I’ve never been one who is big on crystals, although quartz and jasper (mined by the Lenni-Lenape for arrow heads at the Vera Cruz Jasper Pits, Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County) are among the favorites in my boyhood rock collection, which I still have.

How can a rock, as beautiful as it might be, whether black obsidian, carnelian, rose quartz, lapis lazuli or amethyst, grant superpowers to the person who posseses it?

Well, just ask Marilyn Monroe. She sang about the power of rocks in “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” in the classic Hollywood movie, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953). In the famous pink satin dress production number, Monroe warbled: “But square-cut or pear-shaped, These rocks don’t loose their shape. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

Which brings us to “Raya And The Last Dragon” (you were probably wondering) with a plot powered by the reassembling of a crystal orb.

You don’t have to be Harry Winston, shop at Cartier or own a Tiffany robin’s-egg blue box to know that crystals are a shop-worn plot device (think cliché) in movies.

There’s the orb that contains the Infinity Stone in “Guardians Of The Galaxy” (2014), trolls’ glowing necklaces in “Frozen” (2013), “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008), and of course, the Krypton crystal planet in “Superman Returns” (2006).

In The Walt Disney Animation Studios’ feature film, “Raya And The Last Dragon,” Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran), is training to be a Guardian of the Dragon Gem.

Raya (pronounced Rye-ah) must find Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina) to help her recover the missing pieces of the gem, or orb, and conquer the Druun, who have ravaged the land of Kumandra.

I won’t begin to recount the journey of Raya. Nor will I provide more difficult to pronounce characters, places or things from the movie. Suffice it to say you need a diagram, flow chart and thesaurus to decipher what is going on here.

And it would be a case of MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) for you, dear reader, which nearly happened to me during the movie even though I saw “Raya And The Last Dragon” on the big IMAX screen with its touted “earth-shattering sound” (think “ear-shattering” sound).

This is not to say that “Raya And The Last Dragon” doesn’t have its merits. It’s a beautiful film. Some of its scenes are like impressionist paintings in motion. The character animation is excellent, with expressive faces. The settings have other-worldly images and are rendered in a rainbow of hues. Camera angles give a comic-book immediacy.

The character voices are also great.

Kelly Marie Tran has a charming voice and presents a range of emotions as Raya.

Awkwafina’s voice is unmistakable as Sisu, giving the dragon, which otherwise would be right at home with children’s favorite, My Little Pony, a raspy irascibility.

Along for the trek are the voice talents of Gemma Chan, Benedict Wong, Sandra Oh and Daniel Dae Kim, the latter as Chief Benja, Raya’s father.

The scenes between Raya and her father carry the most resonance. Kim (Daniel Dae Kim is a Freedom High School, Class of 1990, graduate.) has an authorative voice. Unfortunately, Chief Benja appears at the beginning of the film and doesn’t really reappear substantially until the end. The rapport between the father and Raya could have been better explored.

Much more could have been done with Raya, as as well with the supporting characters. The film misses many opportunities for character development and instead gets gummed up with the vagaries of the tribes, fights and battles that don’t seem to advance the plot, and a single-minded obsession with that darn Dragon Gem.

In what may be a case of too many directors in the editing room, “Raya And The Last Dragon” lists two directors: Don Hall (co-director, “Moana,” 2016; director, “Big Hero 6,” 2014; director, “Winnie the Pooh,” 2011) and Carlos López Estrada (director, “Summertime,” 2020) and two co-directors: Paul Briggs (feature film co-director debut) and John Ripa (feature film co-director debut).

Then, again, “Raya And The Last Dragon” is a huge production, with some 400 film-makers listed in the closing credits.

At the same time, Disney seems to have assembled enough screenwriters to field a basketball game.

The screenplay is credited to Adele Lim (screenwriter, “Crazy Rich Asians,” 2018) and Qui Nguyen (theatrical movie screenplay debut).

The story is credited to Paul Briggs, Don Hall, Adele Lin, Carlos López Estrada, Qui Nguyen, John Ripa, Kiel Murray (screenwriter, “Cars 3,” 2017) and Dean Wellins (theatrical movie story debut).

“Raya And The Last Dragon” is said to represent Southeast Asian cultures, including Singapore, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Phillippines. Disney set up the Southeast Asia Story Trust, a group of cultural consultants for the film. While this is all well and good for a term paper, graduate seminar presentation or Ted Talk, it does not a feature movie make.

In fairness to the film-makers, “Raya And The Last Dragon” was completed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with production completed from the homes of the animators.

“Raya And The Last Dragon” should be of chief interest for children. Those Sisu plush toys, Legos and plastic figurines should fly off the shelves.

In theaters, “Raya And The Last Dragon” is preceded by a new film short, “Us Again,” which is quite amusing.

“Raya And The Last Dragon,”

MPAA rated PG for some violence, action and thematic elements; Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure; Run time: 1 hr., 47 min. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

Jhené Aiko wrote and sings the song, “Lead the Way,” during the “Raya And The Last Dragon” end credits.

The end credits includes the statement: ”The making of this movie from over 400 individual homes was completely unprecedented, and relied entirely on the talent, ingenuity, and dedication of everyone at Walt Disney Animation Studios. The filmmakers would like to thank them for their tireless hard work, good humor, and most of all patience ... with our inability to properly use the internet. (Dude, you’re still on mute.)”

Movie Box Office,

March 12 - 14: It was a very animated weekend box office. “Raya and the Last Dragon” continued at No. 1 with $5.5 million, on 2,163 screens, $15.8 million, two weeks. “Tom and Jerry” continued at No. 2 with $4.1 million, on 2,454 screens, $28.2 million, three weeks.

Last weekend, movie theaters in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City re-opened, but with capacity restrictions, for the first time in about one year.

3. “Chaos Walking” stayed in place, $2.2 million, on 1,995 screens, $6.9 million, two weeks. 4. ”Boogie” stayed in place, $730,000, on 1,272 screens, $2,2 million. two weeks. 5. “The Croods: A New Age” stayed in place, $520,000, on 1,440 screens, $54.3 million, 16 weeks. 6. “Jathi Ratnalu,” $470,000, 130 screens, opening. 7. “The Marksman” moved up one place, $465,000, on 1,105 screens, $13.6 million, nine weeks. 8. “The Little Things” stayed in place, $400,000, on 1,303 screens, $14.2 million, seven weeks. 9. “Wonder Woman 1984,” $400,000, on 1,139 screens, $44.9 million, 12 weeks. 10. “The Father,” $390,000, on 900 screens, gross unavailable, three weeks.

18. “The War with Grandpa,” co-starring Allentown’s Oakes Fegley, dropped one place, $92,371, on 435 screens, $20.7 million, 23 weeks.

Unreel,

March 19

“The Courier,”

PG-13: Dominic Cooke directs Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Angus Wright and Alice Orr-Ewing in the Thriller. A Cold War spy tries to end the Cuban Missile Crisis.

“Last Call,”

R: Paolo Pilladi directs Jeremy Piven, Taryn Manning, Bruce Dern, Cheri Oteri and Cathy Moriarty in the Comedy. A real estate developer may demolish his family’s bar in Philadelphia.

“Happily,”

R: BenDavid Grabinski directs Natalie Morales, Natalie Zea, Kerry Bishé, Joel McHale, Stephen Root and Shannon Woodward in the Romance Comedy. A stranger visits a happily-married couple.

“SAS: Red Notice,”

R: Magnus Martens directs Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson, Sam Heughan, Hannah John-Kamen, Ruby Rose and Tom Hopper in the Action film. Criminals hijack the Eurostar high-speed train between the United Kingdom and France in the English Channel.