The young, strong-willed adventurer Moana sets sail on a new course with a new ragtag crew in Moana 2, the sequel to Disney’s 2016 animated hit. The movie opens a few years after Moana (voiced by Auli‘i Cravalho) saved her island from environmental disaster. She’s become a hero and an inspiration to her people and has been sailing the ocean looking for other tribes.
She returns home with proof that inhabited islands must exist. During a celebration in her honor, Moana has a vision from her forebears that she must follow a sign in the night sky to find a mysterious hidden island called Motufetu. This island will connect her people to other tribes.
So, Moana assembles a crew with questionable seafaring skills, and a larger canoe, to journey to the far seas of Oceania. Their treacherous trip will take them into dangerous, long-lost waters on a quest to unite her home with all the people of the world. Oh, and yes, she hopes that her old friend, the Demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), will once again join her on this adventure.
Moana 2 is a worthy sequel to the Oscar-winning blockbuster film, with stunning animation and the returning voice talents of Auli‘i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, reprising the roles of Moana and Maui. Dwayne Johnson and Auli‘i Cravalho still have great chemistry, and the best parts of the animated sequel are when they are reunited and onscreen together.
This doesn’t mean the sequel is free of issues, such as the addition of one-dimensional characters. Her crew adds little humor to the film and takes time away from Moana and Maui’s scenes. What made the first film so endearing was the partnership and bonding between Moana and Maui.
Memorable songs are another missing factor. None of the new tunes hold a candle to the songs in the first film. These songs feel like they were written for a movie destined for a straight-to-streaming or Blu-ray fate.
Even though it’s missing some of the original film’s magic, the visually stunning animation and the familiar voices of Johnson and Cravalho, reunited for another adventure, make Moana 2 a fun and entertaining watch, particularly for diehard fans of the original.
GRADE: B-
MPAA Rating: PG for action and peril
Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Release Date: November 27, 2024
Directed By: David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
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