I may have touched upon this in my review of this film, but after Moana came out in late 2016, the reputation it achieved afterwards has been astonishing but no less deserving. Despite being released in the same year as 2016's Disney's Oscar-winning animated hit, Zootopia, Moana achieved a staggering following in the eight years it's been around, not to mention boosted a more widespread awareness of Polynesian culture thanks to what Moana introduced of it. It was even popular enough to have become one of the most often-streamed movies in the history of Disney+, so that tells me right away just what a following this film had achieved.
Well, it just so happens that because Moana became so popular, specifically at Disney+, it gave the Disney+ heads an idea to pitch a streaming-exclusive TV show of Moana that would have continued its story, along with one for The Princess and the Frog called Tiana. But after a few years passed, the Moana TV show went through some hurdles and eventually became reworked as a feature-length film, making it technically reestablished as a sequel.
Hence, Moana 2 was born.
Only time will tell whether that will affect Tiana the same way. But as for this movie, let's look at the story first.
Three years after Moana's quest to restore the heart of Te Fiti, she was hailed as something of a local celebrity to her Motunui people for doing the unthinkable, braving the most treacherous waters to find what she was searching for, and achieving what she set out to accomplish. One change that occurred since Moana's departure is that this time, she now has a baby sister named Simea, who looks up to her.
However, Moana received another call from her ancestors, but it was not because their island was undergoing a decrepit state again. This time, the call alerted Moana and her people of a looming darkness from a raging magical storm conjured by a devious, raging, ominous-looking god named Nalo concerning a missing island called Motufetu. But even this was not a coincidence. One of the first few shots of the film demonstrates Moana scavenging the islands for any trace of civilization from that island, such as what she had seen on a broken pot. So, that tells me that she has been looking for the island for quite some time now. The reason for that is that Motufetu was described as the island that every nearby seafarer would have witnessed as a gateway into other nearby seafaring communities scattered throughout different islands. But with Nalo having churned up a storm over the island, it then disappeared into the seas below, and it kept most of the seafaring communities from across the ocean from venturing out into the oceans to track down Motufetu's whereabouts. Maybe the idea of the seafarers settling on the islands out of safety was not only due to the monsters roaming about, was it?
Thus, after receiving that call from her ancestors not just after nearly being struck to death by a bolt of lightning in the Motunui temple but also from witnessing an unusual-looking comet that's been soaring through the sky – and, of course, given what kind of period this could have occurred in, I can understand her and her people's astonished gazes upon the meteor and potential lack of understanding for it, possibly – Moana decided to set out at sea, much to the objections of Simea, who felt like she's been gone away for far too long and far too often.
And as Moana set sail, she roped in some friends to tag along with her. And I don't mean Hei Hei or the pig Pua, but a few more Motunui natives, too. They included Kele, a crabby farmer brought along to identify which foods are safe to eat while at sea, which makes sense considering how Moana probably packed up some food from Motunui with her on her journeys. Also joining her was a boat technician named Loto – who, I might add, had a pretty astonishing sense of perfection when it came to seafaring boat structures – and a somewhat excitable young man named Moni, who greatly admired Māui. And by admiring him, I don't mean in an 'erecting a shrine and leaving offerings to the demigod' kind of way; he admired him the same way a modern fanboy admires his biggest heroes and celebrities. It was just the six of them sailing out to navigate the waters in search of Motufetu as they ran into all kinds of different obstacles, including a surprisingly revealing reunion with the Kakamoras and a giant clam-like monster that could easily be perceived as an island before it opened its mouth to swallow whatever is near it whole. Moana even encountered a slithery, menacing bat woman that Moana ran into named Matangi, a servant of Nalo who I'm convinced was also a demigod herself. Whether she is a demigod from Polynesian culture, I don't know for sure.
Fortunately, for all the troubles and obstacles they had to overcome to reach their destination – or, instead, their invisible destination – they would also have run into Māui himself, who was also trapped inside the clam monster and by Matangi herself before ultimately reuniting with Moana after having been away for quite some time. So, it's just a series of obstacles and challenges for Moana and her friends to overcome as they get one step closer to reaching where Motufetu was supposed to be and the source of the calamity.
So, would Moana have succeeded in breaking the curse? And would Māui have proven himself as equally adaptable and helpful to Moana and her gang as he was to Moana on their last trip together…as well as the hero Moni knows him to be?
