Moana 2 was originally made as a Disney+ series before it was converted to a theatrical release.Disney/The Associated Press
- Moana 2
- Directed by Dave Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller
- Written by Miller and Jared Bush
- Starring Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Awhimai Fraser, Hualālai Chung, Rose Matafeo
- Classification G; 100 minutes
- Opens in theatres November 27
Moana, the Disney film named for the Polynesian explorer voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, first landed in theatres in December, 2016. The title character is a headstrong young feminist resisting the princess moniker she’d naturally be associated with as the latest heroine in Disney merchandising.
Her first adventure saw her breaching borders and protecting the environment, growing into a leader we could get behind – in 2016, and again in 2024, the kind of candidate Democrats would have liked on their ticket.
Not a whole lot has changed when we get to Moana 2. She’s older and still not a princess – though Dwayne Johnson’s stocky demigod Maui, who befriended her in the last movie, pulls off a joke about how everyone thinks she is. Instead, as a wavefinder, a chief navigator in ancient times (though we never really know when this all takes place beyond thousands of years ago), she’s searching for resources and other Polynesian communities that may be hiding in undiscovered islands. Her mission, as communicated in visions from ancestors, is to undo a curse by a tyrannical god named Nalo, who sunk a mystical island and magically forced isolation for all the disparate Polynesian communities; his anti-immigration policy and lack of concern for islands collapsing below sea level coming across loud and clear.
All these gestures reflecting our real-world crises don’t lend Moana 2 any urgency, unfortunately. There’s just no wind in the sails. That’s what you get when you make a sequel for no compelling reason other than the sake of having a sequel.
Moana 2 was actually made as a Disney+ series until the mouse house’s compass said there’s green to be found in theatres, especially perhaps after a post-strike drought. While it’s been retooled into a feature, there’s a general flatness to Moana 2′s serialized adventures, as she and her motley crew encounter violent waves, a Godzilla-sized clam and gods that strike with lightning. It’s one obstacle after another, though none feel rooted in or consequential to any emotional beats.
Even Moana’s reunion with Maui at about the midway point just feels like a thing the movie stumbles into. It’s welcome, of course, since the comic banter between them is a reprieve from a lot of the earnest and flavourless humour elsewhere. Moana’s pet chicken and pig are innocent – they continue to amuse.
So are the animators, who do stunning work: from the fine detail in the glistening sands and crushing blue waters to the expressions among characters that are lifelike without ever crossing over into uncanny. A sequence with a bolt of lightning stretching out in slow motion to reach Moana – like God and Adam in the Sistine Chapel – is simply breathtaking.
The big, disappointment here are the flat musical numbers that bide time between adventures and fail to sink Maui’s hook in us. The original had Lin Manuel-Miranda and Samaon singer Opetaia Foa’I cooking up bouncy and infectious numbers alongside composer Mark Mancina. Though Foa’I and Mancina return in the sequel, bringing some oomph, they’re not getting much help from the theatre kid showtunes written by musical duo Barlow & Bear. Their music tends to feature characters singing their most obvious intentions (“I will go beyond”) as they relate to the immediate plot. I’d be surprised if these numbers find any resonance beyond the film’s run time.
The songs also don’t emphasize Polynesian culture in the way the original and this sequel do in richer and more exhilarating moments. The animation tends to be adorning when Moana immerses herself in tradition and ceremony, forging connections with both her environment and history. In these graceful sequences, the images pack such beauty and feeling that any concern about the movie not really going anywhere tends to wash away.
In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a critic’s pick designation across all coverage. (Television reviews, typically based on an incomplete season, are exempt.)
