Moana 2

Review by Mark Woodring

Disney is kind of having a rough time right now. Their last few projects have been… lackluster… overall (save for Inside Out 2), so why not go back to a property that has a dedicated audience like Moana?

**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**

Moana 2 - Review
Moana 2 (Disney)

100 Minutes, Rated PG
Written by Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller, Bek Smith
Directed by David G Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller

Synopsis:

After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.

 

And we’re not even talking about the “live action” remake of the original film that’s coming soon.

Moana 2 picks up some time after the first film, and once again, Moana is tasked to save the world. If she can’t find a way to bring all the peoples of the ocean together again by raising a lost island, her people’s story will simply end.

To do that, she’ll need the help of Maui once again, as well as Hei Hei the chicken and Pua the pig.

I’m sure by now you’ve heard all the negativity surrounding this one, so let’s not beat around the bush; here’s my impressions of the film:

  • The script is undercooked. It could have used a minimum of 2 more revisions to develop the story and character flows across the board.
  • The animation is as good as the first film.
  • Too often, Dwayne Johnson’s Maui was saddled with some anachronistic dialog, like a crack about a “butt-dial” which “will make sense in 2000 years.” It’s like the writers were trying to channel the genius of Robin Williams’ Genie, but this ain’t Aladdin and The Rock ain’t Robin.
  • Speaking of channeling, The film opens with Maui hanging in chains just like Thor in Thor: Ragnarok. It’s clearly a cribbed setup and it’s terrible, especially since Maui can’t free himself as Thor did.

The entire thing is just too scattershot for anyone hoping for a narrative to pull all the cultural and fantastical elements together for its 100 minute run time. Sure, kids will enjoy watching Maui be silly and Moana save the day (still often clumsily, as in the first film).

But, hey, now we’ve added a veritable cornucopia of archetype supporting characters to come along on the journey: big, muscular (but nerdy) history dude to interpret the old stories for them, the hyperactive, uber-intelligent girl who designs boats and other contraptions, and the crotchety old farmer who’s brought along to tend to the plants they’ll need to augment their diet of fish on their long journey.

It’s too much, accompanied by not enough development.

It’s fine, but barely, and that’s sad, as a quick revisit of even a bit of the original will remind you how much better that was than this one.

Moana 2 is in theaters now and features the voices of Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hauolalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Temuera Morrision, and Alan Tudyk.

And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.

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