Raya and the Last Dragon review in screencaps

Raya and The Last Dragon is the latest Disney animation which premiered on Disney+ as well as in cinemas.

Without any knowledge of the movies financial success, after watching it, it is obvious that it is not the next Frozen or even Moana.

To be fair, it is not a bad movie, but it could have been so much more.

Lets check out the pros and cons of Raya and the Last Dragon:

Pros:

there are no songs or singing during the movie, this is actually first clue that it is Disney on a budget somehow.
the pacing of the story is just perfect, there are no sudden whys or hows happening or things happening just to happen
it is set in a mythical, fictional universe

Cons:

there are no songs or singing during the movie
contemporary wording like “nerds” takes out of the movie’s rather mystical nuance
the main motive or theme which is trust, is misrepresented and not strong enough to uphold a truly emotional ending
audience is not age-diverse, maybe best suited for children and teenagers, younger teenagers.
animation is much more stiff and 3D like, has a plastic feel to it.
they over explain everything

I would give it a 6.5 out of 10 though, it is still worth the watch and there is way worse out there.

Spoilers below and a massive screencaps gallery!

The plot of the movie starts about 500 years ago in Kumandra, a fictional land settled around a lake in the shape of a dragon, where people and dragons live in harmony, that is until the Druun appears. After which even though the Druun are defeated, Kumandra is divided in five separate lands, Heart, Fang, Talon, Tail and Spine.

After there are no more dragons, the gem that defeated the Druun is kept in Heart, and this does not feel well with the other lands and their chiefs.

Skip to six years ago, Raya’s father who is the chief of Heart is trying to bring together Kumandra again, that does not end very well, because it turns out Namaari even as a child is a backstabber (first point on the trust issues in the movie). The gem is broken, the Druun have come back.

Map of Kumandra divided.

So, there is at least one piece of the gem in each land.

A little word on the Druun. They are suppose to be the villain in the movie, but they do not speak or act in any villainous way apart from the fact that they turn you to stone upon touching you. No motives are revealed behind their existence, but it is said that they come form human discord. I suppose it is metaphor.

Present day, Raya and Tuku Tuk are all grown up and have embarked on a mission to find Sisu and collect all pieces from the gem and defeat the Druun again. Along the way, chased by Namaari, a rag-tag group assembles.

So yes, it turns out the last dragon, Sisudatu or Sisu in short is a failed attempt to replicate Eddie Murphy’s Mushu dragon in Mulan.

Enter, the penguins of Madagascar, okey, not exactly penguins but a baby and three monkey like creatures, but same purpose and mannerisms as the Madagascar penguins.

Before going to Fang, which is Namaari’s land, ruled by her mother, Sisu takes Raya to Heart again, and there is one more history lesson there, about how her dragon siblings have trusted her to defeat the Druun.

Next, Namaari’s trust test, once again, she proves that she is not trustworthy. The story is trying to give her a benefit of a doubt, but there just isn’t any, and this is where the trust motive falls apart. Namaari twice so far, by choice proves to be an unreliable, shady person. There are no redeeming qualities, so the theme of the movie, trust, is somewhat hard to swallow.