Road Trip Quest- Raya and The Last Dragon [2021]

Creating a new story involving dragons, particularly pertaining to Asian cultures, isn’t easy.

I’ve tried. Whether that’s a success or not, it’s up to others to decide. (You can read the full script here). While there are some similarities (young female protagonist and an artefact involving a dragon) the stories are thankfully different enough in their respective journeys.

After all, this one is more based in fantasy adventure, set in a magical land that was once roamed by dragons (and has a massive water system across the land, a lake that resembles a dragon) until creatures called “Druun” came about and turned most of the population to stone. The few remaining dragons came together to defeat the Druun before turning to stone and the last one disappeared.

It’s all explained in a simple prologue to set up the world that was ultimately divided into five regions following their location around that dragon ‘lake’: Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail. Our hero Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) comes from Heart. Feels natural, doesn’t it? Our hero is the heart of the story, after all. Guess where our antagonist comes from?

When the Druun return almost five hundred years after being defeated by the last dragon, Raya undertakes a quest to find a way to defeat them. This leads her to finding the last dragon Sisu (Awkwafina) – is it a spoiler since the dragon is on the posters and the trailers? Anyway, much of the movie is a road trip through the lands of what was once called Kumandra as Raya and Sisu try to find a way to save their world, picking up companions, of sorts, along the way.

In their way is Namaari (Gemma Chan) doing what she can to please her mother Virana (Sandra Oh) the Queen of Fang who only wants to do what is best for her own people. Politics and philosophy appear to be the main ‘villains’ here, along with a healthy dose of typical selfish human behaviour. I think the last truly ‘evil villain’ I’ve seen in a Disney cartoon was in Frozen. The rest since have been misguided or misunderstood in their motives, often driven by base emotions in need of clarity and correction. The same applies here.

Not that it gets in the way of an entertaining flick.
Raya is not a perfect hero and is in need of guidance, ultimately having Sisu as a mentor on her journey. And if you’re familiar enough with these quest-stories with an emerging hero, you know what’s coming as most of the familiar beats are hit, although not necessarily in the right order.

While the rather diverse voice actors do a commendable job, not that many of them are trying for regional accents, it’s only Awkwafina who stands out. She appears to be ad-libbing the way Robin Williams did with his Genie in Aladdin. She seems to be playing it as naturally as it is for her to essay the role, likely sticking to the script at key moments and riffing at other times. It does give her a unique presence among the other voices, even though she is also the titular dragon.

Speaking of which, the design for the dragon looks beautiful even if it also looks like a mash of several Eastern mythologies crashing together while being something almost original. The ‘hair’ is amazingly rendered, something that is improving with each feature, along with the water effects and animation.

Then there’s the design of the world, again seeming to pull aspects of certain South East Asian nations in terms of costume designs, architectural designs, all the way to the design of the weapons and fighting styles for the characters. There is an amazingly choreographed sequence featuring eskrima, and Raya’s sword has a flamberge blade design akin to a kris. Even durians put in an appearance, as do some other fruits and regional spices.

The quest story is almost standard, but I suppose the other elements to make this lean more towards the mythologies or sensibilities of the South East Asian regions may have taken some odd twist and turns. Two writers are credited with the screenplay (shout out to Malaysian Adele Lim), perhaps bringing along those cultural sensibilities. There are a lot of people credited with the story: eight in the main credits with two more within the end credits for the story ideas and additional contributions. Truly, story-telling by committee.

Ultimately, none of all that diminishes the enjoyment the movie brings. The story delivers as it needs to keep things entertaining (the ‘little gang’ from Talon is a highlight). It remains a feast for the visual senses with lots of little hidden things in the overall design, and everything is kept on an even keel with no one suddenly breaking into song. The score by James Newton Howard is propelling enough to keep the pace going through its just under 100 minute runtime… not counting its slightly over 10 minute credits.

Rating: 🐉🐉🐉1/2  /5

Directed by Don Hall & Carlos Lopez Estrada, and Paul Briggs & John Ripa
Written by Qui Nguyen & Adele Lim
          from a story by a lot of people including the directors, screenwriters, and others
          “based on story ideas by Bradley Raymond and additional story contributions by Helen Kalafatic”

Stars (vocally) Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Sandra Oh, with Dichen Lachman, Sung Kang, François Chau, and Alan Tudyk

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I’ve written a Syndi-Jean movie script and it is available to read for free!
Details are on my twitter feed, or check out the books (links below)!

Get all three!
Barnes and Noble / ISBNSnet / Book Depository / Google Play Store
Learn more here.

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