Raya and the Last Dragon

Released 5th March 2021, Raya and the Last Dragon follows a girl called Raya, a girl journeying across the region of Kumandra to save the world from the Druun. One aspect of this film that is really admirable is the world it establishes; very area of Kumandra has a consolidated culture with overlapping features across the five tribes. This enables greater believability in the region’s conflict and the subsequent themes of trust; themes which are a bit too explicit in the writing. For how well realised most of the cinematic elements are, the writing is the only discernible weakness, whether it be thematic resonance or making the humour land.

The main source of humour in this film is Awkwafina’s Sisu, the last dragon the title refers. Whilst she is crucial as a catalyst for the themes of trust to manifest in her dialogue scenes, having the dragons being able to speak feels like the easy way to have her interact with the rest of the cast and kind of sucks some dramatic weight out of the film. Kelly Marie Tran provides the voice of Raya particularly well; whilst very much the hardened warrioress at a glance, she is given enough personality and emotional weight to be able to carry the film well and therefore enhance the drama she is absorbed in. Raya meets many characters along her journey; these being Benedict Wong’s Tong, Izaac Wang’s Boun and Thalia Tran’s Little Noi. Despite their minimal screen time, they are given vast depth, and each have fantastic chemistry with one another and Raya.

Gemma Chan also gives a pleasant vocal performance of Namaari; the antagonist of the film. She has a layered character arc which makes her really compelling and enjoyable. Being Disney, the CG animation is great, however, the film also opts to use a variety of 2d art styles to tell the story at certain points; styles which suit the scenes well whilst also flowing the narrative better. Finally, James Newton Howard’s soundtrack is so greatly engrossed in Eastern symphonics that you are able to feel the environments and the emotions present on screen. Overall, Raya and the Last Dragon is a thoroughly enjoyable film which is just a couple of script discrepancies away from being a masterpiece.