Centuries ago, the peaceful and prosperous sub-continent of Kumandra was ravaged by the Druun, evil, dark-colored spirits that turn every living thing in their path to stone.
Kumandra was saved by the magic of the Last Dragon, Sisu, who created a powerful magic gem to drive away the Druun. She then disappeared, and the human tribes who were left behind began a power struggle over the gem, splitting into five kingdoms: Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon and Tail.
The Land of Heart manages to retain control of the gem, and five hundred years after the Druun war, its leader hopes to re-forge an alliance of all the human peoples. He invites the other leaders to his kingdom. His daughter Raya shares her father's idealism, and she takes this as an opportunity to befriend Namaari, Princess of the Fang.
Namaari's motives for the friendship, however, are not as sincere as Raya's. The Fang attempt to steal the gem, and in the ensuing battle, the gem is shattered into several pieces. The protection over Kumandra fails, and the Druun return, devastating the Land of Heart and sending the other tribes scurrying back to their homes, each with a fragment of the gem as a limited form of protection from the Druun.
And that's just the first twenty minutes of the film! The bulk of the movie is actually set six years later, as Raya - who survived the Druun thanks to her father's self-sacrifice - seeks to reunite the various parts of the gem and restore the land's protection: a quest which will, as you might expect from the title and the image above, lead her to finally locate the Last Dragon, Sisu.
Raya and the Last Dragon does a good job of packing a lot of exposition into its opening quarter hour or so. Some of that is done through voice over narration, but more is done with exposition and expressive animation. You'll definitely feel Raya's sense of betrayal when she realises that Namaari's friendship is not sincere.
In terms of its main storyline, the film perhaps feels a little formulaic. You'll probably not be surprised to learn that the success or failure of the struggle with the Druun will ultimately come down to whether or not the five tribes can (symbolically, at least) overcome their mistrust of each other and work together. That motif is pretty obvious from the outset. I don't necessarily think that that's a problem in and of itself, but I did find the execution of it a smidgen overdone and heavy-handed.
On the plus side, the film has plenty of amusing sequences, nice animation, and a talented voice cast. Solid stuff, though some scenes might be a bit intense for very young viewers.
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