WHAT’S IT ABOUT
Raya and the Last Dragon features Kelly Marie Tran as the voice of Raya, a lone warrior whose mission is to track down the legendary last dragon in a bid to save Kumandra and unite its lands.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
True to Disney’s specialty, Raya and the Last Dragon is a great-looking movie, so there’s no need to talk about it graphically. The story also uses a familiar Disney formula; one parent, a primary child has a pet, a relative dies or is terminally hurt, an animal is comic relief, the bad guy was raised wrong or never had a choice. Raya and the Last Dragon checks every box. The introduction is a detailed story of the why what, who, and where everything came to be. To paraphrase; A peaceful world filled with gentle dragons until a plague turned everyone to stone and destroyed everything else. A lone Dragon was able to create a sphere and beat the curse. All was reverted from rock except the dragons. A fight over who would be the protector of the magical gem caused animosities amongst the six nations, and mistrust was born. It felts rushed, but it was for reference only. The real reason for the origin story (and the movie’s moral) was to set up the importance of friendship, trust and how stereotypes can create false and hurtful realities of cultures unfamiliar to us. Raya’s father was the advocate for change as he wanted the other nation to come together for a peaceful feast. Things didn’t go as planned, the gem was broken, and the countries were more divided than ever. The world became a wasteland, and Raya set out to collect the broken pieces of the sphere. Without the gem, the stone-turning curse is back, threatening all life. That’s the first twenty minutes of this nearly 2-hour film, meaning the rest of the movie is all about finding the other pieces of the gem. Luckily, the savior of Raya and the Last Dragon is a dragon named Sisu. From this point on, the film is much better since Sisu is both the comedy relief and half the movie’s heart. The other half of the heart, Raya, is the action part of the film. Combined with several friends along the journey, The Last Dragon is a gratifying entry into the Disney library.
OUR RATING – A FULFILLING FANTASY 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Family
- Street date
- Digital – April 2nd, 2021
- DVD/BluRay – May 18th, 2021
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English: Dolby Atmos, French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras
- An Introduction to “Us Again” – Director Zach Parrish takes you behind the scenes of the Walt Disney Animation Studios short.
- “Us Again” – An elderly man and his young-at-heart wife rekindle their passion for life on one magical night.
- Raya: Bringing it Home
- Martial Artists
- We are Kumandra
- Outtakes
- Fun Facts & Easter Eggs
- The Story Behind the Storyboard with John Ripa
- Deleted Scenes