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Nothing is especially original in "Raya and the Last Dragon," but in a way, everything is.
The fantasy adventure -- in which a young woman searches for five pieces of a magical gem, hoping to unite five warring kingdoms -- often looks like Tatooine from the "Star Wars" movies, and its mythic quest has a "Lord of the Rings" vibe. It's more lighthearted than either of those lucrative bits of intellectual property, but the big difference in "Raya" is that virtually all of the important characters are women. From Asia. Who never once need a dude to rescue them. Or romance them.
After a wordy narrated prologue, Raya and the klutzy dragon, a live wire named Sisu and voiced by actor Awkwafina, are off on a quest...