Moana 2 - 2024

I hold Moana Episode IV: A New Hope in extremely high regard, and would have loved for it to stand alone. It ends perfectly; her people revitalized by their drive to explore, they abandon their home island and sail into the sunset. But franchises gonna franchise, and what was supposed to be a Disney+ series (???!!?!?!?!) is now a direct movie sequel. It’s ok.

The music is probably the weakest point. Moana teamed Lin Manual Miranda up with Polynesian rhythms and instruments, and that inexplicably worked really well. I read on wikipedia that his contribution for the songwriter duo of this movie was to give them a, and I quote, “stack of books”. Thanks, man. The songs, like the plot beats, constantly and self-consciously reference the originals, making the whole thing feel like a rehash.

But the details are fun. Moana has a crew this time, and they all have big personalities and enjoyable little arcs. There’s some great dialogue during the “we’re all just hanging out on a boat” scenes. The water and light effects are awesome, there’s a huge clam, etc. The Kakamora—coconut pirates…?—return with some surprises, and the final boss fight, less against a guy than a force of nature, works really well. It doesn’t all add up but that’s ok.

I’m grading on a curve, because this was officially the first movie we saw in theaters with our kid. She was enraptured, and I had more fun watching it through her new eyes rather than my old and jaded ones. I will never forgive the film, though, for including a new character, Moana’s little sister, who is approximately the age of my daughter and just as expressive (not as cute, though). At one point, Moana has to leave her behind, and both have to wrestle with some strong feelings, while I have to compose myself during what is supposed to be a fun kid’s movie. Scenes like that should be illegal.