The best thing I can say about Disney’s Moana 2 is that it looks beautiful, even more vibrant and colorful than the 2006 original.
Outside of that, the music is highly forgettable (songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tunes from the first film are sorely missed, replaced by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear's, who prefer “soaring” to “memorable”), the new characters are interesting but not compelling, and most of the characters from the first film only seem to show up here for the vibe, including Dwayne Johnson’s shapeshifting demigod Maui.
Taking place three years after the events of the first film, Moana 2 features a more mature and experienced way-finding Moana (Auli‘i Cravalho), returning from yet another journey to a surrounding island in the hopes that she can find proof that other civilizations exist (presumably connected to her people through ancestry). We are reunited with Moana’s parents, Temuera Morrison’s Chief Tui, head of Motunui Island; and Nicole Scherzinger’s Sina. We’re also introduced to Moana’s little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), who seems to exist solely for the cute factor. Not long after her return, Moana is contacted by her ancestors and tasked by the ocean to journey to the far seas to break the storm god Nalo’s curse on the hidden island of Motufetu, which was once the connecting point of all the ocean’s islands.
Moana quickly sets out on her next adventure, this time with a larger crew that includes grumpy farmer Kele (David Fane), quirky architect Loto (Rose Matafeo), and warrior/storyteller Moni (Hualālai Chung), who also is a massive Maui fanboy. And let’s not forget Moana’s animal buddies: her rooster Hei Hei (Alan Tudyk) and Pua the pig. It just so happens that Maui is being held prisoner by the witch Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), who is somehow affiliated with Nalo and another nasty force called Kakamora. In true Disney spirit, most of the bad guys are just allies waiting to be noticed, and so there’s almost no actual tension or drama in Moana’s journey. Sing a song, solve the problem, repeat.
This film was originally conceived as a Disney+ series, and the overtly episodic structure of the reworked movie still shows signs of this. It might also explain why Maui is really only in Moana 2 at the beginning and end; considering that one of the first film’s greatest strengths was the interplay between Cravalho and Johnson, it’s a shame to see that element vanish as well.
Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller (all first-time filmmakers who came out of the animation departments of other films) and still featuring essential, culturally specific story points, the movie is far from terrible. It’s just uninspired and too eager to please everyone making it and viewing it. There are little moments that I liked (for example, when Moana’s grandmother Tala’s spirit returns to her as a manta ray to give advice and support) and, as mentioned, the visuals are stunning.
But children who grew up with Moana as an adventurous heroine have aged eight years and may have higher entertainment standards than they once did. I know I do. And I also know that you don’t mess with chemistry between lead characters.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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