenes where the camera is panning up or down look very nice in 3D. Another noteworthy scene is where, one character aims the crossbow at Raya and a bit of it pops out of the screen. Finally the cave scene with the exploding beetles looks especially nice in 3D.  

The 3D aspect of Raya and the Last Dragon is a very solid effort from Disney, but it simply left me wanting more. 

Final Verdict: Good 3D

Movie

I traveled nearly fifty miles in the hills of West Virginia to watch this movie in 3D. This was during the covid-19 pandemic. My epic long journey to watch this movie in 3D took me through winding roads, up and down the various mountains, into a few valleys and I even crossed a few rivers. All this to watch a movie that I already seen at home but now in 3D in a theatre. Call me crazy if you must, but I just had to do it, partially because no closer theater had it available in 3D, but mostly because I am so dedicated to 3D . These are desperate times and I rose to the occasion, for Raya and the Last Dragon.

Raya and the Last Dragon is a Disney animated movie that takes place in a fictional asian land, that has been splintered into five nations: Talon, Spine, Tail, Fang and Heart. After a series of errors and mistrust, Raya must reawaken Sisu the titular last dragon. Sisu is the only hope to try to reunite this divided world. Sisu is able to do many amazing feats, but it can’t help me love this movie. Asian lore is abundant in this movie. All the usual Disney tropes are also present in this movie. This movie has a young princess, cute animals, and some surprising racial stereotypes. It’s all very familiar and it’s told with a lack of grace and talent. The film just keeps hitting you over the head with obvious metaphors and awkward modern humor. This style of humor makes no sense at all in this story. Raya and the Last dragon fumbles the narrative ball. 

Raya and the Last Dragon’s vocal cast is largely decent. Kelly Marie Tran is better here as Raya than she was as Rose in the Star Wars sequels.  Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae, Sandra Oh and Benedict Wong are all delivering fine work. The one noteworthy exception is Awkwafina who is woefully miscast as Sisu. I like Awkwafina, she's funny and can act, but this character and her portrayal are jarring and downright grating at times. I feel bad for poor Alan Tudyk who was Tuk Tuk (a pillbug/armadillo-like creature that Raya rides on). Alan Tudyk is sorely underused to the point of not being needed to voice the basic grunts of this creature. What a waste! 

Luckily, the movie looks and sounds amazing. This movie showcases many beautiful locations and it has top notch animation. The sets, character designs, particle / hair effects, and water effects are all amazing throughout. I cannot deny how pretty this movie is. The sound design and musical compositions are also very well done. The score by James Newton Howard is excellent and it really captures the asian vibe. The sound and visuals match each other perfectly. The movie has no musical numbers and that is fine by me. 


Raya and the Last Dragon is a good but not a great movie. This film has a basic storyline with underdeveloped ideas, forced humor, and a miscast co-lead (Awkwafina). The 3D is nice and it satisfied me enough to make rewatching this movie worthwhile. This is a beautifully animated movie that sadly doesn’t live up to its potential.

Final Verdict: 7/10

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Official Website :

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

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Wonder Woman 1984 3D Movie Review

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Wonder Woman 1984 3D Movie Review

Written By: Jacob Scarberry

3D

Throughout my viewing of Wonder Woman 1984 the 3D was wonderful. While being shot on film, you can tell they had 3D in mind when they were making this movie, and it delivers in spades. There is natural depth and spacing between the characters and background/foreground elements. This movie has plenty of particles that enter the theatrical space, and several shots with pop-out effects that manage to fully entertain and engross the viewer. One scene with fireworks is especially beautiful in 3D. In fact the 3D fully lifted my movie watching experience for Wonder Woman 1984. While not a perfect 3D visual experience, overall I really enjoyed the 3D in this movie.  


Final Verdict: Great 3D

Movie

To put it bluntly, Wonder Woman 1984 isn't as good as Wonder Woman (2017), that being said I still liked this movie. 

Let me start off with the good aspects of this film, which is the cast. Gal Gadot was born to play the role of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, as she exudes confidence, charisma and class throughout all the scenes that she is in. Chris Pine returns as Steve Trevor, this time, the roles being reversed, with him not knowing (then) modern life. It's a fun performance and the chemistry between him and Gadot retains its spark from the first film quite easily. Pedro Pascal's performance as Maxwell Lord is your typical superhero villain, over-the-top, a bit hammy and plenty of bites taken out of the scenery. What grounds Maxwell Lord to Earth is when he has heart-to-hearts with his son Alistair, it's acted perfectly. Kristen Wiig is an odd casting choice as Barbara Minerva / The Cheetah, having mainly known her for her comedic roles in films and on SNL, but she manages to make a believable foe to Wonder Woman.

The story is where it falters a bit for me, though. The story is pretty simple on the surface, where a financially troubled oil baron ( Max Lord )  has been looking for the wishing stone, to lift his fortunes and control the world and Wonder Woman has to stop him. Unfortunately the film takes it's sweet time and at two and a half hours, you feel every minute of it. The film is languidly told with several scenes running too long or are totally unnecessary. I'm not against long films, but when the pacing is this slow, it really wears on the audience. Patty Jenkins, who returns to direct as well as co-writing, should've known better to scale back several scenes or outright delete them entirely. The opening scene in Themiscyira should've been shortened, maybe a minute or two of length, not the full 15 or so minute scene. The middle portion of this movie drags. The ending itself is too long and the denouements of the villains are entirely in the realm of WTF. There's also an utter lack of action in this film. I thought this was an action movie? There are two action scenes in the opening of the film (the Themiscyira scene and the mall scene) but it's a good hour before we even get to the next action scene. Luckily this final action scene is the highlight of the film. This scene is a fun and well-executed scene, with plenty of pep and excitement, but it's not enough to save the film. Also, despite being set in 1984, besides a few cursory details in the costume and production design, the film could've been set in modern times and worked. The film just didn't do enough to make me think "Okay, this is really 1984".

