By 
COLORFUL AND FUN, YET
NOT EXACTLY EPIC AND MEMORABLE
In 2016, Walt Disney Studios released Moana, their latest animated feature film endeavor, which made a “big splash” during the holiday season. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the movie, which starred the voice talents of Dwayne Johnson and Auli’I Cravalho as well as Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jeamine Clement, and Nicole Scherzinger, follows the story of Moana, a strong-willed daughter of a chief of a costal Polynesian village, who is by the ocean itself, embarking an adventure with Maui, a legendary demigod, to reunite a mystical relic with the goddess Te Fiti and save her people from unsettling blight. Taking inspiration from Polynesian myths, cultural, and motifs, Moana debuted with great acclaim and praise from both critics and moviegoers alike, with many citing the film’s animation, music, and vocal performances being solid across the board. The animated movie also became a box office success, with Moana reaching roughly $687 million at the box office worldwide, becoming the 11th highest grossing film that year. In additional, the music received many nominations during the award season, including receiving two nods at the 89th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“How Far I’ll Go”). Now, eight years after the release of Mona, Walt Disney Animated Studios and directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller present the follow-up animated adventure to the 2016 film with the release of Moana 2. Does the movie find its place amongst its predecessor, or does it get lost at sea with its own ambition and mantra to the original?
THE STORY
Several years have passed since Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) saved her people with the help of the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), with the young woman now adopting the title of “wayfinder” and determined to explore the nearby island areas and trying to find other civilizations in their oceanic realm. At home, her father, Tui (Temuera Morrison) stands runs the day-to-day leadership as the chief of Motunui, but Moana is treated as a celebrity, including to her new little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda). However, a call from her ancestors triggers Moana to go on a new mission, hinting at following a shooting star to the lost legendary island of Motufetu, which connected all islands together through the water currents, but was sealed away by the vengeful deity god named Nalo. Desperately wanting to find more of her people across the sea, Moana accepts the journey into the ocean, joined by new several Motunui inhabitants as part of her crew, including the raft builder Loto (Rose Matafeo), the chronicler historian Moni (Hualalai Chung), and grumpy famer Kale (David Fane), while aniamls companions Pua and Hei-Hei come along for the voyage. Attempting to follow the sky to their destination, Moana and her friends face new challenges, including a run in with the Kakamora tribe as well as making contact once again with Maui, who’s is also looking for Motufetu over a previous quarrel with Nalo, yet gets captured by the god’s enforcer, Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) in the process. Together, Moana and Maui, along with the rest of the gang, make their way to heart of Nalo’s stormy seas, looking to free Motufetu from the clutches of the evil god and bring the lost islanders back together again.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
A call to the sea and an adventure steeped in cultural traditions and embracing a studio’s ideology. Yes, there is no denying the palpable that 2016’s Moana was a descive and big winning for Disney and how it once again embraced the studio’s signature style of princesses, memorable sidekick companions, and singing, yet it’s all done with a newer twist. Personally, while 2014’s Big Hero 6 faced mixed opinions and moved towards being marketed as an extension of the company’s acquisition of Marvel (the movie felt more catering towards fans of the superhero genre) and that 2016’s Zootopia, which I certainly loved and cherished, felt a bit different from thee classic cartoon motion pictures that Disney had normally done, Moana felt like a true and genuine Disney Animated Studios project; something akin to what 2013’s Frozen was able to accomplish. Yet, as mentioned, Moana, while fully adopting the “House of Mouse’s” style of filmmaking within characters, story, and other nuances, still managed to pull off a successful cartoon motion picture with Moana, delving into the Polynesian culture with its characters and motifs. I did love both Auli’I Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson who did some great voice acting in the co-lead roles of Moana and Maui, with both being fun and creative in their own respective rights and character influences. Naturally, the musical songs in the movie I felt were great from the catchy and bubbly and definitely were pretty memorable, which I love in a Disney movie.
Of course, I felt that the animation for Moana was incredible and still is. The usage of such vibrant colors and the intricate details of animation visuals made the whole background so lush and full life. Even the character models themselves (both major and minor ones) were detailed and brought to life in way that felt fluid and fun. Yes, I agree that there are a little bit of similarities with Moana and 1989’s The Litte Mermaid, with the main female protagonist feeling “trapped” and longing to be free to see the world (even the poignant songs feel the same), but still managed to speak to its own identity and not become an illusion to that particular film as the story progressed forward. In the end, Moana stands tall and proud in Disney’s illustrious animated catalogue of their cartoon feature films, embracing old ideas and identity monikers, yet still interjecting new ones to pave the way for new future.
