From the young, smooth-talking boat captain Boun (voiced by Izaac Wang) to the “rough and tough” warrior Tong (voiced by Benedict Wong) to even a con artist baby and her trio of mischievous monkeys, Raya encounters a variety of colorful misfits front he kingdoms she visits. The film rounds up a fun cast of supporting characters to join the adventure. Paired with Awkwafina’s ever-optimistic Sisu, the two form a bond that brings the laughs and emotional weight the film needs. After suffering a tragic betrayal as a kid, Raya has an edge to her, and understandably so. She is fierce but holds an endearing quality. Tran leads the charge of the predominantly Asian cast as the titular Raya. The writing team conveys the message effortlessly through good story beats and character moments. I could not help but see more than a few real-world parallels here.
Each group is unable to trust each other at the beginning, and they let their greed get the better of them. On a larger scale, Raya’s father Benja (voiced by Daniel Dae Kim) longs to embrace the other kingdoms and their differences in order to unite them as one. Namaari betrays her, setting off a bitter rivalry that carries on through the film. Raya even uses those teachings when trying to befriend a fellow princess named Namaari (voiced by Gemma Chan). Her father Benja attempts at every chance to teach her the lesson of trust and cooperation. Raya struggles at many points to trust those she encounters. The theme of trust, or rather lack thereof, is apparent throughout the film on both a large and small scale. Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) must rise up to save the fractured world. In a peace-offering gone wrong, the gem shatters and the Druun returns to wreak havoc. The people broke away into their own corners of the world and lived divided. When a villainous force known as the Druun rises to turn everyone it touches to stone, the dragons banded together to create a gem Sisu, the last dragon (voiced by Awkwafina), to vanquish the enemy. “Raya and the Last Dragon” is set in the fictional land of Kumandra, where thousands of years prior, the people of the land lived in harmony with mystical dragons. This review will contain a few spoilers, so if you do not want any of the fun ruined, this is your warning. The latest addition to Disney’s animated film collection has arrived and tells an exciting, heart-warming story with a message that felt almost too relevant to today’s world.
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