Review: Disney's "MOANA 2" Sails Towards New Horizons

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2024 (No. 1999) by Leroy Douresseaux

Moana 2 (2024)

Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40)

MPA – PG for action/peril

DIRECTORS:  David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller

WRITERS:  Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller;  Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller and Bek Smith

PRODUCERS:  Christina Chen and Yvette Merino

EDITORS:  Michael Louis Hill and Jeremy Milton

ORIGINAL SONGS:  Opetaia Foa'il, Mark Mancina, Abigail Barlow, and Emily Bear

COMPOSER:  Mark Mancina

ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL and FAMILY/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices) Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Amhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Gerald Ramsey, and Alan Tudyk

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

Moana 2 is not as inspired as the original film, but this sequel charts its own path towards adventure

The title character, Moana, is still a hero who takes her friends and the audience on the greatest of adventures, and that is more than enough reason for fans of the original film to come back for more in Moana 2

Moana 2 is a 2024 American computer-animated, fantasy-adventure, and musical film directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller.  It is produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios – the 63rd full-length animated feature film produced by that studio, and it is a Walt Disney Pictures release.  The film is a direct sequel to the 2016 animated feature, Moana.  Moana 2 finds Moana and Maui on a journey to find a lost island that could reunite the people of the ocean.

Moana 2 opens three years after the adventures Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) had with the demigod, Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and the island goddess of Te Fiti (as seen in Moana).  Moana is now officially her people's “wayfinder.”  She has spent the time since then exploring the islands near her home island of Motunui in the hope that she will find other people connected to the ocean.

During a celebration, Moana has a vision of her wayfinding ancestor, Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey).  He reveals why none of those peoples are connected anymore.  A long time ago, the malicious storm god, Nalo, wanted power over the mortals.  To gain that power, Nalo sunk a legendary island called “Motufetu,” the island which connected all islands and the people of the sea, down to the depths of the ocean.  Tautai also warns Moana that the people of Motunui will go extinct in the future if Moana cannot find a way to raise Motufetu.

Moana assembles a wayfinding crew of people from Motunui:  the clever craftswoman, Loto (Rose Matafeo); the tribal historian and Maui fanboy, Moni (Haulalai Chung); and a grumpy elderly farmer, Keke (David Fane), alongside her pet pig, Pua, and pet rooster, Heihei.  They set off in a boat designed and built by Loto, to follow the path of a meteor that Tautai says will blaze a trail across the ocean towards Motufetu.  But first, Moana and her crew must find Maui, who just so happens is being held prisoner by the forces aligned against Moana's quest.

I wrote this in my recent review of the first film, Moana:  I always struggle with writing reviews of modern Disney computer-animated feature films.  The animation is always superb.  The character design is consistently imaginative and inventive, and the character animation – regardless of whether the characters are human, animals, creatures of fantasy, or machines – is flawless.  The production design, art direction, set decoration, and graphic design are so good that just about every Disney animated movie gets its own art book – deservedly so.

Well, I don't have to struggle with my review of Moana 2 because it looks just as good as the first film.  While the tattoos on Maui's body are still good, they don't get as much screen time as they did in the original film, so they can't steal the show.  Instead, Moana has a little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert Tsuda), who does that in several scenes set on Motunui.

Moana 2 is very entertaining, but it is not quite as good as the original film.  Because we know many of the characters, especially Moana and Maui, there is not the same joy of discovery.  The call to adventure is not as complicated in Moana 2 as it was the first time.  It is pretty straightforward here: find Motufetu.  And the big showdown in Moana 2 is not quite the showdown the first film offered.  Moana 2 simply lacks the inspiration of Moana.

That said, Moana 2 offers stunning imagery that overrides the moments when the story drags or goes adrift, and the film moves towards new horizons for the franchise.  Moana, once again superbly given voice by actress Auli'i Cravalho, and Maui, once again made cool by Dwayne Johnson's voice performance, are still great characters.  And they go on the best adventures.

Moana 2 is the kind of big, colorful, soaring animated adventure that we expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios.  It is not perfect, but it is the kind of film that keeps me loving the world's longest-running animation studio.  Fans of Moana and of Disney Animation will not want to miss Moana 2.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 7, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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