This, of course, brings me back to talking about Moana 2, a 2024 animated film and the sequel film to 2016’s Moana. Given the amount of success and accolades that the movie received, it was almost forgone conclusion that a sequel would be greenlit immediately following Moana theatrical release. Rumors came and went, and the popularity of Moana continued to grow, but there was nothing concrete as to when a follow-up installment to the 2016 would be officially announced. Years passed by and then I first heard about a somewhat semi-follow up to Moana being considered to be release on Disney+ as a streaming TV series continuation and not a follow-up motion picture. This was a little bit understandable, especially since Disney was trying to build its library of original content for their platform streaming service and utilizing Moana, one of their newest flagship animated tales, would be a perfect choice. Even better was that Dwayne Johnson and Auli’I Cravalho were going to be coming back to reprise their character roles of Maui and Moana. Then in early 2024, the big news drop that Disney decided to restructure the narrative of their Moana series and release it has a second animated feature film and to be released in November 2024, which was caught the surprise move from them, but I was excited about this decision and given Moana 2 a more traditional (and proper) sequel treatment. A few months after that, the now cartoon movie started its marketing campaign, including the film’s trailers and TV spots, which did highlight a lot of visual appeal and high seas adventures for this second outing for Moana and Maui. So, yes, I was quite interested and excited to see Moana 2 and did see it over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend when it debuts. After a few days to digest and think about the movie, I am ready to share my personal thoughts on it. And what did I think of it? Well, I have mixed feelings about this and more on the disappointing side of things. Despite some great animation styling and some great voice talents from the cast, Moana 2 feels like a subpar cartoon sequel that struggles to find its own “wayfinder” footing upon the wide-open sea. There are moments where the animated feature comes together and “clicks” the right way and it still (as a whole entertaining), but lacks convention within its execution in its narrative progression, side characters, and song-related moments.
Moana 2 is directed by three directors, which includes David Derrick Jr., who has a background storyboarding artist (The Lion King and Moana), Jason Hand, who has a background as story / layout artist (Zootopia and Encanto), and Dana Ledoux Miller, who has a background as a screenplay writer (Narcos and Blood & Oil). Given their familiarity within their respective, this trio does sound like bit of oddball pairing to helm such an ambitious project like this for Disney, especially since it’s coming off the heels of the first film’s box office commercial and critical success. Still, the trio (most notably Derrick Jr. and Hand, have a background working on Disney project and (most likely) spearheaded this project in way that speak true to Disney’s signature identity and to stamina pedigree to 2016’s Moana. To that effect, the three directors do manage to capture the spirt of the first movie in a few key areas, keeping the feature lively within its story and characters and providing plenty of visual nuances to order to keep expectations high. As a whole, Moana 2 has a lot of similar animated veins of that its 2016 counterpart, finding Moana as a central figure and being called back to the sea, exploring the ocean on a new journey, with new encounters and lessons to be learned. It definitely works at some point, but not quite as strong as it was in the first installment (more on that below).
Keeping to the positives, the movie still retains a lot of the culture aspect and representation from Polynesian culture that continues to be quite prevalent in the feature’s background without feeling shoehorned in and / or pushing some type of agenda. It felt organic and natural in the first Moana and certainly the trio of directors certainly continue that trend in this film, expanding more cultural built moments and scenes that play a part in the main narrative of the movie’s storytelling. Plus, I felt that the film’s comedy throughout the sequel was amusingly fun and of the slapstick variety. Of course, it’s nothing quite as tactful and sharp as some might like it to be, but the comedic levity in and out of the main narrative definitely worked and help generate some moments that I did find myself chuckled more than I should. Again, it’s gear towards younger kids, so the jokes are more of the “sight gags” variety and easy for the “juice box” crowd to follow, which are the targeted demographic for this feature. So, don’t go into the movie thinking they’ll present anything risqué or highbrow material.