I will admit, I seemed fine with the idea of Moana continuing as a TV show, but when I noticed how they were gonna rewrite it as a feature-length sequel to the film, one of my first thoughts, especially after watching the trailers, was:
They better not screw this up.
Moana is such a prestigious animated jewel in the Disney crown that I feel like Moana doesn't deserve anything less than what it can be given as a means to benefit its legacy, even if it means a feature-length sequel that has the chance to continue the movie's story. Besides, because Moana only set out at sea to restore the heart of Te Fiti, which would then have helped her island recover and also opened the doors to discover what more there is to be found on the horizons out at sea, the idea of watching Moana and her gang reach out to nearby communities in an attempt to stay connected feels like the proper, organic way for Moana 2 to go.
However, the obstacles that Moana and her gang had to confront to achieve it felt like roadblocks. And, frankly, I mean that they were as much of a roadblock to the movie as they were to its characters.
That's not to say that they were not interesting or entertaining. For example, the clam monster was a very well-designed and ominous monster that would have swallowed up anything and anyone whole. By the time the characters ended up in the literal 'belly of the beast,' there were all kinds of freaky-looking creatures dwelling there. Now, this creature, I admire so much not just because of its intimidating design and appearance, not to mention how inconspicuous it can be to nearby seafarers, but also because the idea of it being a living, breathing monster that can swallow up anything whole makes him look like the living organic equivalent of Lakotai, just in a way that's more surreal and off-putting than, say, Monstro from Pinocchio.
However, there are a few things that I thought were a little problematic.
But before I get to that, let me address this to you. I didn't think that the Kakamoras coming up to Moana and her gang all over again would have amounted to anything spectacular. But whereas in the first film, they showed up as another tribe of seafarers who scavenged for anything they could get their hands on, including the heart of Te Fiti, here, it seemed like they were there to bring characters back with no purpose. At one point, much like how the first film introduced them as an homage to Mad Max: Fury Road, I wondered if perhaps they were brought back in this movie with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in mind.
Except in this case, they seemed to have a purpose, just one that I did not see coming.
In this case, the Kakamoras lived on an island like Moana, her people, and all the other seafarers who used to sail out at sea. Only in their case, the home island they tracked down was among those subject to a disappearance courtesy of Lalo, alongside Motufetu. So, they had to roam the seas without a home to land on. Now, I found that detail to be the most unprecedented. Even if they looked like they were among the monsters roaming about the seas in search of the heart of Te Fiti, it's interesting to know that this time, they were searching for their home instead of the heart of Te Fiti. Even if the results don't always add up correctly, watching the movie paint the Kakamoras in a more complex light than in the last film is still neat.
And 7 times out of 10, I think it worked just fine for me, outside of one member of the Kakamora tagging along with the group on their adventures. Now, I can understand if this guy volunteered to join Moana and her group in finding the island since he knows his home island had submerged into the sea with Motufetu. But I don't think he was established with enough personality to help him stand out from the rest of his tribe, much like how Moana stood out from the rest of hers. So, he was almost dead weight.
In addition to the Kakamoras, one of their companions was a giant, round, gooey creature that could absorb the toxins remaining in the victims from their tranquilizing darts. This creature seemed pretty unusual, but he was too cutesy for me. Something about him makes me miss the freakiness and borderline fright factor I experienced from that four-armed mask creature back in Lakotai.
But that's not the only problem with the characters. I think a few others should be addressed.
For one thing, the 'bat-woman' I talked about, Matangi, who nestled in the belly of the giant clam monster and entrapped Māui, seemed like she had the potential to be a great villain. I've never seen any of the posters or trailers showcasing her; I usually like to go in blind. But with her exotically devious design, intimidating voice, and wacky yet no less off-putting personality, it seemed to me like she was ripe for a long-desired taste of villainy in a Disney film, and a recent one, at that, especially after Disney's last attempt to do that – i.e., King Incognito from Wish – fell flat on its face.
But here, I wouldn't say it backfired as spectacularly as others say. But this is where I feel the movie didn't try hard enough to make Matangi a compelling Disney villain. As she was in the film, she introduced herself as a fellow demigoddess who had known about Māui and his previous theft, messed with him as such before doing the same thing to Moana, and admitted to being in cahoots with Nalo. Then, she subtly, but with a hidden conscience, pushed Moana out of her way and set her off to regain her confidence. Now, I find that to be a slightly decent change of pace in how she was set up to be a villain only to do things out of conscience instead of just because she likes indulging in villainy. But like I said, I don't think the movie tried hard enough with this character to help her stand out as she could have.
