Moana 2 Movie Review: On November 27th, Disney will release Moana 2. The film is the sequel to the 2016 film of the same name – which will soon have its live-action remake with The Rock – directed by Dave G. Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, all three debuting directors. The film was supposed to be a TV series for Disney+ but it was then decided to continue the adventures of Vaiana and her group of daring friends in a cinematic way. Thanks to Disney, we saw the film in preview, and below we report our opinion.
Moana 2 Movie Story:
Moana 2 reunites Vaiana and Maui, after three years, for a new great journey together with a group of unlikely navigators. After receiving an unexpected call from her ancestors, Vaiana must travel to the distant seas of Moana and into dangerous and forgotten waters for an adventure unlike anything she has ever faced.
Moana 2 was born as a serial project, the story of Vaiana was supposed to become a narrative in several episodes to be enjoyed directly on Disney +, but it was then decided to condense the story into a feature film to be sent directly to the cinema. An idea born during the pandemic, Moana 2 is set about three years after the events of the first film and adds very little to the starting story, configuring itself as a return to a world already told. Thus is born a film that lives in the shadow of the first film that, while wanting to deepen dynamics and characters, turns out to be a long race to avoid losing what was ready in the writing and serial production phase.
Moana 2 Movie Review:
The events narrated are perceived as the starting idea of a broader narrative that however turns out to be fragmented and cut, with some characters who would have deserved a much greater in-depth analysis. No longer Lin Manuel-Miranda composing the musical pieces but Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foa'i, and Abigail Barlow, and for the songs Emily Bear, the latter certainly catchy but lacking that powerful song that could remain imprinted.
From a technical point of view, of course, we are always on the same line, Moana 2 takes the 3D animation technique that has characterized Disney in recent years to a higher level, also detaching itself from its previous film, with increasingly sharp images and ever-greater details. Colors, light, everything perfectly blended into the narrative context.
Moana 2, despite these problems, demonstrates how valid the starting idea of the series was. A story that would have followed in the footsteps of the first film, re-proposing the same characters with the addition of new, nice entries and the return of iconic friends. At the center of the story is not only the physical and spiritual journey of the heroine together with her friends, but also a broader concept of faith, culture, belonging, family, and above all inclusion.
The story makes the journey its central point, you are aware of what you leave but not of what you will find, a journey that will allow you to enter a new phase of life, acquiring greater maturity and awareness. The children who saw the first film in 2016 have grown up and it will be easier for them to immerse themselves in the adventures of Vaiana. There is no shortage of funny moments with protagonists Maui, the great demigod, the young Moni, who sees Maui as his great idol, the old farmer Kele, almost like a fish out of water in a group of young people, and the inevitable Heihei the moody rooster and Pua the pig.
Moana 2 is a great missed opportunity and not because it is a bad film. It would have lived better with its original form, that of a TV series; unfortunately, the transition from TV to the cinema has meant that many dynamics between the characters - and the characters themselves - have lost their bite and emphasis, cutting and eliminating some important scenes and interactions. However, there is no shortage of an important underlying message and characteristics dear to Disney that are certainly fundamental nowadays such as culture, family, but above all inclusion and acceptance towards those who are different from us.