At its heart, the three directors find the focus of Moana and Maui’s journey to be built upon a foundation of many of the larger dramatic moments for the narrative being told. Again, it certainly worked in the first movie and does so again, able to charter a course that finds some merits within its character’s challenges and storytelling for these two protagonists. Additionally, the film’s action scenes are visually fun and exciting. They are not quite as engaging and electrifying as they were in the first Moana, but still manages to draw some excitement in their undertaking and provide plenty of visual flair within these particular sequences. Overall, I feel that Moana 2 has some qualities that give this sequel something, with the three directors plotting a course for another fun seaworthy adventure of animated personal struggles and triumphs.
For its presentation, Moana 2 is quite the visual animated feature from Disney and continues to look incredible lush and vibrant throughout the film’s entirety. 2016’s Moana was quite the breathtaking animated movie, with a bountiful color palette that took its aspects, nuances, and motifs of the Polynesian culture and creates a very imaginative world of cultural influences of Pacific Ocean islanders as well as some creative usage of various creatures and monsters (most likely from lore and myths). Moana 2 continues that trend and creates another beautiful realization of Moana’s world, projecting such a vibrant and colorful world of deep colors and deep hues that look incredible realized. I know that the usage of animating water (the overall flow and movement) has always been hard to render and this sequel seems to almost perfect that just more in the right way, including the usage and utilization of “wet hair”. Thus, the tropical setting of greens forests, blue oceans, and picturesque vista sunsets on the horizon are captured beautifully in the movie.
Thus, the film’s main “behind the scenes” such as Ian Gooding (production design), Daniel Arriaga (art direction), and the entire artisans of animators that worked on this project for bringing Moana’s 2 world (and overall presentation) look and feel quite vivid, lush, and fully developed. Like before in the original movie, the cinematography work in the film is pretty good and helps build upon the some more dynamic and cinematic moments in this animated tale with such attention to detail and quite beautiful scenes throughout. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Mark Mancina (who did the original Moana score) comes back and delivers yet another rousing soundtrack composition, complimenting the scenes with plenty of Polynesian style influences as well as cinematic level of qualities for its action and / or dialogue moments.
Unfortunately, Moana 2 isn’t all what it is cracked up to be, with the sequel animated feature suffering from many pitfalls that most sequels can’t overcome within their overall shaping and execution. How so? Well, for starters, the movie (as a whole) doesn’t quite measure up to what the 2016 film was able to accomplish. It’s a bit hard to pinpoint the exactness of what I am trying to convey, but this movie never reaches the same type of highs and momentum that the original was able to establish. The characters of Moana and Maui were fine in this feature, but she was better handled in the previous one by showing more character growth, evolving, and earning their new understanding of one another. Moana 2 doesn’t quite reach the same exact level, which (again) feels subpar and mediocre (more on that below). The same can be said with the actual story being told. It’s very interesting and something that I was sort of expecting the next chapter of Moana’s journey, but it all felt really rushed and choppy. Perhaps this comes at the expense of what the project was originally going to be, with Moana being reworked as a feature film from first being a TV series. This is abundantly crystal clear throughout the movie, the narrative progression having a bit more of an episodic feeling. Yes, typical tales of seafaring voyages usually do have a type of episodic feeling by moving from island / obstacle along the way, but Moana 2’s storytelling progression (or just overall narrative) seems too formulaic and messy. This fragmentation comes at the expense of the excitement and tightness of the feature’s entertainment, producing something that might work on paper, yet really translates well enough on the final product. Thus, Moana 2 never quite reaches the same highs as the first did, which gives the sequel the same type of troublesome undertaking woes of sequel entries usually have.
Who’s to blame? Well, it’s a combination of several things, but perhaps the most prevalent comes from the trio of directors and their inexperience of helming a large project like this. As stated, Moana 2 was originally going to be a TV series on Disney+ and the final result of the movie sort of feels like, with the narrative flow and overall execution of the plot feel too jumbled in its trajectory. It’s bit clear that the three directors lack the finesse of what John Musker and Ron Clements were able to accomplish in 2016’s Moana, with these grouping of directors having the classic “too many cooks in the kitchen” and too many different ideas / views on what to make of Moana 2. Naturally, the idea of trying to match and / overtake the original film is prevalent and at the forefront of their minds, which is sort of felt in most (if not all) sequel treatment narratives. Still, the overall execution leaves a lot to be desired, giving this sequel a rather limp and underwhelming many times. Perhaps if more experience director (or directors) were able to keep the feature focused on what really mattered, then maybe Moana 2 could’ve been something that could rival its predecessor. As it stands, however, this movie is too unfocused, too broad, and is need of a better handling.