But one part of the film that surprised me, but not in a good way this time, was just how little development Moana's newfound gang had going for them.
I can see Kele, the farmer, as having an entertaining personality since he had to adjust to the ocean when he was so used to farming on land. Most of the time, this occurred to get a good laugh out of him, which is okay sometimes. But after being stuck with that for most of the movie, it slowly became too one-note.
And I can say the same thing about Loto, who seemed like a perfectionist concerning boat structures. Now, I like how her frenetic obsessions were about ensuring that the boats were in good order or adjusted for flexible means. But outside of that, I feel like there's not enough established out of her to make me wonder how she grew to have this fixation, especially after seafaring was barely talked about among Motunui for so long.
And I think the character that could have used a lot more development is Moni, the guy who idolized Māui. I can understand how he idolized him, especially after hearing stories about him through Moana after she returned home from her journey in the last film. But I wonder what he saw in Māui compared to how Grandma Tala viewed Māui when she passed down the myths of him to the children of Motunui. With Grandma Tala, she relayed to Māui like he was an actual demigod. With Moni, he idolized Māui like he was worshiping a celebrity. You can say that some natives had different ways of idolizing their heroes, but this one seems a little off.
If even more personality had been established with these characters regarding how they related to Moana, her people, their community, and how they got used to ocean travel after being longtime island dwellers, then I would have seen them expressing more personalities outside their defining characteristics. But as is, outside of providing valuable tools for Moana's second journey out, I didn't feel like they established enough defining characteristics to help them stand out or be seen as worthy sidekicks to someone like Moana.
And that's another thing. I was blown away by Moana's journey in the first movie because of how it was just her, Hei Hei, and then Māui, and from there, it was the three of them going on their journeys together to reach their destination, even if they had to go through the Kakamoras and Lalotai to get there. There's a bit of a soul-searching angle apparent here, and outside of the beauteous atmosphere — I'll address that very soon — that's one of the reasons why I was so lost in what Moana went through and dealt with in the first film.
This film has that massive scope, but it looks massive rather than feeling massive. Even though the characters were trekking unexplored watery terrain, something about this journey feels too modest and familiar to capture any of the epic scope unleashed in the first Moana.
If you want a better example of how Moana 2 could have lived up to what I believe it could have accomplished, compare this film to Raya and the Last Dragon. Much like the first Moana, this film benefited from an epic scope, with the main hero wandering from one obstacle to another to reach her goals, but was also accompanied by characters who each left a distinct mark in a short and sweet and no less effective manner. Because of this, they each established their personalities with so little. As the case may be in Moana 2, the side characters who tagged along with Moana did not establish themselves with enough characteristics outside of what I laid out to formulate an intriguing personality.
In which case, I can sum it up as three's company, eight's a crowd.
One part of the film that caught me off-guard was what the main characters went through in the climax. Before I hop on to that, I will hop on to spoilers here, so you've been warned.
SPOILER ALERT
In the climax, Moana, Māui, and their friends banded together to try to grab the Motufetu from the sea with Māui's hook. Now, I just relished this part of the climax since it allowed the audience to finally see Māui's true powers as a demigod who lifted islands from the sea with that hook. But at one point, his drive to lift Motufetu back up resulted in him being stripped of his tattoos and powers by Nalo, which was not what I would have seen coming, considering that he was a demigod. But what shocked me more was to see Moana struck by the same thunderbolt, like earlier in the film, only this time, she died from the hit. At first, it did seem like she was bound to be on her way out, which I was taken aback by. You have Moana, one of the most fascinating characters to have ever come out from Disney recently, and here she was on the brink of death. I mean, sure, she was revived, which I saw coming nonetheless, thanks to the ancestors and even Grandma Tala's powers in breathing new life into her. I don't know how they would have done that unless they inhabited some of the same powers as Māui or Nalo, now that they were spirits of the sea and sky. But still, the idea of a Disney Princess coming this close to dying was pretty unprecedented. Outside of Frozen II, where Elsa suffered the same fate after being turned into an ice statue, the only other times I can recall where a Disney princess died only to come back to life was in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty.
SPOILERS END
But impressively, for all its shortcomings, I still don't think 'disaster' is the proper way to describe Moana 2 here. With all the previous setbacks from the film out of the way, let's hop on to three parts of the movie that may have helped the movie earn itself a reputation as a decent follow-up worthy of Moana.
