Raya and the Last Dragon is Disney's latest animated movie. After the world is torn apart by its own selfishness, Raya, voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, must journey to find the only living hope for humanity, a hilarious dragon voiced by the incredible Awkwafina.

Disney can barely go wrong with their animated features. Raya and the Last Dragon will go down with just about any other animated Disney movie as an admirable feature film. Although it won't become the hit that was Frozen in the early 2010's, it will be welcomed by kids and adults alike.

I keep thinking that I can't be surprised any more with the animation quality of Disney films. I didn't think they could do any better. I was wrong once again. The detail they can apply is truly spectacular. The fight choreography was also a spectacle. The voice-acting was exceptional especially when you realise that most of it was done inside the actor's own house due to the pandemic.

Of course, being a kids animated movie, it did at times feel slightly predictable. I couldn't figure out the whole plot from the first scene but there were scenes which could be guessed beforehand. In saying this, I felt that some elements weren't explained enough and there were little details which didn't make much sense or could have easily been made clearer.

Raya and the Last Dragon was the first movie I have seen in a cinema in over a year. I was super excited to be back at the place. Even though the experience as a whole was a positive one, I was honestly a little disappointed. It seems like everyone has given up on the cinema. For starters, there weren't many people. I think there were maybe three to five other groups in our cinema and I didn't see many other people in the foyer. The staff were also a bit of a let down. There was only one person serving at the snack bar which meant that buying a box of popcorn took a long time, no one checked our tickets when we came in, and they even forgot to turn the lights off when the movie started. I felt like we were at a small independent cinema from the 60's. A little while ago, I wrote an article on Cinema vs At-Home movie watching and about how we all need to support cinemas!

Raya and the Last Dragon is another great family movie from Walt Disney Animation. It can be seen in cinemas or on Disney+ for an extra fee.

Director: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada

Starring: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wong, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim

Year released: 2021

My rating: 7/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 14/03/21