Another big culprit in the feature’s criticism is in the writing department, which doesn’t seem as strong as it could’ve been and leaves the movie both too overstuffed and too vague to make heads or tails of. This is contributed by Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller, Bek Smith, and Bryson Chun, which have a lot of good ideas for the story of Moana 2, but it presented in a way that’s very jumbled and almost haphazardly messy from the get-go. To be sure, there is a lot of fundamental and concrete ideas that serve as the main plot, especially having Moana and company venture out into the wide ocean in search of new people and to free an island from the clutches of the god Nalo, but there is a quite a lot of fragmented pieces moments and narrative threads that either seem too superfluous to the main focus. Plus, having more additional characters convoluted and distract from the very simplistic and straightforward plot, which did seem to work great in the first film and placed a large emphasis on the character growth of both Moana and Maui as two individuals and there friendship towards each other. Additionally, everything in the writing (story and characters) feels very “meh” and doesn’t exactly know where to go with it. I mean, the jokes are fun, and the characters have some type of motivation, but it all feels quite lackluster and nowhere as near as compelling or tightly woven together as it did in the first one. Plus, the main antagonist in this movie feels almost non-existent, with Nalo being more of a force and nature (not be seeing) and Matangi feels like too vague as a lead henchmen-esque, causing the feature to suffer in the villain category. Even the ending, while climatic moments, struggles to stick its landing properly and can’t resonate the same way that the first movie was able to achieve. I definitely think that the movie could have been handled better in the writing department, ironing out everything in a more streamlined way rather than an episodic way (again, the TV series angle is still felt throughout the entire picture). As it stands, Moana 2 (as a whole) is oddly perplexing, feeling too thinly sketched and too overstuffed at the time and that’s never a good thing.
Lastly, the movie’s songs are, for better or worse, not as memorable as how they were in the first Moana picture. There is no denying the fact that actor / musician Lin-Manuel Miranda, who previously wrote the songs for the first film, delivered some great musical numbers and memorable lyrics within his contribution to 2016’s Moana. That being said, his absence in Moana 2 is sorely missed and it’s quite clear that Miranda’s talent isn’t in the film’s final product. Replacing him for this movie is Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who provide the songwriter skills for the feature’s various musical moments in and out of the movie. It certainly carries that animated “bounciness” and lighthearted motifs that one would definitely expect from a Disney movie as well as been sung the correct way by the performers who supply the vocals. In addition, even the animated sequences during this section are visually appealing with plenty to see and do with the characters singing their hearts out to convey their appropriate feelings. Unfortunately, the songs themselves (as well as the lyrics themselves) are rather limp and don’t exactly hit home the same way that the song in the first Moana was able to achieve. Again, they are not bad, but nothing about them is memorable, which is massively disappointing. I mean….2016’s Moana had some great and catchy tunes like “Where You Are”, “How Far I’ll Go”, “We Know the Way”, and “You’re Welcome”, which makes Moana 2’s songs such as “We’re Back”, “What Could Be Better Than This?”, “Mana Vavau”, and “Get Lost” don’t exact have the same memorable impact. They’re good, but I don’t think a whole lot of people are doing to remember most (if not any) of these songs after watching the film or even go out and buy the soundtrack. Thus, Moana 2 does suffer from its musical songs been rather bland and run-of-the-mill for a Disney project. In essence, it’s almost like Disney’s Wish animated feature…. good ideas, but just unmemorable songs.
The cast in Moana 2, much like all Disney animated features, certainly do bring their energy and vocal charisma to the proceedings, with old and new characters coming back and being voiced by some solid voice talents involved. The downside to this is actual the character themselves, who most aren’t really drawn out to their fullest extent, rendering a lot of secondary / side characters too vague or underdeveloped. Leading the charge once again in the movie are the first feature’s two main protagonist character of Moana, the curious and chosen chieftain’s daughter to break the curse on the island of Motufetu, and Maui, the headstrong and charismatic shapeshifting demigod, with the talents of Auli’I Cravalho and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson come back to reprise the 2016 roles. Known for her other roles such as Theme Song Takeover, Mean Girls, and Hailey’s on It!, Cravalho has been famously known for her theatrical debut of Moana in 2016’s Moana, reprising her roles in various smaller projects for Disney throughout the years. Now, with Moana 2, Cravalho is able to further evolve the character of Moana once again and certainly does an impressive job in voicing the role with the same type of energetic curiosity and daring do-gooding that many remember. The slight downside is that the writing for the character seems a bit too straightforward and a bit redundant, recycling several familiar plot beats that Moana (the character) went through on the first feature. Setting out into the sea, breaking an old curse, and learning something along the way. It all seems a bit too much like the first Moana and, while I sort of expected this to be the case, I do wish that there was something a bit more creatively done in her character arc journey. I do like how she is now a wayfinder and how that angle plays out, but her story narrative path seems too broad and too familiar. Still, for her part, Cravalho is still as loveable and fun in voicing Mona of Motunui.
