THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Every decade is a new era for film. That includes Walt Disney Pictures considering they’ve been around since the 1930s. With the 2020s in mind, their fairy tale adaptations were slim so it was time for new stories to come in play. It sounded risky but in 2021, it paid off with a special film. Raya and the Last Dragon takes place in a fictional country that used to be Kumandra. A plague of evil spirits named the ‘Druun’ once attacked and turned everything in its way to stone. They were stopped by the last dragon named Sisudatu was able to banish them with the use of a magic gem. It also brought back the humans, but not the other dragons. Within the following 500 years, Kumandra would split to five tribes: Fang, Heart, Tail, Spine & Talon. Heart has kept the gem hidden from the others because they fail to understand that the gem does not bring prosperity. Heart Tribe Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) plans to invite the other tribes for a feast, hoping to put aside differences and become Kumandra again. During this time, his daughter Raya befriends with Namaari, daughter of Fang Tribe Chief Virana (Sandra Oh). They quickly bond over the lore of Sisu but Raya makes the mistake of showing her the gem. This is a mistake because Namaari alerts her mother that she found it, which the other tribes follow. They fight for the gem, only for it to break in pieces, resulting in Druun’s return. Each tribe was able to take a piece of the gem as others would turn to stone. Benja gives Raya a piece of the gem and encourages her to undo the mess. Six years later, a now adult Raya who travels with her pet Tuk Tuk, a hybrid of an armadillo and pill bug, to find the other pieces of the broken gem. When reaching the Tail Tribe, she does summon Sisu but the dragon admits that she did not make the gem, made by her other siblings instead. However, she gains their abilities whenever touching a piece, aside from her own ability of hydrokinesis. They do find another piece of the gem but are quickly chased away by an older Namaari. They are able to escape by boat, ran by a young boy named Boun (Izaac Wang) who also lost his family to Druun. Raya insists Sisu to stay in human form, worried of a negative reaction by other humans. They do reach Talon Tribe to get another piece. Raya does get the third piece but in the process was carried away by a baby named Noy and three Ongi monkeys. She also saves Sisu from being turned to stone by Druun, after being tricked by Talon Tribe Chief Dang Hu (Lucille Soong). The extended group reach Spine Tribe and encounter the only survivor named Tong, who has the fourth piece. Namaari does catch up and although Raya tries to buy her new friends some time by fighting her former friend, Sisu reveals her dragon self to save her, allowing all to escape. With the group aware of who Sisu is, they agree to help restore Kumandra. As they travel to Fang, there is contemplation on how to get the last piece. While all suggest to just take it, Sisu insists to align with Namaari. She convinces Raya to agree when explaining how her siblings trusted her to use the gem to stop Druun. Raya goes forward by giving a gift/peace offering to Namaari, a dragon pendant from when they first met. They do meet in secret and Raya shows the other pieces of the gem. However, Namaari is so torn by her responsibility to save Fang’s reputation as she holds the group at gunpoint by crossbow. Sisu attempts to calm her down but Raya fears that she’ll shoot, she attacks but the trigger is pulled and the last dragon is slayed. With this result, the magic of the gem stops and the water stops. Without water, Druun can go where we please. As the plague attacks Fang, Raya fights Namaari out of anger while the others try to save as much people as possible. She chooses to spare her out of realization that it was technically her fault that Sisu died. As she tries to help her friends, all fall into a pit and get surrounded by Druun. Raya quickly proposes to allow Namaari to put the pieces back together and shows her insistence by offering a piece she had, before she turns to stone. Noy, Boun and Tong follow her lead by doing the same. Namaari follows through by putting them together and just as she turns to stone, the magic is restored. The Druun disappear while every human and dragon return. The returning dragons are able to resurrect Sisu, who thanks Raya for trusting others. As everyone reunites with their loved ones, Raya returns to Heart and reunites with her father. The film ends with the other tribes and all the dragons coming to Heart peacefully, becoming Kumandra again. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this film because Disney didn’t bring the best films in 2011 (Cars 2 & Mars Needs Moms), making me worry that history would repeat itself. I was able to put that thought aside when the movie started and thankfully, I enjoyed this movie more than I expected. I would’ve loved to check this out in theaters but sadly, my theater did not reopen yet thanks to COVID-19. On the other hand, paying for Premier Access on Disney+ was worth the price of admission. In a new era, Disney still knows how to bring refreshing stories to our screens that contains a creative lore around it. Aside from the great visuals in display, this movie is so incredible to witness because like past animated films from this studio, we learn important lessons. Those lessons would have not been taught through the characters we saw during the adventure. Our lead character Raya makes a good long lasting impression because she was headstrong and is capable to adapt. She is also the bravest of characters in Disney’s filmography, considering that she spent six years fending for herself during a time when her world was crippled. The first time she was betrayed, she felt unable to trust in general. Because she stopped trusting Namaari, things went awry during the third act. However, when she chooses her to fix the gem, the lessons we learn is that it’s good to own your mistakes to make it right and it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trust people, just because some don’t have good intentions. With the friends she makes who are from different tribes, we also learn that working together is better than working alone. I don’t think we would’ve not felt all of that without great voice acting from actress Kelly Marie Tran. Gemma Chan made Namaari the most conflicted character of this movie. We first see her as distrustful, but she truly cares about Kumandra as much as Raya does. However, she also desires to impress her mother, hence the bad decisions she made. Seeing that she was trusted by Raya to fix the gem made me realize that it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try because it sounds impossible. Moving on, Boun was a good character because on his own, he’s a precocious, knowledgeable and honest businessperson of someone his age. What surprised me a lot from him is that when he said he misses being teased by his sister, I learned that we take people around us for granted, and that we must appreciate them everyday because we’ll never know when they leave us for good. Benedict Wong revitalizes the definition of a gentle giant when voicing Tong: You can be as fierce as possible, yet still show kindness to others. Alan Tudyk has shown that he can play any known/fictional animal possible and that was no exception with Tuk Tuk. With that in mind, he is basically on the brink of being the new Frank Welker because he’ll voice any creature and you wouldn’t know it’s him. Last but not least, Awkwafina stole the show with the role of Sisu. She was the life of the party for being so fun loving towards everyone around her. Between all the charm, she surprised me for bringing more wisdom than expected. Without her, Raya would have never learned to trust again. All of that said makes an argument that she is the modern equivalent to Genie from Aladdin. Despite enjoying this film, there were still some flaws I had a hard time ignoring. First off, I know this movie is all about trust but Raya should’ve not showed Namaari where the gem was. I also understand that this was probably the first friend of her age, but she should’ve been aware that it was too soon to make that move. Also, how has she not seen the stoned dragons in her village? I feel like as a dragon fan she grew up to be, she should’ve known before the Druun returned. The last thing that confused me so much was how a general told Chief Virana about Sisu before Namaari. I mean how did that happen? I feel like the conversation would’ve remained the same if it was the daughter’s Chief to share the news, so saying she found out from a general we don’t see feels pointless to the suspense. Other than that, this movie is still a blast. Overall, the directing group of Don Hall, Paul Briggs, John Ripa and Carlos López Estrada succeeded in making what will grow as Disney’s best films of the 2020s for expressing such maturity, earning itself the Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination. If you got Disney+ and love the taste of adventure, this is the one for you.
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