EVERYBODY MUST GET STONES (RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON)

 

Disney has built its brand on telling fairytales of brave Princesses, wicked witches and wizards, misunderstood beasts and handsome princes.

In doing that, it has scoured the world for inspiration and has used its animation to introduce audiences to different cultures.

From the Middle East in 'Aladdin' to China in 'Mulan,' the French village of 'Beauty and the Beast' to the Polynesian islands of 'Moana,' Disney has developed exotic adventures about places a lot of their viewers will never visit.

Their three flag bearers in this year's Best Animated Feature contest have stories set in various locations  - Colombia, Italy and South East Asia.

With that desire to tell stories from across the globe, comes the risk of being accused of cultural appropriation - especially with American or British actors voicing characters from other countries and Western pop culture references peppering the script.

It would be foolish, though, to over-analyse Disney's output.

All its filmmakers are really interested in is making hugely profitable films that entertain audiences with beautifully animated, light hearted tales.

Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada's Best Animated Feature nominee 'Raya and the Last Dragon' sets out to do just that, while never quite pinpointing the South East Asian country in which it is set.

In true Disney fashion, it embraces in the broadest sense the culture, the architecture, landscape and mythology of the region it depicts.

In a preamble, we are told how the sub-continent of Kumandra was ravaged 500 years ago by evil spirits known as the Druun, turning everything in their way into stone including humans.

Think of the Death Eaters in the 'Harry Potter' movies and you're on the right track.

During this time, dragons co-existed with humans and came to their rescue, repelling the evil spirits and undoing all their work, bringing people who had turned to stone back to life.

However in the process of defeating the Druun, all but one dragon turned to stone.

The surviving dragon Sisu created a previous gemstone containing all her siblings powers but after she decided to go into exile, a power struggle erupted among the humans over who would look after the stone.

As a result, Kumandra split into five kingdoms known as Fang, Spine, Tail, Talon and Heart - so called because of their location along a dragon shaped river.

The Heart tribe emerged successful in the battle to keep the gemstone, with the other tribes resenting them for it.

Five hundred years later, Daniel Dae Kim's tribal chief of the Heart clan, Benja attempts to reunite Kumundra by inviting the other four tribes to a banquet aimed at fostering peace and unity.

He has been training Kelly Marie Tan's Raya as a warrior princess to guard the stone in a cave but is also keen to involve her in the efforts to make peace.

When the tribes gather, there are obvious tensions with many of them suspecting Heart has profited from the stone at their expense.

Raya reaches out to Jona Xiao's Namaari from the Fang tribe who has travelled with her mother, Sandra Oh's ruler Virana.

The two girls appear to bond, with Raya leaving the banquet to take Namaari to the cave that houses the gem.

However when they get there, Namaari pushes her and it is revealed she wasn't interested in friendship at all but was leading her mother's warriors to the stone.

Benja spots what is going on and intervenes but the other tribes arrive at the cave too.

In the subsequent battle, the gem shatters with each tribe making off with a piece.

However without the full stone to protect the tribes, the Druun go on the rampage with Benja among those who turn to stone while saving his daughter.

We fast forward six years with Raya and her trusty armadillo Tuk Tuk on a quest to track down Awkwafina's Sisu to see if she can help them recover all the pieces to defeat the Druun and bring all those turned to stone back.

She eventually succeeds in finding Sisu and persuades her to join her on the quest, while taking the form of a human.

However Gemma Chan's older version of Namaari remains on her tail and is determined to stop Raya.

As they head to the four kingdoms to recover the various pieces of the stone, they encounter Izaac Wang's wisecracking young boat captain and cooking entrepreneur, Boun.

They also hoover up into their gang, Thalia Tran's toddler con artist Noi and her three thieving creatures known as Ongis and Benedict Wong's kind hearted Spine warrior Tong.

But can this gang of misfits overcome Virana and Namaari's hatred and recover all the pieces of the gem?

Will Sisu's naivete and attempts to win over people with kindness work and will her true identity as the last dragon be revealed? 

And will it be enough to defeat the Druun and recover all those lost over the past six years?

Hall and Lopez Estrada conjure up a colourful, entertaining enough romp which will keep families amused.

The animation is fine but it isn't earth shattering.

However the cast attack the script by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim with great energy and enthusiasm.

As you'd expect, Awkwafina relishes being given the showiest part and really engages as Sisu.

Tran, Chan, Wang, Oh, Kim and Wong are also good value, bringing great spirit to their respective roles.

The question some viewers may ask is: is 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Oscar worthy?

Probably not but it has done well to make the shortlist.

Commercially the film laboured to a profit in cinemas but it might have fared better had it been released later during the pandemic.

Instead, it had to negotiate the complexities of releasing a film in societies that were ducking in and out of various COVID lockdowns.

Its simultaneous release on Disney+ and other streaming services seems to reaffirm that point, with the bulk of its audience opting to watch it at home instead.

'Raya and the Last Dragon' was the third most streamed title of 2021.

But leaving the Oscars and it's commercial performance aside, 'Raya and the Last Dragon' achieves its principal objective - telling an exotic tale of female warriors and a dragon in a heartwarming and amusing way.

It may not be a Disney classic but it does exactly what it says on the tin.

And there is a lot to recommend that approach.

('Raya and the Last Dragon' was released in the US on March 5, 2021 and in the UK and Ireland on June 4, 2021)