Likewise, Johnson, who is known for his roles in Fast Five, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Black Adam, has always been “larger-than-life” in both in his physical presence and within his various character personas over the years, which is why he has always been casted in a wide variety of blockbuster motion picture endeavors and / or very heroic lead man parts in the films. Thus, his voice work in playing the character of Maui, who is the embodiment of Johnson’s signature brand persona, seems like a match made in heaven, with the former wrestler / actor imbuing the role with the right amount of energy and kid-friendly cockiness swagger to make both loveable and endearing. Thus, Johnson takes that all into account and almost “doubles down” on those familiar tropes of his characters in Moana 2 and (to me) it’s a little bit all for the better for it. Johnson’s Maui is still as fun and enjoyable as it was back in the 2016 film and is always a delight to seeing him come back in Maui and whenever he is on-screen. Johnsons continues to demonstrate on how to deliver his lines as he gets the best comedic one-liners in the film as well as few heartfelt ones; the perfect character foil to Cravalho’s Moana. However, much like what I said about the character of Moana, the character of Maui does come across as a bit contrived and redundant in this second Moana outing and gets sidelined for most of the first half of the feature. In truth, the actual “team up” between Moana and Maui comes very late into the narrative, which is disappointing because that was the “main hook” of the first film. Still, Johnson is fantastic as Maui, but I do just wish there could’ve been something more to him as I felt his character evolution in the first movie was better handled.
Collectively, both Cravalho and Johnson are still fantastic in their respective roles and bring the necessary energy to make their characters fun and entertainment to watch. Additionally, their collaboration of their charisma is felt when Moana and Maui are on-screen together, which once again delivers the vocal dynamics to the feature.
Other returning side characters from Moana, include actor Temuera Morrison (Aquaman and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones) as Moana’s father / chief of Motunui Chief Tui, singer / actress Nicole Scherzinger (Annie Live! and Ralph Breaks the Internet) as Moana’s mother / chiefess of Motunui Sina, actress Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarök and Foundation) as Mona’s grandmother Gramma Tala, and actor Alan Tudyk (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and A Knight’s Tale) as the voice for the dim-witted chicken Hei-Hei. Much like before, these characters are limited by design as secondary / minor characters in the feature, yet are still solid in their voice acting talent that play them and do offer some continuity that bridges this film to the previous one.
Interestingly, Moana 2 has several new characters in this latest installment, but ultimately fall to the wayside and become too thinly sketched and never really evolving beyond their intimal setup quirk. This includes several characters that make up Moana’s new sailing crew, with actress Rose Matafeo (Starstruck and Funny Girls) as the “fast-talking” builder / inventor Loto, actor Hualalai Chung (Sunset on 44 and NCIS: Hawaii) as the “fanboy” chronicler / historian Moni, and actor David Fane (Next Goal Wins and BroTown) as the “grumpy” farmer Kele. For the record, I do like the voice talents for all of these characters, and they do have their “one or two” moments in the feature’s spotlight, but none of them come into their own and merely there for the ride, offering a few moments of comedic levity yet no real substance. In truth, they ended up being more of a distraction to the focus of Moana (as a character) and should’ve been either reduced (perhaps only one character along for the voyage). It’s also clear that more could’ve been done with these characters if they project remained as a TV series, giving these side players more to do and say and give them the necessary allotted time to fully develop. Sadly, I just felt that these three characters were a distraction to the main story. The same can also be said for the character of Simea, Moana’s little sister, who is voiced by young actress Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda (making her debut with this film). Lamber-Tsuda certainly does a good job in voicing the character, but Simea’s overall involvement / impact on Moana’s 2 story feels very superfluous as only seems to be there for a cute kid character in the movie, which is disappointing.
