Moana 2 review

MOANA 2: 

A DECENT BUT SHALLOWER SECOND SAILING WITH MOANA AND MAUI! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

DISNEY

Moana, Maui, Pua, and Heihei are back in Moana 2

 

            The (sorta) Disney Princess who’s literally friends with the ocean returns for another fantastic voyage in Moana 2, the latest feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios and follow-up to the 2016 animated musical, Moana. I really enjoyed the first Moana and hailed it as one of the best animated films from 2016 alongside Disney’s other release that year, Zootopia (Which coincidentally is getting a sequel next year). 

            Sure it doesn’t have nearly as big a cultural impact as The Lion King or Frozen, but the songs are incredibly catchy, the characters are lovable, and the story is downright brilliant and really pushed the envelope for how an animated Disney Princess film is told. It was widely praised and financially successful to the point where now we’re getting a live-action remake of Moana in the near future, but that’s for another time. 

            Instead, we’re talking about the sequel to the original animated film with Auliʻi Cravalho (All Together Now,Hailey’s On It, Mean Girls (2024)) and Dwayne Johnson (The Scorpion King, Fast & Furious franchise, Jumanji 2 and 3) reprising their roles as the voice of Polynesian wayfinder, Moana and shape-shifting demigod, Maui and David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller taking over directing duties from John Musker and Ron Clements. The movie was originally intended to be a miniseries on Disney+, but I guess because of the success the first film had, Disney trimmed the fat, stitched it together as a feature, and put it into theaters for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

            I was skeptical about that because turning what was originally meant to be a series or episodes of a series into a film is a very difficult task with Digimon: The Movie being a prime example of how NOT to do it. Well, now that Moana’s second venture out at sea has arrived, how does it hold up especially compared to its stellar predecessor? Moana 2 is…a perfectly serviceable continuation. 

            This is easily better than Disney’s other recent animated feature outings (Strange World, Wish), but coming off a movie that took the Disney animated formula in a new direction, Moana 2 pretty much gives the exact movie you’re expecting if you’ve seen the trailers. With that said, it’s mostly done well and there isn’t really anything wrong with the film, but more on that later. 

            Set three years after the first movie, the film follows Moana spending her days exploring new islands with her friends, Pua the Pig and Heihei the Chicken in hopes of finding more people who are connected to the ocean. But when she receives an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana and Maui (and the rest) set off on another adventure at sea to find a mysterious sunken island known as Motufetu and break its curse to save Oceania. 

            The film also features the voices of Rose Matafeo (Funny Girls, Baby Done, Starstruck) as Loto, David Fane (Sione 1 and 2, Our Flag Means Death, Next Goal Wins) as Kele, Temuera Morrison (Vertical Limit, Star Wars: Episodes II and III, Aquaman 1 and 2) reprising his role as Chief Tui, Nicole Scherzinger (Be Cool, Men in Black 3, Ralph Breaks the Internet) reprising her role as Sina, Rachel House (Whale Rider, Thor: Ragnarok, Soul) reprising her role as Tala, and Alan Tudyk (Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) reprising his role as the voice of Heihei. 

            Overall, Moana 2 pales in comparison to its predecessor and doesn’t really take audiences anywhere new, but it’s a gorgeously animated and charming enough continuation of the Moana storyline. It didn’t feel like Wish where it seemed so artificial and soulless in its execution, it felt like the filmmakers couldn’t quite create something that would live up to the first and decided to just make a fun albeit familiar animated adventure for the kids and families to watch over the Thanksgiving holiday with characters they know and love, there was actual passion put into this. 

            I will praise this movie on an animation standpoint as Moana 2 is simply breathtaking and looks spectacular on the big screen. The vibrant colors, the textures, the characters’ details, etc. it’s Frozen II caliber animation but on the water and even though I wasn’t fully immersed in the story, I was marveling at this film on a technical level. 

            It hits a lot of similar beats as the first, but there was never a point where I was calling the movie out for being a lazy cash grab. There were a few times while watching it where I was like “Okay, this is basically this movie’s equivalent of this scene, that scene, this song, that song, this character, that character!”, but not once did they seem like beat-for-beat rip-offs to me as the movie adds enough unique personalities and charm to their characters both old and new (Yes, even Moana’s crew which I initially thought was going to be the aspect that sinks the movie, but they won me over). 

One thing this movie excels at is its heart, I actually found the scenes at the beginning with Moana and her younger sister very sweet and there’s also a pretty touching moment towards the climax involving Moana and Maui that was quite effective which also led into one of the best songs in the movie, Can I Get a Chee Hoo?  

Speaking of which, the songs in Moana 2 are still great though I don’t think they’re quite as memorable as the first movie, this is probably because I had just seen the movie and need time for them to sit with me, but in the moment the songs are well-versed and the musical numbers are entertaining. The opening song, We’re Back is very catchy and a great way to start the movie off, Beyond is essentially this movie’s version of How Far I’ll Go but is still an amazing song, What Could Be Better Than This? is the comedic song to establish the ragtag crew accompanying Moana and Maui on their adventure and it gets some laughs, and Get Lost by Awhimal Fraser (Who voices the film’s kinda villain, Matangi) had me bopping my head in the theater, it’s so good! 

The first Moana I thought had a much stronger story and was more engaging whereas this one mostly goes through the motions and gives a follow-up that treads familiar waters (Pun completely intended this time), but that doesn’t automatically make it bad. It’s a film that gives more of what people enjoyed about the first movie and it succeeds at what it’s doing. 

It isn’t a cinematic game-changer nor is it even a great Disney animated film, but a decent second adventure with Moana and Maui is good enough for me. Sail on in and see for yourself.