Disney Movie Challenge
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Raya and the Last Dragon is the first time ever my kid saw a movie before I did. He got to see it at a friend's birthday party. The first thing I asked him when he got home was “how was it”. He had a one word review for this film and that was “epic”. For a kid that doesn’t like many movies that is certainly high praise and I couldn’t wait for my chance to see it. While I was going to wait to watch it till I got to it for the challenge I couldn’t resist watching it a few times with him before then. But finally got to it and gave it a rewatch.
The movie is about Raya, a princess from the Heart in the land of Kumandra. Kumandra used to be a peaceful land where humans and dragons lived side by side. But the Dragons used the Dragon Gem and sacrificed themselves to save the humans from the Druun, a life sucking spirit that turns people into stone. 500 years later the humans are divided and have separated into 5 different tribes (Fang, Heart, Talon, Spine, and Tail). Raya’s father tries to reunite the people but after being betrayed by Fang the Dragon Gem is split into 5 pieces and each tribe uses it to protect their land. Afterwards Raya searches for Sisu, the last dragon. Raya thinks it is the only one that she can bring peace back to the land. Once she finds Sisu they must work together to find the other 4 pieces of the Gem to once again defeat the Druun. Along the way they team up with unlikely companions and the must learn to trust one another if they are going to be successful.
Raya and the Last Dragon had an interesting road to release. After years in development the movie was set to go into full production in 2020. But when the pandemic hit they moved all production remotely. The animators all worked from their homes, all the meetings were done via Zoom, and all the actors recorded their voice roles from their home (some did it in closets). It’s a miracle that the movie got made at all and looks as good as it does. Doing all the work at a bunch of homes didn’t hurt the quality and it looks great. The movie’s themes feel even more relevant during the pandemic. In the beginning we are told that the Druun are a “a mindless plague that spread like wildfire”. While the movie was written before the pandemic started you can’t help making the connection.
Raya’s goal to unite a broken world also feels very relevant to today’s world. Raya is hoping that with the full power of the Dragon Gem that SIsu can use magic to heal the world, But Sisu makes it clear throughout the whole movie that it will take Raya trusting someone who betrayed her to heal the world. Raya resists this, thinking it’s too difficult she continues to try to find an easy way to do it. There is a great conversation from the middle of the movie between Raya and Sisu that goes
Raya: The world is broken, you can't trust anyone.
Sisu: Maybe it's broken, because you don't trust anyone, you just have to take the first step.
I’m not sure how much of the themes were added during the pandemic but this quote feels like it could be applied to the real world where people feel more divided than ever.
Besides the timely themes there are a lot of other things to like about this movie. I am a sucker for movies that have motley crew team up. This movie has a crazy bunch of characters that includes a baby, a gentle warrior, and a kid that runs a shrimp boat, so I was all in. The action/adventure aspect was also right up my alley. Not very often you can talk about how awesome fight scenes are in a Disney Princess movie, but here we are. The movie had some great fight choreography that rivals live action films. All the fight choreography was based on real fighting styles used in South East Asia. You also felt each fight on an emotional level because they always felt like there was something at stake. And you never actually know who will win as Raya actually loses more fights than she wins.
One of the things my kid told me when he got home was how good the music was. Figured if he liked it that much I had to hear it so I bought the soundtrack. And he was right, the score is pretty amazing. This is the fourth Disney Animated Film that James Newton Howard has scored following Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet. Here he manages to combine the action aspects with the fantastical elements flawlessly. Take for instance our favorite track “Betrayed”. You listen to that and you might think it’s from a Batman movie. But then you got “Running on Raindrops” which just has this magical uplifting feeling to it. The fact that these two are in the same movie and doesn’t feel disjointed is a testament to Howard’s and the filmmakers talent. While I’m not sure the movie will be remembered come Oscar time I am hoping he is in the conversation for Best Score.
I also love the voice acting in the film. Kelly Marie Tran does great as Raya and we really get a sense of her progression throughout the film. Daniel Dae Kim as Raya’s dad, Gemma Chan as Raya’s nemesis also do a great job. I barely recognized Benedict Wong as Tongo but he pulled off the tough guy with a heart perfectly. Awkwafina as Sisu for me was the stand out. The more I see her, the more she becomes one of my favorite actresses. As Sisu she keeps a lot of that wisecracking dialogue she is known for but also gets to show off a bit of her dramatic elements. The filmmakers let her ad lib most of the dialogue and I think she nailed it. I can see some people who don't like her schtick might find it tiresome but it totally worked for me.
Overall: Not sure if it is just a case of the right place at the right time but I really enjoyed this movie. Themes felt timely, animation was top notch, action was great, and the score pulled it all together.
Random Facts:
During the credits there is a thank you to everyone that worked at home.
Gemma Chan and Awkwafina both would star in a Marvel Project that also came out in 2021. Gemma Chan was in Eternals and Awkwafina was in Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings. Benedict Wong has a cameo in Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home as his character Wong from Dr. Strange.
Despite being directed by two men (Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada) the production and technical teams were made up almost entirely of women.
This is the first (and only) Disney Animated film to feature a Princess that isn’t a musical and doesn’t have a love interest. Brave also did this but that was from Pixar.
Kelly Marie Tran originally lost the role of Raya to Cassie Steele but after some story changes they decided that Kelly was a better fit for the rewritten character.
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