One of the most prominent aspects of the movie that drew worried reactions from everyone is that, aside from John Musker and Ron Clements not coming back to direct this film, it also does not bring back Lin-Manuel Miranda to compose the songs for this film. I can understand that, considering how it takes the talents of designated artists who truly understand the core concepts of the story they mean to tell to make a story work, and that not having them on board would spell disaster.
With regards to the songs, they were still pretty fun and decent, even if, I agree, they might not be on par with the songs from the first film. And for what the songwriters managed to weave together, they are still catchy and fun and nearly came close to capturing Lin-Manuel Miranda's style, catchiness, and wordplay. It even helps that all the songs were co-written by the first movie's songs' co-writer, Opetaia Foaʻi.
The opening tune, 'We're Back,' is a fun introductory song that brings its audience up to date on Moana's adventures and where she and her fellow people have gone since her journey out into the oceans. It may feel a touch empty compared to songs like 'Where We Are' or 'We Know the Way,' but it still sets the stage for a nice return to Motunui and Moana's quests. So, I think that song works just fine.
As for the next song, 'Beyond,' sung by Moana? Outside of this song feeling like this movie's equivalent of 'How Far I'll Go,' it still expressed Moana's sense of inner self and her need to keep on going to see what more there is to be found after already establishing her self-worth as a seafarer among the Motunui people. Even though it does seem to fall on the same bill as the opening intro in terms of not carrying enough catchiness as Lin-Manuel Miranda's work, it still carries enough prowess and weight in what Moana dealt with for me to see 'Beyond' as a decent song that would have fit snugly with the first film if it was written for it.
At first, I believed that 'What Could Be Better Than This?', sung by Moana and her gang, was among the reasons I thought some of the film's songs came the closest to capturing Lin-Manuel Miranda's styles and melodies. The song itself may be just a simple song about the values of teamwork, but I feel drawn to its upbeat nature as Moana, Kele, Loto, and Moni all banded together with their collaborative brainpower to get the job done. I was also impressed by Rose Matafeo and how fast she could sing Loto's verses in the middle of the song. I was blown away by how fast she could sing her songs and convey it all without ever needing to stop for a breath. But even then, this is more of a style-over-substance song, and because I'm more of a substance-over-style kind of guy, this is where the next song comes in.
The closest thing we have to a quote 'villain song,' 'Get Lost,' could've been better, but at the same time, it's a little catchy. It highlighted Matangi's talents, sneaky nature, and reputation as a demigoddess. However, as much as I find it okay, there's something about the song's cryptic nature that I genuinely admire, down to its mere title. The song does a sneaky but equally impressive job of cluing me into this character's true nature when it seemed guaranteed to be a straight-up villain song. Now, I admire this song for at least sneaking in some layers to its songs that would have left me looking at the song in a more complex light, and I realize there's more to the song than meets the eye. This song is not Lin-Manuel Miranda's level of cleverness, let alone Frozen's level of layeredness, but it does come close.
And finally, we have 'Can I Get a Chee Hoo?', the main song that Māui sang as he tried to cheer Moana up when she felt like she hit rock bottom. After bringing herself and her friends into increasingly dangerous terrain, Moana questioned whether it was gonna be worth it and whether she would have broken the curse because of it, only for Māui to give her a pep talk, or a 'pep song', with what with Māui knew Moana had in her ever since they met. This song also came the closest to capturing Lin-Manuel Miranda's songs' style and fast-paced energy, and yes, much like how 'Beyond' is this movie's equivalent of 'How Far I'll Go,' 'Can I Get a Chee Hoo?' is pretty much this movie's equivalent of 'You're Welcome.'
Long story short, when you have it where almost all the songs don't feel out of place in Moana, even if Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved, you know that the songwriters did their absolute best to stick to what they know works the best for Moana, and went all out with it. It also helps that Opetaia Foaʻi, one of the original co-songwriters of the first film, came back to do the songs in this film, which makes sense. That explains why most songs here sounded as good as they can be, with or without Lin-Manuel Miranda.
And if there's only one objection I have to Lin-Manuel Miranda not being in this movie, it's the fact that he was roped in to do the songs for Mufasa: The Lion King over this. Lin-Manuel Miranda said he felt honored to compose songs for a franchise he was a huge fan of, which is usually understandable. But I could not care less; it still feels like he was suckered into pitching songs for the wrong type of movie, a movie we know is a blatant cash grab and potentially a dead-on-arrival follow-up. Could Miranda not have composed his music for this film, too, a sequel with far more potential and promise than it had currently lived up to? That's one of my biggest gripes with Lin-Manuel Miranda not being available in this film.
