Well folks, Disney did it again. Raya and the Last Dragon is yet another knockout. Fantastic animation, great characters, thrilling action sequences, and just the right amount of humor. Also, DRAGONS! You can’t go wrong with dragons.
Centuries ago, in the world of Kumandra, dragons lived harmoniously with humans, bringing prosperity to all of Kumandra’s people. But that all changed when evil spirits called Druun invaded Kumandra. All that the humans and dragons had worked for, their entire way of life, was threatened, with the Druun even turning countless humans and most of the dragons to stone. The remaining dragons combined the last of their magic to create a powerful orb to defeat the Druun. In doing so, all stone humans returned to life, though the dragons remained as stone.
Five hundred years later, Raya is the princess of the Heart tribe. They had been the guardians of the the dragon orb since the defeat of the Druun. At a gathering of all the tribes, another young princess dupes Raya into revealing the location of the orb, ultimately resulting in it breaking. This brings about the devastating return of the Druun. This sets Raya off on her journey to recover all the pieces of the orb, while also searching for Sisu, the rumored sole surviving dragon.
Raya’s broader story and overall arc isn’t exactly groundbreaking. But it has so much else going for it that it’s easy to overlook that for the most part. To start with, the voice work is second to none. Kelly Marie Tran leads the way as Raya, with great work from the supporting cast, particularly Awkwafina as Sisu and Gemma Chan as Raya’s rival Namaari, princess of Fang. While Raya isn’t as funny as many of Disney’s other offerings, Awkwafina provides just right amount of comic relief to offset the more serious tone and nature of the story.
Raya also marks the first time one of Disney’s films has centered around Southeast Asian cultures. And while it’s just a first step, following in the footsteps of Moana (another excellent film), it shows yet again there are great stories to be found all around the world and across all cultures.
What really sets Raya apart, though, is its thrilling action. It features some of the best animated fight scenes I’ve ever seen. Raya also has more than its share of chase and other adventure sequences that never fail to get the blood pumping. There’s no shortage of excitement to go along with a surprising amount of incredibly touching and emotional beats as well. You may find yourself getting choked up more than a few times.
With Raya’s travels to and through each of the five tribe lands, the movie treats viewers to astounding animation, with each land given its unique, eye-popping designs. Even with only brief time spent at most of the areas, we will get a full sense of who this tribe is and what their people are all about.
With dynamite animation, well-developed characters from an under-represented region of the world, and a compelling story to boot, Raya and the Last Dragon marks yet another fantastic entry in the ever-growing list of great works from Disney Animation.
Score: 93/100
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