Of all the new characters, who comes off as the most interest (yet also the most frustrating) is found in the role of Matangi, a vampiric trickster and Nalo’s enforcer, who is voiced by Awhimai Fraser (Shortland Street and Ahikaroa). She’s interesting because of her character design and because of what she represents, especially for a female vampire, which is something that I never expected from a Moana movie. Plus, I did feel that Fraser did a pretty good job in providing the voice for Matangi, including in her big song “Get Lost”, which provided plenty of fun and energy in the film as well as giving a slight insight into her character. The frustration part of Matangi is that is left sort of ambiguous and vague in what’s her position in the overall narrative. I mean…. she sort of works for Nalo and captures Maui, but comes across as some who doesn’t care for Nalo let alone being evil. Thus, her overall villainy seems largely unanswered and it’s a bit perplexing as to where her allegiance lies. The movie (or the script) gives clarity on that notion, rendering Matangi, despite have a solid performance from Fraser, comes across as bit underdeveloped and confusing.
As for Nalo, the character (as mentioned above) feels more like force of nature, with one scene he’s in and acts more like existential enemy…. almost like “The Nothing” from The NeverEnding Story. The problem is that he doesn’t have a physical presence in the movie and makes Moana 2, like Matangi, lacking in the bad guy department. Heck, even Ta ka, a towering lava monster from the first feature, did a better job in giving an imposing foe to face off against. Thus, this sequel seems lacking the villain department and ends up being rather weak, which (in my book) is a bad thing as Disney is always known for producing some great villains.
Lastly, the movie does have an Easter Egg scene at the mid-credit point of the end credits sequence. While I won’t spoil the scene, it does offer some insight as to what could possibly happening if another Moana movie will be greenlit.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Setting sail back into the wide ocean, Moana, Maui, and several other companions venture forth into the great unknown to break the curse of Motufetu from the vengeful god Nalo in the movie Moana 2. Directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller’s latest film takes what was imagine from the 2016 box office animated hit and expands upon it, branching out into a whole new adventure of challenges, allies, and self-discovery upon the open waters as well as mixing in plenty of animated tomfoolery angst and several heartfelt moments. While the movie does find a pleasant rhythm within its pacing and comedic charm as well as having some gorgeous animation, great cinematography, and solid acting talent across the board (most definitely in Cravalho and Johnson in their lead roles), the film struggles to measure up the same way to the first Moana, including a lack of focus from its directors, a choppy narrative, befuddling character motivations, and unmemorable musical songs, and numerous underdeveloped side characters. Personally, I thought that this movie was just okay, but mostly pretty “meh” to me. It definitely had some great ideas, vivid animation, and solid voice talents, yet it never fully “clicked” the same way that it did with the first one. Perhaps the project should’ve remained as a TV series, with the intention to expand upon the various characters a bit more than what was presented in the film. The sad truth of the matter is that Moana 2 is not an instant classic and does feel like a step down to its 2016 predecessor. It’s okay, but nothing amazing. It’s almost like what happened with Disney’s Wish; another high-profile animated feature from Disney, which was heavily marketed, but ended up being rather bland, mediocre, and unmemorable to the studio’s pantheon of animated feature films. Of course, the targeted demographic will probably like it (as it has already deemed as a box office success), but, as a whole, it does feel subpar to 2016’s Moana, which I would prefer to watch over this one. Thus, my recommendation for this movie would be a “iffy choice” for some out there or maybe a just a simple “rent it” as it does offer some distraction in its viewing, but can’t quite reach the same heights as other Disney movies or even other animated films of 2023 (i.e. Transformers One, The Wild Robot, and Inside Out 2). As mentioned, the movie’s end credits scene offers some glimpse of a “what if” for a possible Moana 3 installment, but, if one does materialize, I do think that the storyboarding and writing portion needs to be heavily scrutinized and revamped the correct way. As it stands, Moana 2, while having its heart and intentions in the right place, fails to capture that same type of “animated magic” to its original, producing a sequel that’s fun and easygoing, yet still feels mediocrely fragmented, confusingly overstuffed, and vaguely unmemorable in its musical numbers.
3.4 Out of 5 (Iffy Choice / Rent It)
The Official Website for Moana 2 Link: HERE
Released On: November 27th, 2024
Reviewed On: December 8th, 2024
Moana 2 is 100 minutes long and is rated PG for action / peril
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