Moana 2 Review: Diminishing Returns, But Still Entertaining
Ken Jones, OnScreen Blog Chief Film Critic
It's hard to believe that Moana came out in 2016, and after its wild success, we’re just now getting a sequel. Moana 2 features Moana and the demigod Maui with a new adventure that the ocean is calling them to and points to an even bigger world and franchise to come.
After the events of the first movie, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) is a wayfinder for the people on her island of Motunui. She explores the seas, seeking other people on other islands. She finally finds a clue to a mysterious island of Motufetu that used to be the center point of the ocean, connecting all the tribes and islands, until an evil god named Nalo sunk it and scattered the tribes. Maui (Dwayne Johnson) also seeks the island and Motufetu, but he also wants to do it on his own to protect Moana from the dangerous god. Moana sets out with a crew on a dangerous mission to find the long-lost island and reconnect with the other tribes.
Moana 2 does the job that almost all sequels do, which is expanding the world of the first movie. The first movie was about finding adventure and expanding borders beyond Moana’s island; this film is about connecting with people out in that bigger world but also saving her people again. Moana has a vision of her people dying if she fails in her quest, so there is a subtle message of the importance of connection and community. The evil god Nalo is more powerful when the people are isolated from one another. Along the same line, in regard to community, Moana brings a crew from her tribe along with her this time because she needs the help of others on this bigger mission. Bigger boat, bigger crew, bigger stakes.
It may be an odd thing to say about voice acting, but the entire cast has good chemistry with each other. Moana and her sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) have an endearing “Big Sis!” “Little Sis!” greeting with each other. Moana and Maui work well off each other. One of Moana’s friends that she brings along with her, Moni (Hualālai Chung) is a superfan of Maui, which provides some good laughs. In addition to being a Maui superfan, he also knows the stories and legends of their people and of the sea. Loto (Rose Matafeo), who is good at crafting and repairs, and an elderly farmer, Kele (David Fane), serve purposes and round out her crew.
As far as the villain goes, Nalo feels like an incomplete or thinly drawn adversary for Moana and Maui. He has scant little dialogue, and while we see his power at work when he tries to thwart their mission, we really only see his power on display and not much of the character himself. I was left with the impression that there is a lot about Nalo to fill in, possibly in a future sequel.
I think having a villain that leaves a bit to be desired also makes the plot a little thin and incomplete. It certainly tells a story from beginning to end, but it certainly hints at more stories to be told. Apparently, this film was originally conceived as a Disney+ limited series and was eventually repurposed into a sequel. You can definitely see the ending being the ending of the first season of a series with a mid-credits scene that would work as a tease for the second season (or, in this case, a third film). Because of that, there is some promise that Disney has a roadmap charted for where they want the story to go and how they want to get there, but it’s not always wise to think Disney has a plan (I’m looking at you, Star Wars sequel trilogy).
The Moana soundtrack was a big hit, and Lin-Manuel Miranda put it together. The team of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear have replaced Miranda this time around. It’s probably an unfair comparison to hold them to the standard of Lin-Manuel Miranda, but the soundtrack this time around does not have any standouts as the first film’s soundtrack did. In fact, most of the songs come across as knockoffs of the Lin-Manuel Miranda songs. The one that comes closest to being catchy is “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?” sung by Dwayne Johnson.
The following contains mild spoilers for the end of the movie Lastly, and this is tough to discuss without getting into spoiler territory, the climax of the battle with Nalo didn’t really work for me. Maybe it is just a perceived trend in movies on my part, but it seems like more action and adventure movies are resorting to a particular kind of “all hope is lost” trope. Think of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter in the Deathly Hallows (Pt. 2), or Neo at the end of The Matrix, and you should have an idea of what I’m talking about. This is something that studios should do more judiciously because it risks undermining the stakes of the story.
I’ve long thought that the superhero stories of today are the modern equivalent of the tales of ancient mythology. Moana brought the superhero version of Polynesian mythology to a wider audience, which was fresh to a lot of eyes and had a fun-filled story and a great soundtrack. Moana 2 is still entertaining, but it is also a little too derivative of the first film. It also has a soundtrack that sounds too much like an imitation of the original. There are usually diminishing returns with most sequels, and there are bound to be more entries in this franchise, but there is nothing here that would prevent me from seeing a third film in the future.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars