Raya and the Last Dragon has everything you might want nowadays from a major Disney film — feisty kick-ass heroine, non-white representation, a narrative that isn’t hung up on romance — but no one involved appears to have asked themselves: do we have an interesting story? Do we have any fresh ideas? Is it fun? This may please very small kiddies who don’t know any better, and there are plenty of them about, but Raya’s not a classic in the making. It’s gorgeously depicted, needless to say, but disappointingly unanimated in all other ways.
While this film may please small kiddies, remember: they are not to be trusted. Ever
The premise is set out in the wordy prologue, introducing us to a fantasy world inspired by south-east Asia where, 500 years earlier, the Kumandra people lived in peace and harmony alongside dragons. But then monsters, known as the Druun, trucked up, turning everyone they touched into stone.
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