When it comes to saving the world, a key aspect is requiring the trust of those involved in doing so. That very much appears to be the driving message behind Disney's newest animated feature Raya And The Last Dragon. The film serves as being the studios third major release on their hit streaming platform Disney Plus along with receiving the same launch set up as 2020's live-action Mulan with it being offered to audiences for $30 dollars. Featuring a cast that's predominantly Asian, the film aims to deliver another fantasy adventure for young audiences while taking heavy inspiration from Southeast Asian culture. Like any newly released animated feature from Disney, the film boasts impressive animation while utilizing many familiar elements of recent animated and live-action features such as Moana and Mulan to deliver an entertaining, though formulaic tale of a fierce and courageous warrior princess embarking on a journey to find the last dragon. While there isn't much outside of the films stunning animation that audiences haven't seen before, Raya And The Last Dragon plays on familiar character and story tropes which make them work to genuinely satisfying results, while continuing the studios push for a wider broad of representation with its audience.
The plot for Raya And The Last Dragon centers around a young woman named Raya (Voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) trying to bring back her father after being turned to stone by a monster. In doing so, she awakes a fabled dragon to help her not only save the world but make things right again. Boasting gorgeous animation along with a story that appropriately honors the culture it embraces, Raya And The Last Dragon gives audiences another epic adventure that's beautifully drawn with groundbreaking animation which continues to push the boundaries of what Disney can achieve on a visual front. Despite the visuals being phenomenal to watch, the films main story can't help but feel repetitive as the filmmakers rely on the same traditional formula for an animated Disney flick such as the main protagonist being a strong-willed individual, who befriends a non-human character that ends up becoming their comedic sidekick in essentially saving the world. Not to mention that the main character is driven by both tragedy, as well as the loss of a loved one. For those who watch Disney films, the plot for Raya And The Last Dragon feels extremely familiar and makes very little effort in diverting from the main generic formula, that has proven to be successful with Disney stories up until now. Even though the plot offers nothing new outside of some much needed and admirable representation of Southeast Asian culture, it still manages to work as a whole due to the way the filmmakers handle the story as well as the terrific voice acting performances from its main cast. Raya And The Last Dragon represents everything that older audiences have seen before growing up with previous Disney films with comparisons also being drawn to films such as Avatar. Much like that film, Raya is heavily reliant on groundbreaking visuals and an emotional composed score to enchant its audience, while coasting on a formulaic plot to give audiences the full experience of being entertained and ultimately moved by the films main themes regarding broken worlds and trusting in others to make a difference. While it's not the most original Disney film ever made with much of its story-structure being lifted from previous classics, Raya And The Last Dragon is able to make use of its unquestionably reliable formula with both its top-notch animation and the skillful performances of its voice cast, elevating it to being a thoroughly enjoyable experience despite there being no surprises storywise.
When it comes to the voice acting of its cast, the effort they put into bringing their animated counterparts to life on the screen is one that showcases a genuine enthusiasm for telling the story with everyone bringing their own form of energy to the film, along with showing a genuine appreciation for being represented in the story culturally speaking. Kelly Marie Trans performance as the fierce and courageous young female warrior Raya, is both charming and heartfelt with her appearing to embody all of the main characters traits while conveying the necessary amounts of emotion through her voice acting. Her casting is both ideal as well as perfect for the film with her helping to create a likable strong female character that young audiences, particularly female, will unquestionably get behind. Awkwafina adds an enormous amount of energy and humor to the film as the goofy water dragon Sisu with her performance bearing a strong resemblence to Eddie Murphy's character Mushu (Who also happens to be a rejected dragon whom befriends Mulan) from the classic 1998 Mulan cartoon. Awkwafina's performance is enjoyably fun to watch with her also sharing solid chemistry with Tran. The same can also be said for Gemma Chan in the role of the films main antagonist Namaari, the warrior princess of the Fang Land as well as Raya's friend turned enemy. Chan does well with her part, along with giving her character an emotional complex in regards to choosing loyalty between her mother and her old friend. She also showcases strong chemistry when working off Tran like Awkwafina. The rest of the voice acting cast for Raya And The Last Dragon deliver noteworthy and energetic voice performances with Izaac Wang as Boun, a charismatic 10-year old Captain of a boat restaurant in the Tail Land called the Shrimporium. Daniel Dae Kim gives a small yet emotionally effective performance as both Raya's father Chief Benja, as well as the Chief of Benja. Sandra Oh does well as Namaari's mother Virana and the chieftess of the Fang Land with Alan Tudyk as Raya's best friend Tuk Tuk, whose a mixture of both an armadillo and pill bug. The cast for Raya And The Last Dragon plays a significant part with adding some much needed energy to the story, as well as heart. Their presence also gives the film a legitimate feeling of authenticity in regards to it being an Asian inspired fantasy tale.
Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada along with co-direction from Paul Briggs and John Ripa, the filmmaking team behind Raya And The Last Dragon does a phenomenal job of bringing both the characters and story to life in a form that's mesmerizing to watch, along with them creating a new type of Disney world in which young audiences can become engulfed by. Technically speaking, the film is beautiful to watch with both the background and characters looking real and wonderfully sketched. The films visual point becomes its one true saving grace along with the inspiring work from its cast. The films cinematography, art-set decoration, and costume design all gorgeously blend together in bringing the fantasy world of Kumandra to life on the big screen in a fashion that feels epic, while honorably representing the films culture. The score by James Newton Howard is masterfully handled with the music having a combination of being exciting and adventurous, while being simultaneously heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful. In terms of bringing the world of Kumandra to life along with giving the film a unique visual style, the directing team behind Raya And The Last Dragon succeeds with it being tremendously hard for audiences to not be captivated by what's shown on screen. Though the narrative is structurally familiar, the filmmakers manage to keep things relatively straightforward with both the plot and characters constantly moving at a fluid pace with the film never losing sight of its emotional core. Some of the most powerful moments in the story are within the films opening sequence involving the characters of Raya, Namaari, and Raya's father that manages to be surprisingly effective as well as dramatic, along with scenes in which the character of Sisu flies through the sky with the inspirational and genius music playing in the background. Everything about the film visually speaking, feels as if a great attention to detail was paid towards making the world shown in Raya And The Last Dragon a distinct one with the achieving such a feat.
As well as those elements work within the film, its core weakness lies within its writing. The screenplay by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim carries universal yet potent themes that run rampant throughout the Disney universe such as family, death, the loss of loved ones, greed, saving the world, and magic while introducing ones that further enhance the story such as division, magic, emotions, taking risks, betrayal, trust, legacy, and spirit. The film has much to say regarding the concept of family, loss, and trusting another while wrapping those themes around a fantasy adventure whose plot often feels repetitive to previous Disney stories. The character of Raya is well-established with her also serving as a narrator in presenting information to the audience regarding other characters or locations which appear throughout the film. Her character arc mainly consists of typical character tropes that accompany many Disney characters such as the death of a relative or loved one with them being reflective of that loss, while turning their grief into strength. There isn't anything new or particular about Raya's character which screams groundbreaking in regards to her writing, but the writers are able to utilize the same female-driven character formula once again while making it feel somewhat fresh. The relationship between Raya's character and Sisu is fairly laid out despite it feeling painfully similar to the one shown in the animated Mulan regarding that films main character and Mushu. The conflict between Namaari and Raya is effective, though audiences can see the twist coming a mile away that the former is going to betray Raya's character with the latter winning her back in the end through trusting her. Their subplot would be a genuinely interesting one if it weren't for the fact that it screams strong comparisons to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the relationship between Captain America and Bucky. In other words, it's too predictable and generic of a plot twist for audiences to be genuinely shocked by. Outside of the main trio, the side characters aren't that compelling nor leave a lasting impression upon audiences once the movie ends. As well-intended as the film aspires to be with presenting its overall message regarding the need for trusting others with saving the world, the plot can't shake off the fact that it feels a bit cliched despite having an emotional meaning to it. The film is very much a story about gaining back what was lost, and having the courage to place ones trust in another to help make things right. The script thrives when it shows how the region of groups have been divided when the dragons ultimately sacrificed themselves to protect them against a force of evil. There is no innovativeness to the plot of Raya discovering the last dragon and trying to bring the regions together in fighting against evil. The conflict between the characters of Raya, Namaari, and the latters mother mainly serve to drive home the themes of loyalty and trust in the story, despite neither subplots bringing nothing new to the table. Overall, the screenplay for Raya And The Last Dragon works in providing audiences with both story and characters that are serviceable enough to use as a backdrop in showcasing the films visually striking world along with a noble message to teach kids about family and friendships, so long as they can excuse the predictability of the story, as well as the lack of depth with the side characters. Besides the main key figures, there isn't anyone in the story that sticks out as being memorable.
Perhaps the comparison drawn between this film and 2009's Avatar is a fitting one due to how both films essentially work more as being astonishing technological experiences rather than being groundbreaking pieces of storytelling. Neither film brings anything new to the table on that front, but are able to compensate for their shortcomings with both imaginative and absorbing filmmaking. Much like how audiences became immersed in the world of Pandora in James Cameron's film, the same occurs here with the world of Kumandra being shown through colorful animation that's crisp and feels more technologically advanced in comparison to how a Disney film such as Toy Story looked like 25 years prior with then state-of-the-art technology. Audiences will unquestionably be blown away by the emotions shown on the main characters faces through the films animation as well as their skin, smoke, water in specific scenes, and the amount of attention paid to detailing elements of Southeast Asian culture. This is a story that was specifically made to both represent and honor that specific target audience, with it not managing to disappoint here. As familiar as the story beats may appear, they're able to work once again due to the clear vision the filmmakers have for telling the story. Young audiences will be the most forgiving of the films faults and appreciate the characters of Raya and Sisu, with older ones acknowledging the level of independence that Raya's character receives in the story without the need of a male figure to rescue or assist her in her quest. Raya And The Last Dragon is far from being a perfect animated tale, but its imagination and drive to deliver audiences a newer world with a brand new set of characters and Disney princess, is more than enough to compensate for its heavy reliance on classical Disney formulas. The film is very much guilty of doing so here, but the way the filmmakers execute the story make it an experience that's both visually dazzling and ultimately watchable due to its possessing of both charm, as well as heart with its plot.
Final Verdict: For both Disney fans and those who enjoy animated films, Raya And The Last Dragon gives audiences a colorful and flashy new adventure boasting impressive graphics, even if certain elements of its story give off a genuine impression of Deja Vu.
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