A new trailer for Disney's newest feature film Raya and the Last Dragon has just been released by Disney. The movie tells the story of Raya, a girl who is searching for the last dragon in order to try and restore peace to her land. Raya and the Last Dragon stars Kelly Marie Tran and also features voice acting by Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, and Benedict Wong.
While Disney released a teaser for Raya and the Last Dragon in October 2020, the newest trailer provides the most comprehensive look yet at the story and world of the film. This includes the first clear introduction to the dragon herself. While it's always hard to get a real feel for a full movie from a two minute trailer, the trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon fits in several characters, action sequences, and main points of the premise. Here is a breakdown of some of the best and worst aspects of the trailer.
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A positive sign for any trailer, the protagonist of the film, Raya, is a standout in the Raya and the Last Dragon trailer. Voiced by Star Wars' Kelly Marie Tran, Raya has a mission and perspective that is clear even from two minutes of footage. She's focused and determined, dedicated to finding the last dragon and bringing her lands and people back together even though you can tell she's had her struggles. Raya is also clearly a powerful fighter, seen in the trailer in several impressive battle sequences.
Raya follows in the footsteps of characters like Brave's Merida and the titular characters of Moana and Mulan as a female Disney lead whose main arc does not appear to focus on love and romance. There's nothing wrong with the more romantic Disney movies, and they are worthy and well-loved in their own right. But it's always exciting to see female leads in stories with a different focus and vision.
At the beginning of the trailer, Raya can be heard narrating "Remember what we're looking for, and don't trust anyone" as the audience gets their first look at her. Directly afterwards she approaches and picks up a crying baby in an alleyway, wondering where its parents are. The baby turns out to be distracting her as its animal friends steal some of her things and it attacks her with ninja moves before escaping. "A con baby??" Raya says incredulously before running after it. As a one-off gag, this is pretty funny. But then Raya recruits the baby to her team and it is present at other moments throughout the trailer.
Firstly, it's unclear how the baby fits in tonally, although that could be a trailer specific issue. Despite being a cartoon, it feels almost overly silly. Second, the baby character feels like it was included because the creators thought it would appeal to the younger members of the audience. While there's nothing wrong with appealing directly to kids, characters like this can grate on audience members of all ages if not used correctly and sparingly.
The design of the dragon in Raya and the Last Dragon is a standout in the trailer. The dragon, named Sisu, is shades of blue with purple accents, with a long thin body, flowing tail, and horns on her head. There are no wings on the dragon, but she is shown bounding through the air on purple spots of light. The design is not only instantly memorable, but not the typical dragon design, standing apart from dragons in franchises like How to Train Your Dragon.
The very end of the trailer reveals that Sisu can also shapeshift into a human, a power neither she nor Raya seem to know she had. This opens up lots of interesting possibilities for the character herself as well as for the plot of the film and the lore of the world.
In the trailer, during what seems like Raya and Sisu's first meeting, Raya tells her that they really need her help. Sisu, voiced by actress Awkwafina, says "I'm gonna be real with you. I'm not like the best dragon." She goes on to say "Have you ever done like a group project but there's just like that one kid who didn't pitch in as much but still ended up with the same grade?" referring to how she isn't as good as other dragons.
While there's nothing inherently wrong with this joke, it feels out of place in the overall world as seen in the trailer. However, this is only the trailer, and the joke could land very differently in the full context of the movie itself.
The glimpses of the world and lore of the film that are shown in the trailer are breathtaking. Raya and the Last Dragon is beautifully animated, bringing alive the setting of the film. There are specific colours and details for every single individual place that can be seen in the trailer. The dockside market at the beginning of the trailer, the deserts, the dragon's cave, the throne room; each and every one of these settings manage to have their own aesthetic while remaining cohesive with one another.
There was clearly a lot of work put into the worldbuilding of Raya and the Last Dragon. Disney is known for the detail and individual aesthetics of its recent films especially, and this one is no different. Things like the character's clothing or Raya's sword are all beautifully rendered and come together with the settings in the trailer to present a clear world and vision. It is this kind of detail that makes audiences excited to watch the movie.
Raya and the Last Dragon will be released on March 5 2021 in theatres and on Disney Plus with premiere access.