Anyway, moving on.
The second big thing I admire about this movie boils down to the two lead voice actors who returned from the first movie to lend their vocal talents here. In addition, of course, all the actors and actresses who returned here from the first film conveyed their characters as nicely as they could have, even if they weren't given enough to work with. Temuera Morrison conveyed parental wisdom and confidence through Tui, Moana's father. Alan Tudyk still made some good, funny impressions as Hei Hei. Even Rachel House came back to voice Grandma Tala, and she conveyed her with as much wisdom and conscientiousness for her granddaughter's sake as I remember her establishing in the first film.
However, the two stars I'm about to pay attention to steal the show here once again.
The first one is Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana. Like in the first film, she established Moana's inner confidence as she tried to comprehend what issues went on in front of her and her fellow people and make the right decisions to push herself and her people forward regarding ocean exploration. But whereas in the last film, Cravalho also established the borderline naïveté of a young teenager working her way through the messes she got herself into while also picking up on whatever Moana fumbled on along the way, here, I feel like her vocals slowly matched those of a young woman who grew more confident in her decision-making, her navigational skills, and who and what Moana deemed suitable for whatever tasks she decided to do. Never mind that the last time she played her, she was 15, and now she's around 24. That still feels like the right age for her to have expressed Moana's characteristic urges at this stage in her life. Even if Moana did not look any older than she did in the last film, Cravalho still conveyed her with just the right vocals to match Moana's sense of accumulated experience.
Say what you will about how Māui's character was handled in this film compared to the last one. However, I assure you that whenever Māui was involved in this film, Dwayne Johnson still played him with enough of a bombastic nature, quirky antics, snarky remarks, and tenderness that he mastered in the first Moana. Because of that, despite the eight-year gap between films, Johnson still conveyed Māui's character as if it were only yesterday. He still played Māui with enough commitment for me to buy into how much fun he had playing this character, which I think is also a bit of a coincidence. I understand that James Woods had a lot of fun playing Hades in Hercules and all the other adaptations that have ever surfaced, with James Woods reprising his role as Hades each time. I wonder if Dwayne Johnson might feel as committed to playing Māui the same way. I know he'll be playing Māui in the live-action version of Moana, too, but right now, let's pretend that that won't happen.
As for the third thing that helps this movie stand out? Even before I saw it, I will admit that if one thing made the move for Moana 2 to go from being a Disney+ limited series to being a theatrically released sequel the right move, it lies in the animation. And I concur with everyone else here; it still feels marvelous.
Even if the epic scope is not as reflected thoroughly in this film as in the last one, I am still in awe by what the animators unleashed with Moana 2 here. They still nailed down the transparency of the water shores. They still got off on all the details apparent throughout, from the grains of sand to the clothing, the textures, the local paintings and drawings, and the creative scales of the monsters. They were still very elaborate and helped bring this movie to life. I have seen many instances where a movie can look amazing but stumble with its story and characters. Thankfully, even though Moana 2 was not without its shortcomings, it still establishes quite a decent amount that it can accomplish. What amazes me further about the animation is that it was done not in the Burbank office of Disney's animation department but in the Vancouver branch. That branch would typically have overseen Disney's animation projects for its television or streaming department, which made sense given Moana 2's supposed direction in its intended medium. And for them to go all out with the animation for Moana 2, watching it all on the big screen left me feeling transported into their world, making this feel like a genuine continuation of Moana's story.
Let's pay attention to some of the other voice actors who joined this film.
First off, I admire some of the gleeful fanboy natures that Hualālai Chung gave to Moni. Even though he conveyed him with enough of a dignified tone to highlight how he may have been one of the more muscular boys on Motunui, there was still a sense that Chung allowed his inner self, the self that is very enthusiastic about the idea of Māui being around, to shine through. So even if it was nothing to write home about, his performance still sounded decent and gave this character a slightly delightful angle.
I honestly thought David Fane's portrayal of Kele was pretty funny. Fane's gripes about Kele's conditions while being surrounded by all the things he's not the most familiar with convey him as the type of island dweller who seemed sour but never to the point where he was unlikable or pessimistic. Every time Fane played this character, he still conveyed Kele and his gripes with just a twinge of humorous flavoring to make his retorts feel more colorful than ever.
