‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ Was Meh. (Spoiler-Free!)
Meh.
After paying an additional $30 to my Disney+ subscription, I was ready to get invested into Disney’s latest Disney princess. Yet, it all felt…
Meh.
There isn’t anything particularly offensive, but there isn’t anything memorable either.
The story takes place in the fantastical, Southeast Asian inspired world of Kumandra. Since Kumandra was plagued by the Druun, a shapeless entity that turns people to stone, the dragons created an enchanted orb that can counter Druun’s magic. 500 year later, war breaks out between five regions for possession of the orb. Despite Chief Benga’s best efforts to unify Kumandra again, the orb is shattered and dispersed among the nations. Druun returns and turns nearly everyone to stone, including Chief Benga (Raya’s father). When Raya summons the last dragon, Sisu, it is up to them to save Kumandra by reuniting the pieces of the orb.
Its premise is generic and reminiscent of nearly every Dis`ney fantasy movie: Moana (from Moana) needed to restore the Heart of Te Fiti, Ian (from Onward) needed to bring back his father, and now, Raya needs to restore the orb. The film borrows from worn tropes. Plus, it rarely references the vault of rich Southeast Asian culture. Even movies like Tangled and Frozen were able to immerse the audience through its culturally appropriate soundtrack and art, respectively. Despite showcasing Southeast Asian culture, its main cast is not fully Southeast Asian such as Awkwafina as Sisu and Gemma Chan as Namaari. Considering that Disney+ is only available in three Southeast Asian, it seems like the company is not too concerned with accurate cultural representation.
The characters are especially frustrating. In the movie, Raya must overcome her trust issues. I know this because Raya kept reminding the audience every five minutes. The filmmakers are severely underestimating the apperception of its target audience. In fact, her blatant acceptance of her trust issues made me feel alienated from the titular protagonist. I also found Sisu annoying. Her “quirky” banter rarely made me laugh.
The character designs are worse. Sisu has large, unnerving eyes that does not resemble any type of South Asian dragon, as far as I know. The Elsa-like features on the dragons were out-of-place, jarring, and distracting. Aside from the surprisingly interesting trope of characters that followed Raya around, most of the characters looked vaguely similar. Sure, they are all (probably) the same ethnicity, but even Coco was able to differentiate the lanky, trickster Héctor to the strong, powerful Ernesto de la Cruz.
With a little effort, Raya and the Last Dragon could have been a Disney classic. However, it seems that Disney just wanted another quick cash-grab by exploiting and profiting off of caricatures of other cultures.
