“Moana” was destined for a sequel the moment it established itself as one of Disney’s animated hits, whether it needed one or not. So, how did that turn out?
“Moana 2” picks up three years after the original. Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) is now an established wayfinder (navigator) and is adamant to unite the peoples of Motunui. Standing in her way is Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea’i), a spiteful god of thunder keen on keeping them divided, who guards their sunken home island of Motufetu.
In order to raise the island, Moana needs the help of her trusty demigod pal Maui (Dwayne Johnson), as well as a new crew comprised of chronicler Moni (Hualālai Chung), shipbuilder Loto (Rose Matafeo), farmer Kele (David Fane), as well as her pig and chicken sidekicks from the first film. Her little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), also stows away.
However, this ensemble cast proves to oversaturate the film, which is filled with bright and lively characters with nothing to do and nowhere to develop and change. I won’t remember any of them in a month outside of Moana and Maui. Cravalho and Johnson still have great chemistry; it’s a shame that the rest of the film phones it in.
If you incorrectly assumed that Lin-Manuel Miranda returned to help compose the score for this film, I can hardly blame you. The music, the product of a group effort of Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foa’i, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, emulates Miranda’s style so much it almost feels like plagiarism, though they lack one thing Miranda usually nails: heart and soul. The tunes in “Moana 2” are easy to hum along to but hard to remember due to their uninspired, lazy lyrics. If Disney ditched this score-by-committee and asked ChatGPT to create similar songs in the style of Miranda, the results wouldn’t be far off from what is included in this cinematic snoozefest.
The most offensive aspect of this film is its wasted concept: uniting the people of this sea. In order for this to work, Disney needed to define this dilemma and the generational trauma associated with it, as well as establish a pressing need to rectify it now, which it utterly fails to do. Nalo is an incredibly vague antagonist and while it’s said that the people of this region will eventually cease to exist without uniting, it’s a far-off threat that has almost no immediate weight. In fact, the stronger motivation for Moana to go on this quest can be boiled down to: life is good — but it can be better.
We’ll likely see a “Moana 3” because of how well this film did at the box office. But unlike most of the films from Disney’s other animation studio (Pixar), which seamlessly hold the attention of youngsters while delivering mature, powerful storytelling that makes them timeless, “Moana 2” offers nothing to keep it front of mind for anyone watching it. It’s a soulless sequel that’s the equivalent to flashing a set of keys in front of a child to keep them distracted (YouTube Doug Walker’s favorite description for these type of disposable films).
If you have young kids or liked the first film, this is an OK way to kill 1 1/2 hours. But if you’re looking for something more than mindless entertainment, watch something else.
“Moana 2” gets a 5/10
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