A triumph of design, Raya and the Last Dragon is held back by a lackluster story, one cobbled together from various influences (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, an array of Southeast Asian cultures) and bent in service of a tortured—and somewhat confused—lesson about learning to trust. I won’t get into the extensive lore; suffice it to say Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) is a lone warrior who hopes to reunite the broken fantasy world of Kumandra by finding Sisu (Awkwafina), a rumored, hidden holdout from the long-gone days of dragons. Riding across desert vistas in her grass hat and flowing cloak, Raya cuts a striking adventure figure, as if The Force Awakens’ Rey had grown up in the Philippines rather than Jakku. Sisu, meanwhile, is a silly yet sylphlike turquoise creature—something like a more majestic My Little Pony. (At times she also takes the shape of a human, complete with endearingly jumbled teeth and a fountain of cotton-candy hair.) Just as dazzling as the character and costume design is that of the weaponry (including Raya’s extending sword) and the varied landscapes of the different kingdoms that comprise Kumandra. Forest mountains and silky waterways unfurl across the screen, inviting your eye to explore every corner of the frame. But since this is a Disney production, it’s reasonable to demand a compelling story to match.
