Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, Moana 2 follows Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho), Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers who, after receiving an unexpected call from Moana’s wayfinding ancestors, must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.
The first film from 2016 was an absolute knockout for Disney Animation Studios, bringing to life a grand and compelling adventure inspired by real-life Pacific Islander culture and mythology. With how successful the first film was a follow-up was certainly due to follow and it was initially going to be a Disney + series that would continue the seafaring journey of Moana. However, the series had been reworked into this theatrical sequel but the ideas of Moana continuing her journey and exploring new realms beyond her island home remained intact. Despite the various changes that occurred leading to the creation of this sequel I found the end result to be a highly enjoyable film that had me leaving the theater with the biggest smile on my face.
Moana 2 is a charm-filled and uplifting sequel that serves as a great follow-up to its predecessor, as well as expands the mythos of this world in unique and interesting ways. Utilizing further inspiration from real-life Pacific Islander culture and mythology we get a film that dials up the adventurous elements and stakes of Moana’s journey, delivering heart and fun even if it isn’t as emotionally impactful as the first film.
One of the biggest upgrades this film does have over its predecessor from the start is the animation, which is absolutely gorgeous in every single frame. The eight-year gap between the first film and this sequel shows the advancement of the animation, and while the first film is still very beautiful to this day it’s clear this one has much more detail and fluidity put into it. The textures of characters, creatures, and objects really feel fleshed out and leap off the screen so much it feels like you know how would it feel by touch. Had this sequel remained as a series the animation would definitely not have looked as good as this, which makes this one of the biggest benefits of being turned into a theatrical release.
The voice cast is fantastic across the board, featuring returning cast members as well as all-new ones that add further amounts of charm and representation to this sequel in their respective performances. Auliʻi Cravalho returns as the titular Moana and once again delivers a beautiful and emotionally compelling performance in this film. Moana has grown significantly since we last saw her but is faced with new challenges as she must now act as a leader to others who join her on her dangerous voyage while facing even greater stakes that threaten everyone she’s cared for and everything she has built for her people.
It was great to see Moana continue to develop as a character in this film and not regress or repeat the same arc she had in the first film, which is always a common problem with some animated sequels. I loved her arc in this film and I loved what she becomes by the end of the film with a surprising development that changes everything.
And while it was certainly great to see her interact with Dwayne Johnson’s Maui again she also gets the chance to have wonderful interactions with completely new characters, with the most important among them being Simea, Moana’s little sister voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda. The very moment this character came on screen I was immediately obsessed with just how damn cute she was and how she shares very genuine heartfelt moments with Moana in the film that had me choked up a few times. Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda’s voice performance as Simea was perfect, capturing the childhood innocence and heart of the character and making her a surprising stand-out that I do wish we had more of.
Dwayne Johnson reprises Maui and once again oozes with charm and humor in his return as the shapeshifting demigod. While he is not as heavily focused on as he was in the first film he still has a vital role to play in this film as well as gets the chance to shine as a hero in a larger adventure. He does retain some of his humorous ego that he had in the first film but he doesn’t fully regress into the selfish individual he once was and instead ends up being the one to help and care for Moana in some of her struggles and help push her forward on this new journey giving a little reversal of roles that I thought was a nice touch. Seeing him actually act like a hero in various ways that he loves to boast about so much was awesome to see in action and Dwayne Johnson brought it to life wonderfully, keeping this role as one of my favorites of his.
All of the other returning voices are fantastic and of course, the animal sidekicks are always a joy to have along with the return of everyone’s favorite rooster Heihei, hilariously voiced again by Alan Tudyk, and Moana’s pet pig Pua who actually gets to come on the adventure this time.
But the newer characters that join Moana on her voyage were also great too, all given fun times to shine and great performances by their respective cast members. The seafaring crew includes a Maui super fan named Moni played by Hualālai Chung, a brainy but quirky craftswoman named Loto played by Rose Matafeo, and a grumpy farmer named Kele played by David Fane. This trio may not be as emotionally layered compared to Moana and Maui but are still fun characters that each have something fun to offer for the film and add further amounts of charm as we see Moana connect and lead them on a high-stakes adventure.
There is one additional character added to the crew that I didn’t expect to love so much and that is Kotu, a Kakamora warrior from the tribe of savage coconut pirates from the first film. The tribe was initially introduced as enemies in the first film but a new revelation about their true nature on the high seas changes your perspective of them and they are shown to be more than savage creatures, especially when shown through Kotu. Even with no dialogue or facial expressions, Kotu ends up being a great addition to the crew which I found to be a really underrated part of the film.
There is a new villain introduced in the film called Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea’i), a malicious storm god that serves as the primary adversary for our heroes on their quest. While not physically shown until later in the film he proves to be an intimidating force of raw power that shows no mercy to humanity and ends up being a more dangerous threat to face off against. This character was the one part of the film I wish they dove more into, alongside her mysterious enforcer Matangi, voiced by Awhimai Fraser, who I thought was a really cool character that I was eager to learn more about.
This is where I feel the sequel’s transition from a series to a film didn’t work out so well because it feels like these were characters that were being introduced in season 1 of a show but would not be further explored until the next season. The film even ends on a mid-credit scene teasing a potential third installment with these two characters having a larger role in the future but I wish we had more of both of them in this film instead of having to wait for the next one for answers.
The film’s story in my view is a great continuation of the first film that goes bigger with the adventurous elements and dives deeper into the mythos of this unique world of gods and monsters based on real-life Pacific Islander culture and mythology. There were numerous times that I thought this film was going to end up repeating some plot points, themes, and directions from the first film but thankfully that wasn’t the case at all as they managed to throw in some unexpected twists and turns to keep the film from being repetitive, making the journey more fun and interesting than I thought it would be. It felt like an actual continuation of the story compared to my recent watch of Gladiator II, which repeated so much from its predecessor and barely offered anything new or interesting.
The animated action of this film is awesome and fun, delivering boundless entertainment and energetic thrills all visually displayed in stunning animation and cinematography that was wonderful to see on the big screen.
I know one thing that concerned most people about this sequel was the score and songs but I am glad to say both were excellent. Even with the absence of Lin-Manuel Miranda, we still have the same composers and co-songwriters of the first film returning to do the music and for me personally, they still deliver great music in this film. Admittedly not all the songs are immediately catchy like in the first film but there are still some strong ones that stand out like “Beyond” which felt like a wonderful spiritual continuation of the beautiful “How Far I’ll Go”, and Dwayne Johnson’s “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?” that was fierce showstopper of a song that got me and my whole theater addicted to it within seconds. Also regardless of what people may think of Dwayne Johnson as an actor, I think there’s no denying he can be a good singer when given some great material to work with.
Moana 2 may have some shortcomings that prevent it from being completely on par with the first film, but it’s still a worthy follow-up in my eyes that works better as a theatrical sequel than it would have as a Disney + series. I know there may be some people that may not agree with my thoughts or rating for this film but for me personally, it was a sequel that satisfied me and was very uplifting for me, which is the kind of film I’ve needed at this time. I encourage everyone to give it a go on the big screen whenever possible and if you happen to have a family this would make for a great family watch. I’m going to give Moana 2 an A = 95.
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