Moana 2

Moana 2
Starring Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo
Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand & Dana Ledoux Miller

The first "Moana" was a huge hit for Disney and gave a new princess that girls can look up to, a girl who had a thirst for adventure and foraging her own way in the world. Not long after, word of a live-action remake was circulated with numerous actresses vying for the titular character, and Dwayne Johnson reprising his role from the animated to the live-action Maui. In-between, there was plans to make a Disney+ series following Moana's exploits, but to everyone's surprise it was instead sent to the big screen. The result is a film that feels like a sequel, devoid of the passion and desire of the first film and making it feel like the ship was put on autopilot.

Three years after returning from her adventure with the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is her tribe's seafarer who has a desire to break the curse of Nalo that has separated the different island peoples, longing to bring them all together before they all disappear. She sets out to break the curse with the help of her faithful pig and chicken, along with a ragtag crew as they set out to find Maui and break the curse once and for all.

Honestly, there's nothing really bad about "Moana 2," but there's nothing that really justifies its own existence. The first film is filled with toe-tapping songs by the great Lin-Manuel Miranda, including the Oscar-winning ballad "How Far I'll Go," but here - without Miranda's assistance - the songs are wholly unmemorable. I looked through the track list and can't remember where the songs came into play during the movie, let alone remember any of the lyrics, while I can still belt out "How Far I'll Go" at a moment's notice. I remember the songs being alright, but nowhere near the caliber of the first.

Likewise the story. Moana sets out to unite the peoples of the islands, and break a curse that seems unbreakable. We all know how this will end up, but even knowing this, it's surprisingly easy with very little action or adventure to be had. It drags along for long stretches and has a baffling side quest that doesn't make a lot of sense, and doesn't really push the narrative forward, while throwing a red herring in the form of a supposed villain that isn't all that villainous when push comes to shove.

The first "Moana" is highlighted by the comedic and heartfelt chemistry between voice actors Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, and everyone was excited to see Moana and Maui reunite, yet it's almost an hour into the film before they finally reconnect, and even afterward they're not on screen together a lot. It seems like they took everything that made the first film such a blockbuster and tried something different, but the result is failure after failure - or maybe, as I said earlier, everyone was on autopilot this time around.

One aspect the film gets exceptionally correct is the animation, but that's a given considering Disney's track record with animated films. It's stunningly beautiful, with rich textures that make you feel like it's almost live-action when its not, and the colors really pop out on the big screen.

There's not a whole lot to say about "Moana 2" because it just stays on its registered course of sequels that don't need to be made, where no real character depth is achieved and we're left with a visually beautiful film that heaves under its lackluster, razor-thin script.

The Score: C+