Raya and the Last Dragon takes place in the South Asian-inspired land of Kumandra, where Raya (voiced by The Last Jedi's Kelly Marie Tran), daughter of a chief, seeks to locate the legendary dragon Sisu (Awkwafina) in order to stop a great threat to everyone.
This movie manages to bring the the modern Disney style, while feeling fresh. (At least for a Disney film, you can make all the Avater the Last Airbender comparisons you want.) Remember how Disney surprised everyone with Zootopia, a movie about racism? Well, now the focus is on the fear of other groups besides your own, resulting in a well told tale of cooperation and learning to trust.
This has a sort of old-school fantasy quest feel to it. There is an impressive amount of world building here. Kumandra is a really fleshed-out land. Multiple characters are used, but the story never feels overwrought and pacing is smooth.
The more dramatic underpinnings of the characters' struggles are well-balanced with humor. The third act and finale is really well done. Though I admit I do miss the classic straight-out delightfully wicked style of Disney villain that we haven't seen in a while, I really liked the two antagonists in this. Though they're doing bad things, they're well-rounded and you can see where they're coming from.
Tran fits the Disney princess style of voice to a T. Awkwafina is able to provide a great comic energy to Sifu.
The movie looks great. A lot of effort was given to coming up with the different costumes, civilizations, and terrain of the different tribes of Kumandra. There are two scenes in this that are up there with Disney's visual best.
Though this was a decently handled film, the cinematography didn't feel perfect to me. There seemed to be more close-ups than needed. Though the final action scene is very entertaining, I felt it didn't quite have the exact level of Disney action movement smoothness than many of the other films do.
Overall, I really recommend this. It's enjoyable for the whole family.
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