Raya and the Last Dragon is a good film, maybe not worth £20 for premier access good, but it’s still an acceptable Disney animation film. It didn’t do anything amazing or ground-breaking in the terms of the storytelling or the animation style, but it also didn’t crash and burn like some of Disney’s more recent films. The film takes us to a dystopian world where Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) is on a quest to track down Sisu (Awkwafina); the last dragon alive after an ancient war left all the dragons frozen in stone. After the kingdom of Kumandra was divided over a magical gem that was used in the ancient war, the dreaded druun had nothing to stop them turning people to stone again. Raya must track down Sisu and enlist her help to save the kingdom from the druun and reunite the people of Kumandra. The film looks amazing, the colouring was vibrant and eye-popping, and some of the visual effects used on elements like the water were nothing short of mesmerising. I loved Kelly Marie Tran’s voice work on Raya, she really added something great to the character. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Sisu, the character just felt really annoying at times, and really got on my nerves at points during the film. Most of the dialogue felt too quippy anyway, but this was especially with Sisu, who was constantly making jokes that completely took me out of the timeframe of the film.
Something I feel I should add is the way Disney tackled representation. The film managed to have two great female leads AND a female villain- whilst having a primarily Asian cast that didn’t feel stereotypical to either group and didn’t feel forced or unnatural either. I’m happy to see Disney nailing cultural representation and I’m hopeful that we will see some great Disney films in the future that give spotlight to these rich and beautiful cultures. Overall, Raya and the Last Dragon is far from Disney’s best, but also far from their worst. Whilst it is an enjoyable ride, don’t expect this to be remembered the same way Tangled, Moana or any other modern Disney classics will be 20 years from now.
