PAGE 18 • GO! MAGAZINE
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
MOVIES & SHOWTIMES
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‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ is full of adventure
BY MAKENZIE WHITTLE
The Bulletin
D
isney hits mostly the right notes
with its latest entry into the action
princess genre, “Raya and the Last
Dragon” all while following its paint-by-
numbers approach to storytelling.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
if the story is effective, which “Raya” story is.
As with most newer young Disney prin-
cess movies, its focus is more on adventure
and self-discovery than being wrapped up in
finding a prince. In fact there is, refreshingly,
no prince to be found.
We get a little prologue explaining the
world of Kumandra, an ancient, southeast
Asian-inspired land where humans and
dragons coexisted until evil spirits called the
Druun arrived and turned everyone they
touched to stone.
The dragons decided to put all their
power into a gem in order to rid the land of
the Druun and in so doing, erased the drag-
ons, too.
With the dragons gone, the people of Ku-
mandra began fighting for power and con-
trol over the gem, believing that whoever
possessed it would be prosperous.
Kumandra was then divided into five
tribes: Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon and Tail.
We meet Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie
Tran) when she is a fierce young girl learn-
ing to become a protectorate of the dragon’s
gem by her father, Chief Benja (Daniel Dae
Kim) of Heart, who has the idealistic notion
that he can unite the tribes again.
When he invites them all to Heart, Raya
meets and quickly befriends Namaari
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A scene from “Raya and the Last Dragon,” now in theatres and available for premium on-demand
streaming on Disney+.
(Gemma Chan), daughter of the chief of
Fang. They bond over their love of dragons
when Namaari tells Raya about a legend that
says one dragon survived and is waiting at
the end of the river.
Which river? No one knows.
When Raya shows Namaari the Dragon
Gem, Fang guards descend on them and try
to steal it away. Soon, the rest of the tribes
show up demanding possession of the gem,
until it falls and shatters into five pieces.
This allows the Druun back into the
world and they begin turning people to
stone once again, including Chief Benja.
Six years later Raya is on a quest to find
the last dragon at the end of the last river she
has explored. It’s here that she awakens Sisu
(Awkwafina), a goofy young water dragon
who quickly trusts Raya and agrees to join
her in finding the remaining pieces of the
gem in order to set things right.
Through their journey they, of course,
meet up with some cutesy (who could very
easily become annoying) characters that will
make kids laugh with their antics, there are
also a couple of characters for the parents to
laugh at too.
While the basic plot is right out of Joseph
Campbell, the themes of trust, forgiveness
and helping others all rope the story into
something more emotionally driven than one
would expect. And with the world the way it
More Information
“Raya and the Last Dragon”
107 minutes
Rated PG for some violence, action and the-
matic elements.
õõõö
is right now, those themes ring even louder.
The story from Adele Lim and Qui
Nguyen is tight and never wanders. I even
found myself wanting the 107 minute run
time extended to see more of the gorgeous
world the animation team created.
One incredible example of their anima-
tion can be seen with Sisu’s facial expres-
sions, perfectly mirroring Awkwafina’s ex-
pert voice acting at every turn so much it
makes one wonder if they used motion cap-
ture.
While the basic plot isn’t really anything
we haven’t seen before with a Disney movie,
it still hits all of the right beats and measures
to deliver an emotionally impactful story
that is full of adventure and heart.
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0304, mwhittle@bendbulletin.com