Overall, this isn't the worst of the worst of the DC extended universe of movies or any comic book film for that matter, but it's a film that has too much circumstance, and not enough pomp. A fairly middling entry, with just enough entertainment to prevent it from being outright boring, but not enough for more than the occasional re-watch. Simply put Wonder Woman 1984 is a disappointing mediocre movie. 

Final Verdict: 6/10

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Official Website :

https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/wonder-woman-1984

https://www.wonderwomanfilm.net/

TM & © 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

Mulan 2020 3D Movie Review

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Mulan 2020

3D Movie Review

Written By: Adolph Vega

3D

No 3D is available for this review of Mulan (2020). This is because the film is going directly to Disney Plus which doesn’t have the option to stream movies in 3D. It’s a shame because I recall seeing 3D trailers for this movie in the past, and the 3D looked wonderful in those trailers. I wish that Disney Plus gave me the option to watch movies in 3D or 2D but sadly that isn’t an option for me. Depending on where you live in the world you may get the opportunity to watch this movie in theaters and in 3D, but sadly that isn’t an option for me. Hopefully one day Disney will release this movie physically on 3D Blu-ray so 3D fans like myself could potentially watch it in 3D. 

Final Verdict: No 3D Avaiable

Editor’s Note

I must mention the absurd convoluted nature Disney has created to watch this movie. To watch this movie you need to already be a member of Disney Plus ($7 per month). Plus you will need to pay an additional $30 to “rent / own” this digital version of the movie. Finally you can only watch this movie via Disney Plus. This is a monopolistic racket that Scrooge McDuck would be proud of. In total it will cost you about $37 before taxes to watch this movie at home. I’m sorry but this is simply too much to ask for. Sadly paying this high ransom doesn’t give you access to any noteworthy special features. No deleted scenes , no behind the scenes features, no commentary tracks, just some music videos and trailers. Come on Disney, you are better than this ! This is the same cost of buying a Blu-ray which usually contains many bonus features . If you are already a subscriber to Disney Plus you can just wait until December and avoid the ridicilous $30 ransom all together. I guess if you have a large family this might be a good deal but compared to other studios who have done similar digital releases this price point is ridiculous. This price gauging controversy won’t impact my thoughts for this film, this paragraph is just venting out my frustration at Disney. You can call me unprofessional all you want, but this had to be said.

Movie

Mulan (2020) is yet another live action remake from Disney . This isn’t the first live action Mulan movie and it probably won’t be the last.

Mulan (2020) is the story of a young Asian woman who fights for her family from an invading force. Mulan is not supposed to be a warrior because she is a woman, and during this time women were not allowed to be warriors. Mulan must pretend to be a male to enter the military and help defend her homeland and her family. Magic is major element of this story. Musical numbers and silly sidekicks are not in this movie. Will Mulan be found out ? Can Mulan help stop the invading force ? You will have to watch the movie to find out. 

Mulan (2020) is one beautiful movie. The sets, costumes, and locations are all a feast for the eyes. The cinematography is also excellent and really makes this movie shine visually. I rarely doubted the computer graphics in this movie. The visual effects are really fantastic, and it has its own sense of style. The magical style is used in imaginative ways to make for some fun action moments. I cannot deny how pretty this movie is.

Sadly I did not love this movie, as I found it boring. The movie is a slow burn and takes a while to find itself. The action scenes are subdued and have very little blood. I understand that Disney didn’t want to make a gory movie, but the missing blood just doesn’t feel right. The lack of blood just took away the serious nature of war and it all felt too sanitized. The lack of blood made it difficult for me to care about this movie’s characters and its scenerio. I don’t need this to be as gory as Hacksaw Ridge or Kill Bill Volume 1 but give me something. The movies lacks stakes because of the total lack of blood and gore. I was also bored watching this movie because of the mediocre acting. With the exception of one character I didn’t like any of the characters in this movie. Everyone in this movie is wooden and one dimensional. The only exception is the character of Hua Zhou played by Tzi Ma. Hua Zhou is Mulan’s father and he is fantastic in this movie. The movie barely has any levity or jokes and it severally lacks character moments. It has a few nice scenes with its characters but I thought they were too few and far between. The dialogue is pathetic and feels like everyone is phoning it in. Mulan (2020) just didn’t connect with me.

One aspect of this movie that I must mention is with the appearance of Mulan herself. I’m sorry but Liu Yifei is just too pretty to be Mulan. Mulan is a gorgeous woman and I find it totally impossible and improbable to believe that anyone could mistake her as a male. I don’t care if her hair is up, she is too pretty for this role and this charade simply wouldn’t work. I’m sorry but smudging some dirt on her face doesn’t make her look more masculine , it only makes her look dirty. They didn’t do enough to justify her being mistaken as a male in this movie. I simply could not suspend my disbelief and accept this core aspect of this movie.

Mulan (2020) is a fine film in some regards, but overall I found it to be lacking. It lacks stakes. It lacks gravitas. It lacks enjoyable characters. I was bored with half of this movie. I cannot deny that this movie is pretty and it has a great sense of style but it lacks so many important aspects of quality filmmaking. The movie ends well and I’ll give it credit for an enjoyable final act, but overall I found this movie to be very disappointing and lackluster. 

Final Verdict: 6/10

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