A One Mann’s Movies review of “Moana 2” (2024).

* This title (C) The Illustrious Mrs Movie Man!

“Moana 2” – the sequel to Disney’s 2016’s smash hit “Moana” – was originally designed as a Disney+ series… and sadly it shows. That hasn’t stopped it racing to over 600 million dollars at the box office since its release just over 2 weeks ago. Which just proves to me… that kids are really not all that discerning!

Bob the Movie Man Rating:

“Moana 2” Plot Summary:

Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) is obsessed with finding other tribes on other Pacific islands in order to increase the diversity of their community. Her mission takes her to a giant munching clam on an island populated by animated coconuts; takes her on a quest to rescue the demi-God Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) from a wicked bat-queen and finally to resurrect a sunken island that will reconnect all of the islands across the Pacific.

Certification:

UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC web site: “Mild threat.”)

Talent:

Starring: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House.

Directed by: David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand & Dana Ledoux Miller.

Written by: Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller. (From a story by Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller & Bek Smith.)

Running Time: 1h 40m.

Yes… it’s true. Moana is a cracked pot addict. (Source: Disney).

“Moana 2” Summary:

Positives:

  • Traditionally solid animation from the Disney Animation Studios.
  • Moana represents a powerful, empowered female heroine.
  • I love how much Nigel Farage and Reform are going to hate the concept of seeking to increase the diversity of the population (or die)!

Negatives:

  • The convoluted story feels like its been stuck together in piecemeal fashion. Disjointed and unsatisfying.
  • Aside from “Beyond”, the songs were unmemorable.

Review of “Moana 2”:

Feels thrown together and haphazard.

With multiple writers and multiple directors, this really does feel like its about three episodes of “Moana: The Series” stripped out and loosely bolted together. I’m not sure if this is actually true or not, or whether it is just the scripts that were merged. But either way, the result is the same…. a sequel that feels like it’s lazily been thrown together with bits glued together from existing material and pandering to a tick-list of ‘Moana tropes’. There are certainly lots of clips from the trailer (the initial chicken/pig “boat snack” meet-up for example) that never appear in the final film (there is a similar chicken/big-pig sequence near the end of the film, that really doesn’t work and isn’t nearly as funny).

I miss Lin-Manuel Miranda.

One of the joys of the original “Moana” were the foot-tapping songs by Lin Manuel-Miranda. Here, apart from the “Oscar-bait” offering “Beyond” (which is belted out really well by Auli’i Cravalho) the other songs (music by Mark Mancina and songs by Tik-Tok stars Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear) are fairly forgettable. Perhaps they will grow on me.

So what is OK.

Well, with the negatives out of the way, the Disney animation – particularly with Moana swooping across the waves on her boat – is effective and well done. Moana herself remains a terrific role model for young girls with her fierce determination and her ‘can do’ attitude. (There’s a theme to the film that if things aren’t going your way then you musn’t be discouraged and keep trying until they do).

I also loved the message of the film (a message that Nigel Farage and his Reform followers will hate!) that isolation and cultural stagnation leads to societal death. Moana’s people welcome the arrival of immigrants with their different cultures and new ideas.

Waving to each other. Moana with her little sister Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda). (Source: Disney)

Monkey?

There is a mid-credit monkey, which most of the kids in the audience missed as they were already out of the exit. It proves that you can’t keep a cash-cow down and there will – inevitably, given this box office – be a “Moana 3” featuring the bat-lady and the big nasty god-person. There is no monkey at the end of the credits though.

Summary Thoughts on “Moana 2″

Myself and the Illustrious Mrs Movie Man both came out of this one with the same summary on our lips: a bit tired and lazy. But Disney must be laughing all the way to the bank: it’s already made over $600 million on an estimated budget of $150 million and so looks set to threaten that top 10 list of the greatest money-making movies of all time. I guess whether that happens will depend on its ‘repeat visit’ attraction.

Worth adding that we are maybe just two grumpy people with overly high expectations. Two of my grandkids who saw it (ages 10 and 7) and both absolutely loved it, giving it 5-stars.

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Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)

Still in cinemas or not available to stream in this region.

Trailer for “Moana 2”:

The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgkUCqEum4 .

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By bobwp

Dr Bob Mann lives in Hampshire in the UK. Now retired from his job as an IT professional, he is owner of One Mann's Movies and an enthusiastic reviewer of movies as "Bob the Movie Man". Bob is also a regular film reviewer on BBC Radio Solent.

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