Movie Review: Moana 2
January 6, 2025
I am going preface this review by saying that I don’t particularly love Moana and her storyline to begin with. It is touching and beautiful and the music is so fun, but it is jut not for me. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised. There have been some pretty negative comments going around about it because it was originally going to be a series for Disney+ but it isn’t doing as well as they wanted it to, and so they shifted gears and made it a movie. I won’t say that you cannot tell, but someone made a point that there used to be all of these straight-to-dvd/vhs Disney sequels that weren’t done by the original illustrators and the story line lacked a little, and I will say, that makes me appreciate it more. Knowing that it is not the same animators, I was able to tell that is was not up the the same standards. Other flaws I will point out are that there was a lot of music that was spaced out in a way that felt very much like they wanted a song per episode. Not that this is a bad thing, it just felt a little forced.
We follow Moana on another journey to save her people and the island she so loves. This time around she is leaving behind a little sister ( that came out of nowhere ) and bringing new friends with her to assist her in her journey. She is told by the last great Wayfinder in her ancestors that she needs to find this island, somewhere out to sea, that is cursed and guarded by a god, or her people would die out ( he does not explain why or how this would happen, but only that it would ). She packs up her things and makes some unlikely friends along the way, but is finally joined my Maui and together, they set off to find the hidden island, and break the curse that was placed on it.
Overall, it was beautiful, and I was moved, but I am not sure I would suggest going to see it in theaters. Also, I will warn you, because it was made for a smaller screen, there are some pretty scary sequences that I would have been very afraid of as a child, and can see others having nightmares from. If your child is sensitive ( like me ) I would maybe wait until it is on Disney+ to watch it as a family.