And Rose Matafeo, who played Loto? Besides the phenomenal fast-paced middle section of the song that she perfected, I like just how frenetic and stressful she can sound when Loto was troubleshooting every nook and cranny of the boat construction and trying to demonstrate to others like Moana how the boat should be structurally put to good use.
Even though her character seemed underutilized in this film, Awhimai Fraser's performance elevated Matangi with memorable impressions highlighting her unsuspecting demeanor. Whenever Matangi seemed spiteful, like she was with Māui, Fraser unveiled her supposedly villainous side. But when Matangi spoke with Moana, she revealed her craftier essence, especially since Moana mistook her for a bad guy the first time.
As for the main lead characters themselves, how are they like in this film?
As for Moana herself, she became a hero to her people after restoring Te Fiti's heart to her in the last film. As she was in this film, she seemed to be becoming a young leader in full bloom after traveling to many distant islands in her search for Motufetu, hoping to connect herself and her people to the others nearby. Now, it may make her look a little too standard since there's not much complexity with her character regarding her goals, motivations, and need for independence or help from others. But what she established still feels like admirable traits in and of themselves, and they still help her character shine through even at her dullest moments. So, I don't think she's done poorly at all in this film.
And Māui himself? I feel like he may have just tagged along to the party to get a slice of the action. There may not have been as much of a purpose for him in this film as there was for him in the last movie. But to see him respond to some of the other characters who tagged along with Moana, including Moni, at least still got him going on the general vibe of there being some awkward communications between himself as a demigod and more regular people like Moni. And even then, while his history with Matangi and his reputation as a demigod, judging from his theft of Te Fiti's heart, was not elaborated on very much, there's still a sense that, every time he spoke with Moana, there's more of a connection between him and her now than there ever was in the last film. So, just seeing these two try to work together again to achieve their goal was admirable.
Now, there is one character in the movie that I did have a soft spot for, and that would be Moana's little sister, Simea. Whenever I think back to her character, I always think of Simea as the type of little kid who may seem too young to understand certain things only for what she said and how she reacted to what people are telling her to clue the audience in that no, Simea is far more insightful and observant than that and could understand what's going on, even when she's being told otherwise. It's a bit like what I remember out of Danielle in My So-Called Life, and I'm noticing that reflected here in this character. And I'm also fond of the voice actress who played her, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda. She played her with just the right amount of childlike instincts for me to buy into Simea's age, but I also believe she played her with enough sass for me to catch on to her knowledge and awareness of certain goings-on. So, a part of me wishes that she was used more in this movie, but the movie probably did the right thing in not exploiting her character too much in the story. She was used in the film at just the right times and the right pace.
All in all, for what we got out of Moana 2, it wasn't exactly the epic sequel I hoped it would have been, but I noticed so many other good things about this film that I still believe it could have been a lot worse. It is a shame because, with Inside Out 2, I was so blown away by what this film had achieved compared to the first film that it left me hoping there would be an Inside Out 3. With Moana 2, however, I believe that unless the writers and animators can think of any clever ways that would have helped either Moana and her Motunui people finally intermingle with the island communities of nearby islands or give the villains a chance to shine, especially after we see them in the end credits scene, then I don't know how Moana 2 could continue the story beyond where it is right now. However, it does show a lot of promise with where it could go next. I hope that if they continue this story, they will do it right.
Until then, though, Moana 2 is still a risky continuation that mostly paid off, in my opinion. The animation is still stunning. Though the songs are nothing like those of Lin-Manuel Miranda, they still come close to being on the same level as his musical catalog. The characters are a colorfully eclectic bunch, even if some of them don't express it as such. The voice acting is still truly talented, especially Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, and for where the story went as far as the Moana universe is concerned, it is off to a good start, whether it reached the finish line or not. While I still agree with many people that we need more original ideas from Disney, as I may have mentioned to you before, I'm more open to the idea of sequels to animated Disney films just as long as I know that they are being taken care of by the right people who know the story and know how to continue it the right way. And even though it would have been nice to see Moana's continuing story as it was meant to be on Disney+, I still think it did its job just fine as a theatrically-released sequel, if for nothing else than to give its animation a chance to dazzle audiences all over again, just like the first Moana did.
However far this one will go, it may not have sailed far enough, but it was still a bold venture nevertheless.
My Rating
A high B
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