Welcome everyone to a brand new 2021 movie review! This time I will be looking at one of the two 2021 Walt Disney Animation releases, Raya and the Last Dragon! While not as popular as the other WDAS release last year, it still managed to get strong viewership on Disney+, following a compromised theatrical run where it also debuted on the service’s premier access. Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, this was the studio’s first original movie since Moana in 2016 and when it was first announced at D23 in 2019 it immediately shot up as one of my most anticipated movies of 2020 (then 2021) as I loved the action packed direction they were going with it and it looked to be continuing the studio’s commitment in making their slate diverse in terms of genre. Trailers and other marketing materials further sold me on this grand adventure and the reviews were very strong as well, though it ended up being very divisive in the online animation community with some loving it and others finding it a big let down. While I can understand some of the main complaints thrown around, I ended up really digging this movie and found it quite powerful at it’s best! So let’s now dive into this world and see what makes this last dragon click!
The movie takes place in the sub-continent of Kumandra and we learn through a visually dazzling prologue that a mindless horde of spirits that can turn anyone into stone called the Druun ravaged this land 500 years ago back when humans and dragons lived together in peace. In order to stop the Druun, the dragons sacrificed themselves as their power is harnessed through a gem that is able blast the Druun away and revive all the humans but not the dragons. However instead of uniting as one nation, the kingdom separates into 5 kingdoms, Heart, Fang, Tail, Spine, and Talon as a power struggle emerges over who should have the gem. With that though Chief Benja of the Heart tribe, who is training his daughter, Raya, to protect the gem, believes that all the tribes should put aside grievances and reunite as one and plans to invite everyone for a feast. Even though Raya is a bit skeptical of this plan, she soon begins to think like her father and ends up making a new friend in the princess of the Fang tribe, Namaari as they share a similar fondness for dragons especially for Sisu, the one who weilded the gem to take out the Druud. Things take a turn for the worst though as Namaari betrays Raya by stealing the gem for her tribe and due to a scuffle, the gem is broken and the Druud are unleashed living Raya’s father turned stone in the process each tribe with one piece of the gem. Cut to 6 years later and a battle hardened Raya is able to summon Sisu the dragon back to life to help her in her quest to obtain each piece of the gem… though she isn’t quite the warrior Raya imagined. Now the two must team up along with other misfits and with Namaari on their tail in order to save the land of Kumandra to succumbing to darkness.
Right off the bat the movie introduces us to this world that has a long history behind it as well as the different tribes who have settled here and it’s all really cool to see. The opening gives us the basic information about each of the different factions and the effect the Druud have had on Kumandra with each tribe having distinct features that make each stand out, not just physically but also in personality like Heart being the more pacifist nation, Fang being the most strategic, Talon having quite a bit of deception in it’s midst, etc. These little touches help make the setting lived in and fun to explore and we haven’t even gotten into how they look yet (more on that later). As for the story itself the plot is kicked off nicely at the beginning as we see Raya getting betrayed by Namaari which gives us an understanding of her character and why she has become so hardened in the next 6 years as well as the history between her and Namaari which is conveyed nicely. The rest of the movie follows her quest to retrieve the gems and it is a fun one as like I mentioned this world is a compelling one to explore and the script is able to achieve a nice balance of solid comedy that got some laughs out of me and earned pathos as one can feel the tragic effect the Druud have had on Kumandra and it’s people and some of my favorite scenes are the ones where we see how our characters have been emotionally affected by it. I also found it compelling how the movie explored it’s message regarding trust and this is where I disagree with people on the internet here. I saw what the film was trying to say was less “blindly trust anyone you meet” (there are quite a few scenes that show that is not how it should work such as when Sisu is tricked by the leader of Talon) and more that people should put aside petty differences and learn to trust in one another in order to achieve a positive outcome. Does it spell out it’s theme quite a bit? A good many times yes and while I would prefer a showing rather than telling approach to some scenes, the message is still conveyed rather well and is an important one as well that is relevant in this day and age and it is woven into the character’s arcs effectively and I really liked how these arcs were paid off in the third act which I found quite powerful and it ended things on a poignant note. In all the story succeeds at being both an entertaining and emotional adventure that has quite a bit to say.
