REVIEW: “Moana 2” has most of the heart (but not the soundtrack) of the original

Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) sails back onto the big screen with the theatrical release of “Moana 2.” With her newfound freedom to explore the vast sea surrounding her island, Moana searches for the future of her people on the water.

“Moana 2” first shows us how much has changed. As Moana sails across the ocean, her wayfinding skills have apparently become second nature to her, and she uses them to search for other people in the world. After finding evidence of life on another island in the form of broken pottery left behind by the previous inhabitants, she returns home and shows us that Motunui has also changed, as her island home now has watercraft of different sizes and function abound. Even Moana’s father, Tui (Temuera Morrison), runs to her in his own canoe.

Moana presents her findings to her father and the tribe, and after being struck by lightning at a later ceremony, Moana receives a vision of Tautai Vasa (Gerald Faitala Ramsey), her ancestor who had guided her people in previous visions. He reveals to her that the storm god Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea’i) sank the island of Motufetu to separate all mortals, and that he failed in his own attempt to reach the island, which now finds itself at the center of a great storm there from Nalo. With that, Moana dares to complete this mission with the help of some new faces.

Moana enlists the help of three members of her tribe: Moni (Hualalai Chung), Loto (Rose Matafeo), and Kele (David Fane). Moni is a strong man with a knowledge of history, but above all she is fascinated by meeting Maui (Dwayne Johnson) in person. Loto is a hyper-obsessed shipbuilder who is overzealous about constantly improving Moana’s watercraft. Keke is an old farmer who doesn’t like to do anything outside his wheelhouse. After the crew sets off and tries to find their rhythm, they encounter another unlikely ally, a Kakamora, whose coconut-veiled relative also wants to see the resurrection of Motufetu Island.

They all stumble into the lair of Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), a mysterious, seemingly god-like person with the ability to fly and a connection to bats. Here Moana is reunited with Maui, as he has been held captive here for some time, also looking for Motufetu. Matangi reveals that she is a reluctant ally of Nalo, but ensures that Moana, Maui and the crew find the right path to Motufetu to defeat Nalo.

After being magically transported to the waters near Motufetu, the crew struggles to deal with the creatures around them, sending them licking their wounds on a small island. Maui gives a short pep talk (or more accurately, an uplifting musical number), and the crew decides to move on. After an incredibly tense back-and-forth battle with the living storm that surrounds the island, the crew narrowly manages to raise the island from the depths of the ocean, ensuring the future of Moana’s people.

“Moana 2” is another visually stunning animated adventure. The new monsters and the giant living storm are impressive to see. However, the film’s greatest strength lies in its title character, as Moana is again a very compelling character. Not only is it visually entertaining to watch her overcome the mythical obstacles in her path, but we also watch her struggle with emotional obstacles. She has a new sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), to come into her life, more responsibilities than before, and even the relationship she has to maintain with her new crew is interesting. It’s this growth that “Moana 2” takes to heart.

The music score is one of the first problems I noticed. Even though each song is a hit in its own right, some of them seemed a little out of place. Especially the impressive number “Get Lost”, sung by Matangi. Again, the song itself was great, it just felt like it deviated a little too much from the more consistent island/tribal undertones of the other musical numbers.

The biggest problem with this film is that it feels like filler. Now there is the main plot that ultimately drives the film and is resolved at the end, but everything else goes as planned. The new characters that Moana has to have by her side have such quick little personal stories that they do little to advance the main story. They were clearly designed when the film was intended as a Disney+ series and were left unchanged.

There’s also Matangi, who really only hints at her backstory and motivations, which, while intriguing, only serves to flesh out her appearance in the post-credits scene and possible sequels, which is also the only time we see the main antagonist of the film.

Very young viewers may find the suspenseful moments frightening or disturbing. The elementary school-aged children who were with us said that while there were “some jump scares,” it wasn’t too scary.

Ultimately, as a cinematic experience, Moana 2 was indeed another fun and entertaining addition to what is obviously intended to be a continuation of a larger series. I would give Moana 2 a 5 out of 7 giant slimy green blobfish.

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Katie Francis