Raya and the Last Dragon
Raya and the Last Dragon is the latest blockbuster to be hit with Premier Access on Disney +. It boasts a predominantly Asian American voice cast and the world in which it is set, Kumandra, is heavily influenced by Southeast Asia; of this influence is predominantly portrayed through its aesthetic choices and the film plays out as a conventional, run of the mill, family adventure.
Raya and the Last Dragon begins with the standard expository prologue — evil spirits called the Druun used to roam Kumandra and turn its citizens into stone statues. However, a group of dragons cast them out and restored the cursed people with the help of a magic orb, despite the ramifications of this, also turning the dragons to stone. The power of the orb caused the Kumandras to split into five factions and turn to war. Five hundred years later, the orb is still under the guard of the Heart tribe, of which Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) is the Princess.
Raya’s father, Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) is adamant in his desire to reunite the tribes, but a meeting to support this attempt is distrurbed by the greed of others. The orb is shattered into five pieces, each tribe takes a piece and the Druun returns to wreak havoc across the land. Raya is forced to undertake a journey to reunite the pieces of the orb and cast out the Druun once again, with the help of the last remaining dragon, Sisu (Awkwafina).
The film seems incredibly confident and content in relying on generic story beats, but still struggles to maintain an even pace. The film fumbles in the first act by attempting to set up the world intricately, offering up two prologues and two time jumps. Some of it is necessary to emphasise the importance of Raya’s ultimate journey, however the journey itself plays out as a ‘check the box’ exercise, rather than challenging the protagonist. Raya moves throughout the world, from one piece of the orb, with incredible ease which rarely gives any time to observe her new setting, before she’s whisked off to the next.
Likewise, this is similar to how the cast of misfit characters are treated. In each area, Raya is joined by a new companion – including a baby thief – who is attributed minimal backstory before being thrust into a background part. The significance of these characters is to symbolise the reuniting of the five tribes and it’s an admirable notion, but the characters should be fleshed out instead of mainly remaining symbolic. Also, Raya and her nemesis Namaari (Gemma Chan) are the only main characters not played as comic relief. Even Sisu is treated as a bit of a joke and becomes an irritating addition fairly early on — Awkwafina doesn’t have the charm to carry off a goofy dragon sidekick, especially when Sisu would’ve worked better had she not been able to talk.
Despite the flawed narrative, Raya and the Last Dragon is undoubtedly a gorgeous movie. The attention to detail within Disney’s animations are a constant wonder and it’s incredible to see how realistic something as small as Raya’s hair can be. James Newton Howard also delivers a stunningly rousing score — ‘Return’ stands out as highlight, kicking off with what sounds like a homage to 80s synth before developing into a orchestral ballad for the film’s climax.
Raya and the Last Dragon is a remarkably unoriginal entry that fails to make the best use of its talented voice cast — although Awkwafina stands out as one talent who may have been miscast here. The generic beats, once the story finally does kick in, feel especially uninspired here and screams of missed potential, but the sheer beauty of the film is enough to keep anyone enthralled.