Since its release in 2016, Moana has established itself as a beloved Disney classic for all audiences complete with beautiful visuals, a memorable soundtrack blending Polynesian influences and contemporary pop, and compelling characters. Moana follows the journey of adventurous teenager Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), who sails across the ocean with the once powerful, wisecracking demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to break a millennium-long curse and save her people.
Moana 2, which was released in theaters on Nov 27, 2024, is the much anticipated sequel. The story picks up three years after the previous film and begins with a scene of Moana running across an island with loyal animal companions Heihei and Pua, as they explore unknown islands to find other people beyond her home reef. Moana becomes the Tautai of her village, a leader who guides their people in wayfinding.
She is soon called by Tautai Vasa, the last great wayfinder before her, to voyage out to sea again to find the ancient island Motu Fetu and break the curse of the storm god Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea’i). Moana is joined by a crew which includes Moni (Hualalai Chung), a storyteller and great fan of Maui; Kele (David Fane), a disgruntled old farmer with no intention of going out to sea; and Loto (Rose Matafeo), a hyperactive engineer. Another new character is also introduced: Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), Moana’s cute and energetic younger sister.
Something I greatly enjoyed while watching this film were the visuals. The shimmering effects on the ocean were absolutely captivating, and the lush tropical scenery was unique and beautiful.
I greatly appreciated how there were more Polynesian influences in this film, despite the first film having many of them as well. There was definitely more research put into this film, as one could see in the portrayal of dances and the language. There was a scene at the beginning where a few women were dancing to a traditional piece, wearing traditional accessories like wreaths. I also noticed a few instances in the beginning when the people were conversing in their native language, which was nice to hear and gave audiences a look into the culture of an often underrepresented community.
The elements of humor were entertaining, with plenty of jokes throughout the movie in the dialogue and in the actions of the characters.
I also enjoyed the scenes between Moana and Simea, as they were beautiful and heartwarming. Simea is someone who greatly enjoys Moana’s company and who misses her whenever she has to leave the island to explore other places. It was sweet to see the two sisters spending time together and to see Moana assuring her that she would always be with Simea. I felt that the addition of Simea increased the stakes for Moana’s mission.
While the graphics and dialogue were entertaining, the plot was rather weak and cluttered. The first half of the movie was slow, with the action only picking up well into the later half. The ending felt rushed and hard to comprehend, especially the crew’s final encounter with Nalo. I also found it hard to follow the scene where Maui was supposedly talking with an unseen voice as I wasn’t able to see who Maui was talking to and why. I also couldn’t understand the location in that scene and it didn’t make sense to me why Maui was there.
The songs in the movie were nothing compared to the soundtrack in the previous film. The songs were boring and they weren’t catchy, unlike classics from the previous film such as “You’re Welcome” and “How Far I’ll Go”. “Beyond” was one of the better tracks, and I liked how the song was like a continuation of “How Far I’ll Go”.
I felt that the inclusion of the new characters was not as well executed as it could have been. Out of all the new people in Moana’s crew, only Moni seemed to be enthusiastic and contributed to the mission. Loto caused a lot more issues than a realistic canoe-designing engineer would have, and that left no room for her personality. I also didn’t see the point of adding Kele, because all he did was cower below deck and he couldn’t even keep the plants alive to feed everyone, which was the whole point of bringing him on the mission. Viewers never get to meet Nalo, except for a short scene during the credits, and we never hear why his goal mattered to him. We also don’t see Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) after the musical number in her bat cave, and there was no closure to her story. Finally, I thought that Simea and her drama about Moana being “gone forever” was a little repetitive after a certain point.
Moana 2 doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor since it has a weak plot, boring soundtrack, and flat characters. However, I still enjoyed Moana 2 because of its wisecracking dialogue and beautiful graphics. This is a good watch if you like Moana and other Disney princess films, as well as Mufasa: The Lion King and Spellbound.
7.5/10
