There’s an inherent difficulty in reviewing a film where you as the critic are absolutely not the intended audience. While that’s not to say family-centered animated efforts are critic proof or have no value in terms of critical assessment, one need only look at the wealth of good writing that’s out there for every new Pixar joint or those rare occasions when a new Ghibli might land on our shores, to know that’s really not true. But when it comes to those pictures that are largely aimed a little younger and for parents who are simply trying to keep their child entertained for 2 hours, there has to be at least some recalibration of our critical faculties. Or at least that’s the case with me.
That doesn’t stop these things from being awful either, I mean have you tried to watch one of those Secret Life of Pets movies? But, there’s generally a good solid middle ground that can be attained here and few studios are better at that sort of “great for the kids, perfectly fine for the adults” type of film than Disney. And if they’re able to stretch a little further? All the better. I’m happy to say Raya and the Last Dragon claws its way to that slightly better than the average point, just by the skin of its sharp teeth anyway.
This adventure from the House of Mouse is a co-directed effort from Blindspotting‘s Carlos Lopez Estrada and studio mainstay Don Hall, and opens with an impressive amount of world-building up front. In a visually appetizing prologue, a crash course in the history of Kumandra, a once peaceful nation where humans and dragons co-existed together, but this bliss becomes threatened by the purplish cloudy muck creatures known as the Druun. The dragons sacrifice themselves for their human friends, turning their collective power into a large jewel that banishes this new threat. But, as humanity does, once there’s no bad guy, a new one is created and so the one-time unified nation splits into many different now-rival tribes. Enter Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), whose father (Daniel Dae Kim), the leader of their tribe, possesses the McGuffin in question. An item that the other groups all believe will bring them wealth and prosperity thus far denied to them…as you can imagine, things get bad. Then the Druun, come back, and things are worse. And suddenly Raya is a Nausicaa-like figure wandering a devastated land…on the hunt for the last dragon (Awkwafina) that can potentially set things right.
As you can see, there’s a lot that’s crammed in there up front, and to its credit, Raya and the Last Dragon does indeed start to relax its early info-dump tendencies to better settle into its hero’s journey/quest narrative. Though, even when it’s piling on the names and concepts, it actually just serves to make the film a little more engaging, kind of playing like a light blend of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Black Panther in its approach to folkloric fantasy. And to its credit, this is a film that pulls its imagery and character designs from Southeast Asian traditions and in so doing, stacks its cast with actors of Asian descent. An important element that I’m happy to say picks right back where Moana left off in ensuring needed representation (to some degree or another) from the cultures that are being borrowed from.
Let me be blunt, and say you will be able to easily predict every twist and turn long before it comes, as the script is fairly formulaic and follows the Disney adventure template basically to a “t”. But it also has just enough wrinkles to the more well-trodden tropes that I often found myself thinking “okay, that’s clever”, particularly in its attempt to avoid creating an actual villain. We’re so used to the Scars and Jafars of these movies, that the idea that there isn’t really a bad guy/gal, so much as a bigger unknowable threat and how everyone responds to that adversity is again a presentation that approaches being novel. It’s also stacked with fairly arresting animation, popping with pinks and blues and purples and greens, and action beats that are fluid enough that even the truly unnecessary (and unfunny) baby thief character isn’t enough to completely derail my interest in what was happening. The dragons reminded me a little too much of My Little Pony, but again, one must remember the audience!
Raya and the Last Dragon is a riveting enough adventure, with lush design work and a largely compelling cast that it overcomes some of the “been there, done that” of its actual plot. Most importantly, it serves as a fine balm for parents who have seen Frozen and Moana 200 times and need something new to throw into the rotation.