As mentioned earlier this is a really neat world to explore and the animation plays a big role in bringing it to life. This is an absolutely stunning picture to look at as there is so much attention to detail in bringing this world to life. Each of the 5 Kingdoms has a unique look and feel to it with everything from the colors, to the architecture, to the lighting, to the costumes of the people, to the terrain helping in making each one stand out from each other, but with each one being inspired by Southeast Asian cultures such as Cambodia, Singapore, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and more. The animators went for a more photorealistic approach when designing the backgrounds and it is very stunning to look at, while the character designs are very much in line with what Disney is known for, but each character does manage to have a distinct look to them that expresses their personality and the expressions are very well done and convey a variety of emotions wonderfully. The movements are also nicely done and are especially impressive when it comes to the action scenes. This movie lives up to the promises of being an action packed adventure with plenty of cool fighting chorography and hard hitting action that is coherently shot, fast paced, and genuinely intense to watch at times (there is an alleged R-rated cut of this movie somewhere where the action is even more brutal… very curious to see what that was like!). Adding to the excitement is James Newton Howard’s score which manages to be both exciting, but also wonderous and rousing when the time calls for it, and it really comes into great effect near the ending of the film. Like most other WDAS productions this is a technical marvel that continues to show off the immense talent of the people working behind the scenes.
In terms of the characters I would say they were another big reason this movie worked for me as I found many of them to be really compelling. Raya makes for a solid protagonist, one who has lost sight of the optimism her father had and has become more hardened over the years and one can understand why she would feel the way she feels given all that has happened. Thus one wants her to succeed in bringing peace to the realms and she goes through a nicely done arc where she slowly learns to believe in trust again with the help of Sisu. Speaking of which she is also a great character as someone who also wants to restore Kumandra, but has a different ideology compared to Raya as she is all about trust and believes that the world can be a better place with it. She just has this infectious optimism to her that I found it hard not to find her endearing and she is able to serve as both effective comic relief (many of the biggest laughs come from her dialogue especially one quick joke concerning a puppy) and just a really strong character on her own terms. The relationship between the two is very well done as they share many touching moments and play off one another nicely. Also adding to this are two fantastic voice over performances from Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina with the former displaying strong emotion and giving Raya a strong personality and the latter just being delightful striking a fine balance between being comedic and serious depending on the mood. Also getting a lot of focus is Namaari (Gemma Chan, also giving a good performance here), Raya’a rival who is much more than just that. While not looked at by many in the best light, she is just trying to do what is best for her kingdom, but she is also someone who must learn from her distrustful ways of doing things. She works as a foil to Raya (though both share a bit more in common than they’d like to admit) and seeing her arc unfold was just as satisfying. As for the rest of the characters I found the team Raya assembles to be a fun one as each once has a unique personality and I like how they are people who have lost family because of the Druud, which only further makes them an easy group to root for. There’s Raya’s trusty steed Tuk Tuk who is another fun animal character voiced by Alan Tudyk, the 10 year old business savvy, entrepreneur named Boun (Izaac Wang), the tough but kind hearted warrior, Tong (Benedict Wong), and the toddler con artist Little Noi (Thalia Tran) who is accompanied by three mischievous Ongis. I also thought Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim, and Virana (Sandra Oh) served as interesting parental figures to both Raya and Namaari respectively and how they instill very different lessons and ideologies into their children. All of these characters work in their own way and I honestly would have like to have spent more time with them, in particular with Raya’s team as while I liked them I do think more scenes developing their characters would have been nice.
In the end, I found Raya and the Last Dragon to be a really fun and beautiful adventure! There are times where it spells out it’s message a bit too much and I would have like to have seen more from certain characters, but I found the world to be one worth visiting, the emotion to be really strong, the message to be an important one, the animation to be gorgeous, the action to be hard hitting, and the characters to be very compelling. I do hope this one gets more attention as I think it is yet another strong film from WDAS and it’s two directors. It delivered what was promised and for those who would like to embark on an action packed adventure through a fantastical world, then this is one I would definitely recommend. The land of Kumandra is absolutely one I wouldn’t mind seeing again as there is plenty of potential in fleshing out this world and it’s inhabitants more. Here’s hoping this this dragon doesn’t live up to their name and that this isn’t the last we see of these characters!
Rating: A-
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