Posted in: Movies, Review | Tagged: disney, dwayne johnson, film, moana, movie, Review

Moana Isn't Disney At Their Best, But It's Still A Fun Adventure

TL;DR:
Disney proves that they're still somewhere near the top of their game, bringing a great lead character to life and bringing a spotlight to a gorgeous Polynesian mythos, even in the face of a story that can't entirely keep up with the visuals.

Rating:
4 out of 5 stars.

The Long Form:
Disney has long been the benchmark for brilliant family-oriented musical fare, and their newest entry, Moana, is a worthy new addition to that lineage. With an evolved animation style and set in a world that they've never really delved into before (unless you want to count Lilo & Stitch since it was at least set on Kaua'i).

Rendered in a beautiful and lush style, the story sets itself up around the Polynesian region of the South Pacific. The prologue establishes that the trickster demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) decides to steal the Heart of Te Fiti (an island-creating goddess). When he steals it, the volcano god Te Ka emerges to take it from him, and in their ensuing battle the Heart is lost, and Maui is exiled to a distant and desolate island (without his magical hook). The loss of the Heart causes the islands to begin to fade and die.

Jumping 1000 years later, the story shifts to the island of Motunui, where the chief's daughter, Moana (voiced by Auli'I Cravalho) has wanderlust and wants to explore the oceans. The chief (Temuera Morrison) insists that the island is a perfect paradise and the ocean beyond their protective barrier reef holds nothing but death and destruction. The struggle between duties to home and wanting to explore the wider world is the core of Moana's upbringing. When the deterioration and rot from the loss of the Heart finally reaches Motunui, it causes Morna to take the leap into the ocean beyond the reef, to find Maui and enlist his aid in restoring the Heart to Te Fiti to save her people.

So the story isn't bad, but it's also not really as strong as the world that they've created needs to keep pace. The songs, penned by current musical golden boy Lin-Manuel Miranda, working alongside Opetaia Foa'I and Mark Mancina are fun, but not the same instant-burn-into-your-memory-forever as one really looks for in a best-in-class Disney film. How Far I'll Go, will almost be amongst the Oscar nominated best songs, but if it will win will depend largely on the strength of the rest of the entrants (as opposed to Frozen's Let it Go, which was going to win no matter what was against it).

Kudos have to be given to Disney for casting a number of actors who are Pacific Islanders themselves, rather than casting the typical lot of only Western Europeans for the roles. Disney also did try to accommodate cultural sensitivities during production by doing research trips, though it was with mixed success as many objections and protests have still been raised. So at least it can be said that Disney has started to put some effort behind their casting and cultural understanding.

Cravalho's voicing of Moana is her very first acting gig and she really does deserve some kind of awards or recognition for pulling it off as well as she did. Johnson is fun to watch, though expectations of him are never high, so it's easy for him to exceed them. His singing is passable, but again, nothing to be long remembered. It would be fun to see his Maui in a "who's more macho" competition with Gaston.

Moana's spiritual guide is her Gramma Tala (Rachel House) who keeps nudging her towards her dreams of taking to the ocean, and it's around Gramma that the emotional strings are most attached. More than a few tears will be shed around her scenes.

All that said, it's a beautiful world, but adults in the audience will have a nagging feeling that the cute sidekick chicken Hei Hei (voiced by Alan Tudk) and the piglet Pua are included mostly to have an afterlife as stuffed animals on Disneyland store shelves. There are scenes that you wonder, where will they put that ride in the park, or will they just add it as a new segment to California Adventures' World of Color?

It's those latter parts that are some of the biggest detractions from the film. When you know you're being played and set up for after-viewing marketing tactics, you need to be okay with it, and this time it felt a little off.

Overall, though, it's a good film – worth seeing over the holiday weekend, and something that both the kids and the adults will have an enjoyable time watching at least once.

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