Moana 2

by Mike McGranaghan

After the box office success of Moana and its subsequent boost in popularity on streaming, Walt Disney Pictures had the idea to create a follow-up TV series for their Disney+ service. Earlier this year, they announced that the series had been reconfigured and would now be a theatrically released motion picture instead. Right there is the problem with Moana 2. It plays like the highlights of a season’s worth of episodes strung together in a 90-minute montage. Individual parts of the movie are fun, but in no way does it feel like a coherent work.

The plot centers around an evil storm god named Nalo who sank the island of Motufetu, which connected all other islands and, by extension, the people living on them. Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) decides that she needs to right this wrong. That entails reuniting with demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson). If he can use his powers to raise the island, she can revitalize it by touching it. How exactly that works is one of the film’s bigger plot holes. The citizens of her own island are in danger of extinction if Moana fails, so there’s great pressure to succeed.

The storytelling is slightly off in this sequel. We don’t even see Nalo until a bonus scene midway through the end credits, so he’s not an especially menacing villain. Two times during the movie, we meet characters who seem like they will be villainous, only to reveal themselves as benign. This results in a lack of suspense. Instead, we get a series of action sequences, each seemingly designed to be the highlight of an individual episode. While they have some undeniable entertainment value – particularly the one involving a giant clam – they don’t lead to much without a strong story to give them context.

The songs and jokes are weaker this time, as well. Lin-Manuel Miranda didn’t write the tunes for Moana 2, and the new ones simply aren’t memorable. (Cravalho sings the heck out of them, though. What a voice!) Attempts at humor involve old standbys like flatulence and characters getting covered with goo spit out by various sea creatures. Those elements aren’t outright terrible, they just pale in comparison to the music and humor in the first Moana.

Where the picture most succeeds is in its animation. On a visual level, Moana 2 is dazzling to look at, especially the further our heroine gets out to sea. The crazy little coconut creatures are another highlight. And even minus a well-formulated plot, enough goes on that you really can’t ever grow bored. All in all, this is a mildly amusing family film that’s painless to watch. Having said that, an “okay” sequel to a terrific original still qualifies as a disappointment.

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