“Solid” but Moana is “a difficult plot to follow”

The Moana sequel is a “fast-paced Disneyland roller coaster ride,” but it lacks the joy and refreshing originality of its predecessor.

Moana is one of the best animated films in Disney history – and you don’t have to take my word for it. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, In a list of all 73, it is ranked sixth of the studio’s feature-length animated theatrical releases, while last year’s offering, Wish, is way down at number 65.

One reason Moana received so many rave reviews is its refreshing originality. It’s not an adaptation of a European fairy tale, but a joyful homage to Polynesian mythology, breaking new ground in Disney terms. It also features sparklingly bright and colorful animation, an exciting story, brilliant songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and two of Disney’s most popular characters: Moana herself (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho), the brave but insecure daughter of an island chief, and Maui ( voiced by Dwayne Johnson), a boastful demigod with tattoos that move around his closet-sized body.

So it’s hard to follow this act. Making a worthwhile Moana sequel might not have been the case impossible because it fits Paddington 2but it was always going to be hard. On the other hand, the first film ends with Moana leading her people out to sea to become the wanderers that were her ancestors. Therefore, it makes sense to make a sequel about their travels. The premise is that Moana has been taking solo trips since we last saw her, but she hasn’t met anyone yet. Then she hears of an island called Motofetu, which was a meeting place for civilizations from across the ocean before it was cursed by a malevolent god. If Moana can find Motofetu, she may be able to make new friends and trading partners. (She could also reduce the risk of inbreeding, which is certainly a serious, if unspoken, threat to her tribe.) Of course, that means she has to find Maui first.

It’s a solid setup for a questing adventure, but it’s clear early on that “Moana 2” won’t be as exciting or insightful as “Moana.” The comedy is broader and sillier, the mission isn’t as urgent, and the songs rarely say anything important about the characters or the situation. Most of the time, it seems, they are included in the film simply because you can’t have a musical without a musical number every 10 minutes or so. Many crew members from the first film are back, but Moana 2 has new directors (David Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller) and new songwriters, TikTok sensations Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear. Her songs have the familiar Moana sound, but they’re nowhere near as catchy or funny as “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” “You’re Welcome” or the others Miranda wrote for the original film . At the screening I attended, people left the theater singing his songs and not the new ones, which is not a good sign.

It’s not unusual, of course, for a sequel to fall short of its predecessor, but the specific way in which Moana 2 falls short is symptomatic of the way it was developed: it was designed to be a television series, and that Neither was the case. In February of this year, Disney’s CEO announced this reworked as a feature film. The project’s small screen origins might explain why the characters look smoother and waxier to me than they did in 2016, like they were action figures. The television’s script may also be responsible for introducing Moana’s goofy gang of pals, including a regular oddball (voiced by Rose Matafeo) and one of the goblins from the first film, who wear coconut shells as armor and look like they’re Goblins rappelled me from Mad Max: Fury Road. You can see how useful these supporting characters might have been over the course of a series, but none of them really have enough to do in a film, and some of them don’t belong at all: when you embark on a long journey and dangerous sea voyage, why should you find room on your little wooden boat for an old vegetable farmer and a pig?

And then there is the structure. Although the plot comes together to form a complete, action-packed narrative, it still feels like several episodes glued together, each more outlandish than the last. I believe it’s a magical transdimensional portal, but I have to admit that with all the different gods, spirits, spirits, and giant fish monsters that Moana encounters, I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. In a film that lacks the focus of its predecessor, it’s particularly puzzling that we’re barely shown the main villain: we only see the lightning bolts he throws at Moana and Maui. But then he finally shows up in a bonus scene in the end credits and vows to get revenge on Moana along with a few other supernatural villains. Is this the first time a Disney animated film has adopted the Marvel gimmick of using one sequel to set up another? It certainly undermines the feeling that Moana 2 is any sort of special or unique event.

For all the Moana groans, it’s still a work of quality: a fast-paced Disneyland rollercoaster ride that will be especially fun for young children. The irony is that if it had been a television series, viewers would have raved about how spectacular it was. But as a film, Moana 2 wouldn’t be at the top of any list of the best Disney films.

Moana 2 hits cinemas on November 27th in the US and November 29th in the UK