Disney’s ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ is a blast
Also worth seeing: New Billie Eilish documentary
There’s a treasure trove of animated features coming out this month aimed at tykes, the young adult market and those who are just young at heart.
Here’s a rundown of your best bets for new movies this weekend.
“RAYA AND THE LAST
DRAGON” » Disney taps into the rich YA market with this action-packed Southeast Asian adventure that is one of its very best animated features. “Raya” invites us into the mystical world of Kumandra, a land plagued by a 500-year-old curse that’s turned dragons and some people into stone and divided the populace. Enter the spitfire Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), an orphaned (Disney just can’t help itself) martial arts expert who reactivates a goofy water dragon, Sisu (Awkwafina, hitting all the best comic notes). The duo set off on a mission that could unify their disharmonious world. The animation is stunning, the screenplay from Qui Nguyen and Peter Del Vecho is clever and the direction from Don Hall (“Big Hero 6”) and Carlos Lopez Estrada (“Blindspotting”) never allows the action or laughs to lag. It might be too intense for the very young, but it is one of the most fun and exciting fantasy films — live action or animated — in a long time. It also gives us strong Southeast Asian characters, and its central message of setting aside differences for
the common good couldn’t be more timely.
DETAILS » ★★★★ out of 4; available Friday on Disney+.
“BOMBAY ROSE” » Textured more like a graphic novel that’s designed for older teens and adults, directorscreenwriter Gitanjali Rao’s painterly vision presents us with a dazzling Mumbai aglow in rich, colorful hues and thrumming with vibrant street scenes. The gritty, time-jumping story mostly concentrates on a relationship that develops between a Hindu dancer and a young Muslim man who is haunted by his past. Rao’s storytelling isn’t as strong as the visuals, but it is refreshing to have a new voice telling tales we don’t hear about often enough. DETAILS » ★★★; available Monday on Netflix.
“THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN” » The timing couldn’t be better for an irreverent, stoner-ready
SpongeBob animated movie, and this is a good one. Punctuated by a hilarious Keanu Reeves cameo as a wise tumbleweed named Sage and drop-ins from Snoop Dogg and Danny Trejo as zombie gunslingers, this will crack up old and young viewers alike. The plot is ridiculous with SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary in the clutches of a vain Poseidon (Matt Berry) in need of the endangered slime to keep him young. To get Gary back, SpongeBob and bumbling buddy Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) take a road trip to the Lost City of Atlantic City where mayhem and malarkey ensues. It’s mindless fun, just what the doctor ordered. DETAILS » ★★★, available today on Paramount+ and other streaming platforms.
“TOM & JERRY” » This tonedeaf “family film” will make you grimace rather than laugh. Based on the famed cartoon characters who have been around since the 1940s, this latest reboot finds Tom and Jerry upending an overblown hotel wedding extravaganza for a 1 percenter couple (Colin Jost and Pallavi Sharda). Chloe Grace Moretz plays a crafty new hotel hire, the adversary of an overly dramatic event planner (Michael Pena). Director Tim Story seeks to bring the franchise up to date with this mashup of live action and computer animation, but the result is like a bad version of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Stick with “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
DETAILS » ★; playing at select drive-ins and available on HBO Max.
And here are some nonanimated offerings.
“BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY” » An ideal companion piece to “Framing Britney Spears” is R.J. Cutler’s candid “ride along” focus on the talented and distinctive singer-songwriter. I first balked at its 2½-hour running time, but Cutler’s epic earns every second, showing us an artist who is frank, confident, vulnerable and anxiety-ridden by the need to be “perfect.” We follow Eilish, her family — including her producer-songwriter-singer brother Finneas — on a whirlwind of tours, promotions and video shoots. All the details are telling, and Eilish’s own struggles with mental health issues and her desire to just be a young person celebrating rites of passages — such as getting her driver’s license — make it a plea to nurture young artists, not tear them down. It’s rated R and addresses harsh realities of being a teen in and out of the spotlight. But her story is inspiring.
DETAILS » ★★★; available at select drive-ins and on AppleTV+.
“BOSS LEVEL” » The hardworking Frank Grillo flexes his Men’s Fitness cover-boy physique along with acting skills in Joe Carnahan’s stuck-in-a-time-loop video game homage. It’s a joyride with terrific action sequences and funny asides. Grillo is in top form as a hard-drinking ex-military man assigned to die every day. His ex-wife (Naomi Watts) has given him that power and her creepy boss (Mel Gibson) wants to snuff him out. Grillo’s son plays his video game-loving son and that’s awfully cute. But the real fun is watching Grillo taking down a gallery of Tarantino-esque superhuman assassins who are after him. Some will call it a guilty pleasure, but I felt no guilt enjoying the heck out of this.
DETAILS » ★★★; debuts Friday on Hulu.
“MOXIE!” » Amy Poehler directed, produced and costars in this excellent girl power adaptation of Jennifer Mathieu’s YA novel, which tackles issues of white privilege and toxic teen male masculinity. That the protagonist is a white, middle-class suburban 16-year-old (Hadley Robinson) might give you reason to pause, but the savvy screenplay by Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer emphasizes how other students, including new transfer student Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Peña), improve on Vivian’s idea for a feminist underground zine. Poehler’s second directorial feature is more polished and assured with the drama coming first and the comedy second. Her wise decision makes “Moxie!” earn that exclamation point.
DETAILS » ★★★; available on Netflix.