It shouldn’t be a spoiler to say that Raya (also in part due to Benja’s worldviews) lets an overly friendly girl her age named Namaari (Gemma Chan) a bit too close to the stone, subsequently causing havoc inside the underground location and warring factions that no longer even know what the word unity means. There is also a get-together coming up where all of the houses are set to meet and focus on staying on the same page. Following some fantastical exposition setting up the fictional Southeast Asian world of Kumandra as a place dragons once freely roamed before saving the world from a great evil, we learn that the land has split up into five different factions and that Raya’s father Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) watches over the gem left over from the titular last dragon, which also functions as the only remaining source of magic in this world. The eponymous Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, who holds her own in her first leading role) starts off the adventure as naïve. That’s why it’s crucial that Raya and the Last Dragon uses that tired message as a building block to explore more thought-provoking concepts such as trust. At the same time, the film was put into production long before then so is more a victim of circumstance than anything when it comes to that aspect. Of course, that’s always noble but also a message that feels a bit wrongheaded given recent events going on in America. It’s safe to say that rings true here for the quartet of directors behind this latest feature from Disney (Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, and John Ripa, putting their heads together on a script from Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim with an assortment of other names credited to the story itself) who at first seem to be entering the groan-worthy territory of telling a tale about the importance of setting aside differences and accepting one another. Trust is the theme at the forefront of Raya and the Last Dragon, which is welcome considering animated features generally work better for children and adults when there is something tangible to grapple with in their own ways.

In a realm known as Kumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon. Directed by Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, and John Ripa.įeaturing the voice talents of Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Izaac Wang, Thalia Tran, Alan Tudyk, Lucille Soong, Patti Harrison, and Ross Butler.

Raya and the last dragon movie near me