![]() This is, indeed, progress, but in a post-”Crazy Rich Asians” world, one must ask: Is it enough? Despite being set in the fictional Southeast Asia-inspired world of Kumandra, most of the voice actors are not Southeast Asian, nor are Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, the film’s directors. The film features an almost all-Asian cast - the first of the studio’s films to do so. Six years later, Raya seeks the help of a magical dragon, Sisu (Awkwafina) - along with a motley crew of friends, including Boun (Izaac Wang), a 10-year-old shrimp chef Little Noi (Thalia Tran), a toddler con artist and Tong (Benedict Wong), the hulking sole survivor of the Spine tribe - to vanquish the Druun and save the world. When a young Raya is betrayed by her friend Namaari (Gemma Chan), the evil Druun are released upon the world, turning most of humanity, including Raya’s father Benja (Daniel Dae Kim), into stone statues. In the film, Kelly Marie Tran voices Raya, an inspiring sign that, despite the racist harassment Tran faced following the release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in summer 2018, Tran remains unfazed. But being a part of that canon inevitably comes with limitations. It doesn’t have the subversiveness of “Frozen,” nor the pointed social commentary of “Zootopia” or the immersive imaginativity of “Wreck-It Ralph.” This isn’t to say that “Raya and the Last Dragon” is bad it’s an uplifting, action-packed, beautifully animated film with a lot of heart, and a worthy addition to the Disney canon. Still, “Raya and the Last Dragon” doesn’t wow in the same way other Disney powerhouses do. Similarities are unavoidable - hero’s journey and all that - and just because a film is reminiscent of others doesn’t automatically make it hackneyed and stale. ![]() ![]() Even the story, of a young, courageous warrior princess who journeys across the known realm to restore a magical stone that will vanquish the dark, evil blight that plagues humanity, sounds a heck of a lot like “Moana.” Its opening scene, as Raya zooms through the desert on her spherical companion Tuk Tuk, evokes Rey and BB-8 in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The world - with its five tribes, each with a distinct fighting style and color scheme - feels very “Avatar”-esque. ![]() What is, at first, most striking about “Raya and the Last Dragon” are the comparisons it evokes.
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