After a year that saw cancellation after cancellation, COVID-19 has left the movie world in a state of despair. What the second half of 2021 holds is anyone’s guess but, should some form of normality return to the cinema aisles, we have Raya and the Last Dragon to look forward to on the big screen. In the meantime, you can catch it on Disney+ but a hefty price tag of €21.99 comes with it. (I think I’ll wait – I’ve become good at that over the last year).
Set in the fantasy world of Kumandra, Raya – Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess – must fight to save her world from the clutches of the Druun – monsters that wiped out all but one dragon hundreds of years before.
Daughter to the chief of the Heart tribe, we meet Raya who is being trained to guard the orb that has kept her kingdom at peace for 500 years.
However, when a member of the tribe deceives Raya and steals the magical sphere, the dreaded Druun are awoken.
This means Raya must find the last surviving dragon, who is thought to have created the orb, fight off the challenges of the other tribes and defeat the dreaded Druun before it is too late.
Raya and the Last Dragon is a brilliant story beautifully told. With hilarious characters (Little Noi, the baby con artist is my fave) and amazing animation, Raya looks like she is going to be the next big thing in Disney’s star-studded ensemble.