REUNITED – Walt Disney Animation Studios’ epic animated musical “Moana 2” reunites Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) and Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) three years later for an expansive new voyage. Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, “Moana 2” features music by Grammy® winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa‘i, and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina. The all-new feature film opens in theaters on Nov. 27, 2024. © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights

Review: “Moana 2” A Storm of Missed Opportunities

By: Robert Prentice

Rating:

Moana made waves when it first came out, expanding the Disney princess lineup into new markets and audience members. It also had a great story, likable characters, and great songs. But has it made a franchise out of it? The sequel is releasing this holiday weekend and families looking for something to watch will have limited choices with Wicked and Gladiator II headlining the box office crowds.

Moana journeys to the far seas of Oceania after receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors.

Review

Moana 2 had a steep hill to climb to surpass the excitement and story of the first film, and sadly, the sequel fell short. Part of this goes back to the writing room and likely partially involves the recent strikes. The sequel was originally intended to be a streaming series on Disney+ but was later revamped into a film. It seems clear that in the editing of the story to make it work for a movie much of the nuance in the story and character building was lost.

On that front, while we are introduced to a few new members of the island, ultimately we don’t flesh much out about any of them to care any more than them just being a side-kick who could kick the bucket at any time. The character building we got in the first film just wasn’t there in Moana 2. Nothing that happened in the story felt earned for any of them.

Moana is still a great family film, and if your kids loved the first film, they will undoubtedly love the return of Moana and the rest of her whacky companions she had in the first film. The songs, however, fell a bit flat overall, and to be fair to Moana, coming out on the heels of Wicked hitting theatres isn’t doing it any favors. From a sing-a-long standpoint, Wicked is dominating. Likely an apples-to-oranges comparison but the memorable nature of the film just isn’t there.

There is a post-credit scene and much like the MCU has tried to do, the film teases a larger universe that they intend to explore but you may leave the theatre uninterested in what it has to offer. However, with limited options for family movies to go and see this holiday, Moana 2 is still likely to draw families in for something nostalgic. If The Wild Robot is still playing near you, I would recommend that as your first choice.