Raya and the Last Dragon Movie Review: A Racey adventure that expands the Disney vision

A still from Raya and the Last Dragon

Raya and the Last Dragon
Directors: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada
Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan
Rating: ''' and 1/2

Disney expands its bandwidth into south-east Asian shores with this latest animation release "Raya and the last Dragon." About a lone warrior, Raya( Kelly Marie Tran) with sidekick Tuk Tuk in tow, who tasks herself with tracking down the legendary last dragon Sisu ( Awkwafina) to restore the divided people of Kumandra, a now fractured fantasy world of humans and dragons - that dragons sacrificed themselves for 500 years earlier. In order to resurrect her father Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) and her people (from stone to life), Raya has to overcome her distrust of Namaari ( Gemma Chan), a rival princess, join together a splintered, powerful, life affirming precious gemstone and live through several mini-adventures involving memorable characters, including the gregarious Boun (Izaac Wang), one-eyed Tong (Benedict Wong), and a "con baby."

Watch Raya and the Last Dragon Trailer

Directors Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada fashion the narrative as an old-fashioned, straight-forward rollercoaster adventure movie that mines the genre elements from successful past assays while staying true to the traditional Asian aesthetic. Screenwriters Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim lend a strong base for stirring emotion and thrills.

This film, even though targeted at the very young has a complex theme that involves and invokes unity in a diverse world where personalities and ideologies clash and only the one who rises above the commonplace is able to empathise and understand enough to forgive and entrust, to the exclusion of self. The strong thematic content is complimented by path-breaking image design, marvellous in its detailing, and an amalgamated blending of mythology with cultural specifics from the south-east Asian region as a whole. Every character here is distinctly unique, painstakingly imbued with an amiability and design that is wonderful to see. The distinctly redolent colour palette enlivens the experience further. That top-notch craftsmanship is accompanied by terrific voice work and a pacing that reflects the hurly-burly of a modern-day adventure movie. Accompanying this wonderfully balanced work is Zach Parrish's "Us Again" a 7-minute animated short about a mixed (race) couple in their sunset years trying to rekindle their youthful boogie-woogie ways. Using music to reminisce backwards, the film comes alive when the old codger gets cajoled back into action by a loving wife hell-bent on regaining a past contentment. The film is distinctive because it showcases dance choreography in animation and lends further warmth to the combined experience.