Posted in: Disney, Kaitlyn Booth, Movies, Review | Tagged: moana 2, Review

Moana 2 Review: Feels Like A Tragic Return To The Direct-To-VHS Era

Moana 2 was always going to have a hard time, but the clunky transition increases the odds against a film already struggling against a powerful rip current.

Moana 2 is a movie that fails to even compare to the original in nearly every way that matters. None of the emotional beats land, the story meanders around as the TV patchwork becomes very apparent, and none of the songs are memorable.

Directors: David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller
Summary: After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.

Moana 2 And Trying To Create Disney Magic A Second Time

There is a reason they talk about trying to get lightning to strike twice. Disney spends a large portion of its time trying to make that lightning strike not only in the initial medium but also in merchandise and theme parks. Moana was that perfect bolt of lightning as the film was genuinely good, the music was catchy and everywhere for a long time, the character did well at the theme parks and was a welcome addition, and the merchandise flew off the shelves. So Moana 2 always had big shoes to fill, but the movie started on the wrong foot right out of the gate.

Instead of being announced as a sequel movie from the start, Moana 2 kind of came out of nowhere as it was announced that the planned Moana TV show would be recut into a sequel film. The problem is television and film are not the same medium in storytelling and particularly so when you're making a show for a younger audience like you would with Moana. The problem is that the symbolic stitches are incredibly obvious when they show up. There is a large segment in the second act that feels like something that would have been expanded into a decent television episode. However, in a movie, it's like someone took the Tamatoa scenes from the first film, made them longer or at least feel longer, and make the song not nearly as engaging.

For a film that comes in at a crisp 100 minutes, Moana 2 should not feel as long as it does and should not drag either. However, despite it dragging, we also learn virtually nothing about the little crew she takes on for this journey. Again, in a show, each character would probably have an episode dedicated to showing off their own specific strengths within the team on a story level while also telling us more about them as characters. In this film, we don't have time for that, not really, and they are so forgettable by the end that you might not even remember their names by the time you get home after the film ends. The characters are all fine, but the movie wouldn't have been that different if they weren't included.

A Musical Without Any Memorable Songs

This might be forgiven if the emotional beats or the music managed to land, but they don't. There isn't a single moment in Moana 2 that compares to the emotion from the 'I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)' moment in the first film. There isn't a song like 'How Far I'll Go' that will cross genre lines and become something bigger than it ever could be. The moment where they try to make 'You're Welcome' happen again feels forced. That might be what stings the most about the music; it doesn't feel natural. All of the drops don't quite fit, and it's like someone said, "Oh, right, this is a musical, so song time," without any real thought behind it. It's a shame because the concepts behind the music are all there, but they don't come together in a way that flows well.

This could be another side effect of transitioning from television to a movie. Was the show going to be a musical, or did they have to add in the music once they decided to stitch this footage into a feature-length film? It might explain why the music doesn't feel like it was written in tandem with the story of the film. It's an interesting concept that deals with the idea of isolationism and how people can only go so long alone before it ends poorly. However, the pushback against isolationism doesn't feel like it was the film's theme; instead, they leaned heavily into the "angry god curse" thing again. The first film used the heart of the ocean plotline to propel the idea of exploration and leaving safe waters as themes. The only time Moana 2 really digs into the theme of isolationism is when the Kakamora attacks them. One could argue the plot points the film takes with the Kakamora might be the best in the entire film, but they are woefully underutilized, and the movie only does so much with them.

Moana 2 Was Trying To Exceed Impossible Expectations

Once again, this is another example of a movie that sounds terrible, but it isn't; it's just fine. It shows up and more or less does what it needs to to be a serviceable sequel to one of Disney's best films of the 2010s. The music isn't memorable, but nothing from Frozen II ever really took off the way 'Let It Go' did, and that movie did just fine. It's a bit clunky, and the story seems to have trouble figuring out where and what it wants to do. When you know the history of this and how it came to be, it makes sense, and you have to review the movie in front of you instead of the one you might have gotten if they went into this story knowing it was going to be a film and not a TV show. All of this makes for a movie that feels a lot more like something Disney would have created during the heyday of the "direct-to-VHS" era of Disney sequels. There were plenty of those films that were pretty good, but most of them always felt like they never quite came together or they were fighting against themselves. In the 90s, it was fighting against its own budget; for Moana 2, it's fighting against its own creative origin story.

The animation looks pretty good, although not incredible, and the design of this world continues to be fascinating to watch. People need to put Auliʻi Cravalho in more things because she really is such a talented voice actress and could be doing so much more. The film makes some decent meta-humor jokes, and the ones where Disney makes fun of itself are always the best. Moni, the male member of Moana's little crew, has such a massive man crush on Maui, and it's refreshing to see that sort of adoration from one male character to another. While it feels a little long, in a world of films clocking in at well over two hours, a crisp 100 minutes was a breath of fresh air.

Moana 2 isn't going to change anyone's life, and it won't be the cultural touchstone that the first film was. When your first film is such a cultural turning point, a metaphorical kicking down the doors, you can really only do that once. Moana 2 is in the same boat, or Colosseum, as its box office competition, Gladiator II, in that respect. Those first films were catalysts, and the sequels cannot live up to the first one. It's impossible to look at one without looking back at the other. Disney would have a hard time with Moana 2 no matter what, but the clunky transition from television show to movie stacks even more odds against a film already struggling against a powerful rip current. The film is strong enough not to drown because of that current, but it isn't coming out unscathed either.

Moana 2

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Review by Kaitlyn Booth

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7.5/10

Moana 2 is a movie that fails to even compare to the original in nearly every way that matters. None of the emotional beats land, the story meanders around as the TV patchwork becomes very apparent, and none of the songs are memorable.

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