Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ on Disney+, a Lovely Animated Epic That Balances Familiar Fodder with Thematic Richness

Raya and the Last Dragon follows the Mulan live-action remake in Disney+’s “premier access” pantheon — you know, the movies you have to pay to see on top of already paying to see them. The story of a warrior woman who rouses an ancient dragon to unite a divided nation, the movie affirms that yes, Disney occasionally still can create product from an original idea, and isn’t a remake, sequel or tied to a franchise, surely in the hopes that it’ll eventually inspire a remake, sequel or new franchise. And here, we’ll assess it both as the work of art and/or entertainment that it is, then grade on a curve to determine if it’s worth an extra $29.99.

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Brace yourself for an EXPOSITION DUMP: Long ago, the nation of Kumandra was a peaceful place where humans existed peacefully alongside mystical pastel-colored dragons that look like the offspring of sea serpents and My Little Ponies. But an ethereal purple-and-black (dare I say virus-like?) thing called the Druun plagued the land, turning people into stone, and the dragons vanquished it, but died in the process. There’s something about a special powerful dragon gem — there’s always something about a special powerful gem, isn’t there? — and in the 500 years hence, Kumandra split into five separate factions over something something the special powerful gem. The factions are named after dragon parts: Heart, Fang, Tail, Talon and Spine. Relations are strained because the Heart land has the special powerful gem, and the power-hungry humans in the other lands want the special powerful gem so they’ll be more powerful. Humans!

Raya (voice of Kelly Marie Tran, who we all unequivocally loved in Star Wars: The Last Jedi) lives in Heart. She’s a young warrior in training under her father, Benja (Daniel Dae Kim), the Heart leader. Her loyal sidekick is a pill bug named Tuk Tuk, but it’s so cute, it looks like a pill bug crossbred with a hedgehog. Heart hosts a powwow with the other faction leaders. Raya befriends Namaari (Gemma Chan), princess of Fang, and shows her the gem — then Namaari betrays her, calling in the Fang folk to snatch the precious bauble. The factions squabble. The gem is broken into five pieces, and they each grab a chunk, but it inspires the Druun to return. Benja is turned to stone, Heart is devastated and the factions are more divided than ever. Raya barely makes it out alive.

Six years pass. Raya is a whupass martial-arts machine cruising the dangerous lands of the former Kumandra, saddled atop a massively full-grown Tuk Tuk, her father’s sword in hand. The Druun lurk over there and maybe yon or hither, and it’s time to do something to fix this busted country, portions of which look totally nuked. She sends out a desperate prayer/recites an incantation/talks to probably nobody in hopes of summoning the last dragon, and voila, Sisu (Awkwafina) manifests. And she’s not a grand, uppity, majestic dragon, but a goofy, playful one, a wide-eyed chatterbox who’s quick with a wisecrack.

Together, they’ll trek across the land and snatch the gem bits, vanquishing the Droon and bringing back Raya’s stone dad and maybe reuniting Kumandra. It’ll require a convenient plot construct allowing Sisu to shape-shift to human form, and allies in the form of a half-pint chef, a big lunky warrior, a sly “con baby” and her three monkey pals, Tuk Tuk of course and maybe an old rival but who knows if that’ll fly. Anyway, easier said than done, one assumes, and one would be right.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Raya is a Moana-esque hero-princess quest with conceptual elements of Avatar: The Last Airbender (the series, not the movie, thank you), from the unite-the-disparate-peoples arc to the fauna, which often look like clever hybrids of familiar species.

Performance Worth Watching: Awkwafina’s rasp and loosey-goosey tone are a delightful foil to Tran’s earnest characterization of Raya.

Memorable Dialogue: Sisu takes note of her anatomical alterations upon transforming into a human: “Look how close my butt is to my head!”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: The top layer of Raya and the Last Dragon is stunning, a visual splendor rich with postcard cinematography and thoughtfully designed set pieces. The story, however, is very much the typical fantasy-voyage fodder with fantastical creatures, gallant warriors, colorful-oddball supporting characters and the special powerful gem, always with the special powerful gems. Raya’s adventure is of the type where her boilerplate attempts to acquire difficult-to-attain thingies don’t keep us in that much suspense as much as they beg us to pause to wonder at these gorgeous desert caverns. Pause to admire these bubbles rising through the kelp beneath the surface of this lake. Pause to eyeball these photo-perfect flowers floating peacefully on the water. Pause to ogle these sun-dappled fields dotted with lush topiary dragons. Pause to wow at the golden glow of this city at night. Pause to take in the grandiose architecture of this gleaming palace.

Obviously, this is a diverse world she lives in. Thankfully, the most compelling element of this movie is its insistence that such a lovely world be united harmoniously, because separation breeds contempt. The broad range of its visual splendor reflects precisely that, and quietly draws the subtext from this story of betrayal and trust: Change, even for the better, is by its very nature extremely difficult. One faction is situated on an island and therefore protected, as the Druun can’t traverse water. Pragmatically, there’s no reason to curtail its prosperity by helping the other factions. Ideally, the whole world would be prosperous without the Druun, but it requires sacrifice, which begets reluctance.

At one point, the characters debate whether you can’t trust anyone because the world’s broken, or if the world is broken because you can’t trust anyone. It’s funny how animated films take years to develop, but this one feels so resonant about our own current world, which stands fractured into tribalist camps by a plague. If only we had some dragon magic, which in the film functions as a metaphor for trust. A pessimist might say we here on Earth might conjure up dragon magic before we learn to trust anyone else.

I’m getting heavy here, which speaks to the depth of Raya’s storytelling. But it’s also in many ways a joy — the banter between Raya and Sisu, lovely set pieces, crisply rendered action, the parade of oddball warriors following the protagonists’ idealist path. This is a thoughtful film, and an exciting one. If it seems too familiar at first, hold tight, because it’ll soon transcend its superficial familiarities and tap a rich vein of sanguine emotion; its final scenes are wonderful. Dragon magic isn’t real, but hope sure is.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If Raya and the Last Dragon feels like Disney putting for par with another film featuring strong female protagonists and celebrations of diversity, it’s only because the bar has been raised so significantly with Moana, The Princess and the Frog, Frozen, the recent Mulan, and others. It’s formula produced by a commercial entertainment machine, sure, but it’s a damn excellent formula. (And I really don’t have an answer about whether or not you should spend $29.99 for it. Many lesser things cost more, I guess.)

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney+