The film advances the groundwork laid by Frozen and Moana, which ushered in a modern era of princesses that weren’t romance-focused, but rather independent and intent on saving their people and their world. Raya’s epic quest kicks off when the dragon gem shatters, unleashing the drune back into the world. But the dragons remained frozen in time, with the exception of Sisu, the last living dragon. The last living dragons pooled their power into the dragon gem, which revived the humans. When the villainous drune attacked-an enemy capable of turning all to stone-dragons fought to defend themselves and humans alike. The once prosperous land of Kumandra used to be brimming with dragons, creatures whose existence was tied to water and life itself. All this combined makes Raya a good, but not great, family adventure.Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney’s first film starring a Southeast Asian princess, opens with its own lore.

I loved how by the end of the film Raya has a whole troupe of misfits. Obviously Awkwafina is a ton of fun, but ever other random side character who joins the adventure has personality as well. It is it's own unique world with it's own unique set of characters and environments, and it was a fun place to explore.

Some people have drawn comparisons between this world and the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and while there are some similarities, to dismiss it outright because of that is pretty minimialistic. What did work for me though is GORGEOUS visuals and a stunning world. That on top of its aggressively heavy-handed messaging that just didn't work for me personally keep it from being an all time classic. Not saying that as a bad thing, the formula works, but sometimes Raya can feel a bit like it's going through the motions of an adventure rather than feeling like a true adventure. Ancient lands, swashbuckling hero, magical sidekick who speaks in pop culture references, all that stuff is here. Think of Raya kind of like a modern take on Aladdin.

Raya the last dragon movie