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Disney held the world premiere of its live-action reimagining of “Moana” last night with reviews coming online this morning. The response is not good, with the film sitting at just 34% on Rotten Tomatoes from 44 reviews.
That’s not much different to the reaction to most of these adaptations of Disney Animation titles, and more than a few reviewers have complained about how this one is essentially a straight carbon copy of the original feature – just less fun and colourful – and thus wonder what the point of this is beyond obvious financial motivation.
In the film, Moana (Catherine Laga’aia) answers the Ocean’s call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with the infamous demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people.
The good news is Laga’aia’s performance has been singled out as being quite good. Here’s a sampling of reactions so far:
“The new Moana is a captivating family entertainment that deserves to find an audience – brimming with visual interest, vibrant color, gorgeous design elements and alluring tropical settings.” – David Rooney, THR
““Moana” is a Disney live-action remake that escapes the Disney live-action remake blues — in fact, it soars above them. It’s the best of these movies I’ve seen. On some level these movies will always be unnecessary. The remake of “Moana” can’t, and shouldn’t, replace the original. But it earns a place alongside it.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“A competent but basically pointless and unexciting back-to-basics live-action remake. There is some pretty funny stuff from Johnson here, certainly, and there’s a nice enough rapport between him and his young co-star, but it feels as if he is on autopilot, like a piece of software. This feels like a superfluous piece of monetisable content.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“If you’re curious what #Moana would be like slower, darker & less whimsical, boy, have I got a movie for you. The live-action remake captures some of what made the original so magical with its song scenes, but the rest of it never finds the right tone. Laga’aia innocent.” – Germain Lussier, io9
““Moana” is far from the worst Disney live-action remake, but it’s arguably the most redundant. I’m sure there are people who will enjoy paying extra, again, to watch a recent movie they already liked, again, but longer and not as good, again. If Disney insists on wasting the audience’s time, there are worse ways they could do it. Heck, they’ve already done worse. They’ll probably do worse again.” – William Bibbiani, The Wrap
“It’s hard to shake the nagging feeling that this is a film that just isn’t needed. While the end product is far from the AI slop or filmic nightmare fuel that many feared, it loses so much magic in translation that it can be a spirit-sapping watch.” – Emma Simmons, The Radio Times
“The result is a film that plunges itself into a strange uncanny valley: it’s so indebted to the original that watching it feels numbing, offering nothing that the original didn’t provide in 2016. Its strict stick-to-the-script approach to adaptation, if anything, just causes the mind to wander and notice the flaws that were already there in the first place.” – Wilson Chapman, Indiewire
“A shot-for-shot, line-by-line remake without a single original idea. A creatively bankrupt cash grab with ZERO interesting direction. They don’t innovate; they imitate. Why watch this when Moana (2016) is on Disney+?! A soulless, miserable financial decision. SKIP!” – Jonathan Sim, US Weekly
“As much as this remake is touted as being live-action, the truth is that Kail works largely on sets and soundstages, filling in backgrounds and creating animal characters through excessive digital effects that add no sense of magic, wonder or realism. Consequently, the leaden approach saps this high-seas adventure of its excitement” – Tim Grierson, Screen
“Most of the truly memorable moments in the first Moana… end up looking like utter dogs–t in this version, which is the greatest sin of all. To devalue their own output this way feels like pulling the material to its breaking point, testing its tensile strength in hopes that it can hold for another round” – Allison Wilmore, Vulture
Emmy and Tony Award winner Thomas Kail directs “Moana,” which is slated to hit cinemas on Friday. Domestic opening weekend estimates for the film is currently tracking at anywhere from $50-65 million.
The post The Live-Action “Moana” Reviews Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.
