Raya and the Last Dragon

At the Cinema and on Disney+.

Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada. Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) daughter of Benja (Dave Dae Kim) is on a quest to find the last dragon(Awkwafina) in her homeland. With the dragons help she hopes to rescue her people from the evil Druun and reunite her lands disperate people and return peace across Kumandra.

This is the first Disney Studios animation of the 2020’s and what a treat it is. It’s not the most original story as we follow Raya, the newest Disney Princess on her adventure. It checks all the Disney story boxes, brave hero with tragic background, betrayal, eclectic mix of supporting characters and a cute and sassy companion who teaches our hero important life lessons. But it also does it with a huge amount of charm, warmth and heart.

The film is built around the relationship of two princesses Raya and her nemesis Nammari (Gemma Chan). But rather than a classic good versus evil, the characters are more two sides of the same coin and certainly neither has time for frilly dresses or love interests. Awkwafina’s Dragon, Sisu, is the perfectly voiced, balance of cute, funny and wise central character that both anchors the story and is a device to pull our feuding princesses together.

The story is grown up, but bowls along and never drags with some brilliant set pieces between Tran and Chan, including fantastically balletic fight scenes. But the thing that will impress most is, even in a world of ever more impressive animation, is how incredible this looks. From the gorgeous landscapes to the stunning character animations, you forget these characters are animated, such is the wonderfully realised detail, it is a constant wonder to look at.

While Raya and the Dragon is not the most original story, it doesn’t matter as there is so much to enjoy, a great voice cast delivering excellent performances, stunning animation, charm and an ending that should melt even the hardest heart. A Disney animation of the quality Mickey and the team will be proud of.