Raya and the Last Dragon Review

Raya and the Last Dragon sees Disney enter into the world of martial arts fantasy with their new princess being the most action ordinated heroines.

500 years ago the land of Kumandra was blighted by the Druun, cloud spirits that turn people into stone. The world was saved by the legendary dragon Sisu (Awkwafina), who used a gem of concentrated dragon magic to defeat the Druun. But this came at a cost because the dragons were turned to stone and the world was divided into five nations.

Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) has a dream to reunite the world and invites all the leaders to his kingdom to a feast. However, betrayal and distrust lead to the Dragon Gem being broken into five pieces and re-releasing the Druun back into the world. Benja’s daughter, Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), spends the next six years looking for Sisu in the hope the dragon could save the world once again.

Raya and the Last Dragon has been compared to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Screen Junkies made the joke when they made their Honest Trailer for the film and the Youtuber Lindsay Ellis got harassed off Twitter because she made a similar comment. These comparisons were apt: both properties were martial arts fantasies that were influenced by Eastern culture and mythology and were set in divided worlds where a lost legendary people would be the only way to unite them. The comparisons can go even deeper because the antagonist of the film, Namaari (Gemma Chan), was a warrior character like Prince Zuko and was portrayed in a sympathetic manner. Lifting ideas from Avatar: The Last Airbender was hardly a bad way to go because it was a great show.

Raya and the Last Dragon does use some ideas from one of Disney’s recent hits, Moana. Both films have a similar opening where the hero of the piece tells the story of events long ago. Moana told the story about Maui stealing the heart of Te Fiti whilst Raya told the story about the Dragons and the Druun. Both films have an imposing threat in the background. In Moana the ecosystem was collapsing whilst the Druun in Raya constantly linger, particularly at night. The threat from the Druun was so great that people had to live on the water and as Raya states, created a world of orphans. This does give the film a sense of dread and makes it one of the darker animated adventures from Disney.

Raya and Moana were both portrayed as strong independent women and were going on a quest around the world. The film does follow the Disney formula where the hero gets teamed up with a wisecracking fantasy sidekick, i.e. The Genie and Mushu. There was however one major difference between Raya and the Last Dragon and other recent fantasy films from Disney: it was not a musical.

Raya and the Last Dragon was co-directed by Don Hall, who co-directed Big Hero 6, which was an animated comic book adaptation. Whilst Raya and the Last Dragon centred on the relationship between Raya, Sisu, and Namaari, there was a bit of fighting and Indiana Jones-style action. An early sequence in the film showed Raya and Sisu having to go into some ruins in the desert: they had to avoid traps and Raya even uses her sword like it was a whip. A sequence where Raya had to chase a con-baby felt like it came out one of the Kung Fu Panda films.

Raya and the Last Dragon was a film that spelled out its themes and ideas. Raya’s father says that the world lacked trust and someone needed to take the first step. Sisu also made the same point. However, people were awful in the film and I don’t blame Raya for distrusting people. In the film Raya befriended Namaari and was used by her, and in Talon Raya was tricked by a baby. Sisu nearly had an unpleasant fate when she trusted a stranger.

Being a Disney film, the animation was stunning and Disney has gotten their formula down pat. The film hits the right dramatic and emotional points. One of the darkest moments in the film was revealing what happens to the Spine nation. Awkwafina did well with the sincere and emotional moments. The humour didn’t land so well. Some of the jokes aimed a bit too young like when Sisu transformed into a human and the exploding farting bugs. I will admit my own bias because I haven’t been impressed with Awkwafina as a comedic actress, but I felt most of the humour in the film was too modern for its fantasy setting.

In recent years Disney has been praised for its inclusiveness. Moana cast Polynesian actors and Coco cast Mexican and Mexican-American actors. However, Raya and the Last Dragon was met with criticism because it was influenced by South-East Asian culture but most of the cast were from East Asian backgrounds. To be fair to the filmmakers seemed to have more broad Asian influences. The Spine nation was a bamboo forest in the mountains it reminded me more of the Chinese film House of Flying Daggers. The dragons did look like Chinese dragons, but this is the view of a naive Westerner.

When compared to Disney animation’s recent outpost Raya and the Last Dragon was a middling entry. It didn’t match the highs of films like Wreck-it Ralph, Big Hero 6, or Moana but it was leagues ahead of Ralph Breaks the Internet.

The screener for Raya and the Last Dragon came with the short film Us Again. It followed an elderly couple who became young again when dancing in the rain. It was a fun and energetic short that had an excellent dance number and jazzy score and a sweet message at the end.

Raya and the Last Dragon is out on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD on 18^th May in the UK and available to Disney+ subscribers on 4^th June.