Asher Luberto
It’s safe to say that Disney has officially run out of ideas. The studio known for its creativity and imagination has become a vision of monotony. Ever since moving toward IP-driven entertainment, the studio has put the dumb in Dumbo, the disenchanting in Disenchanted, and now the moan in Moana, with a sequel that follows a wonderful original with a stagnant sea of familiarity.
With so much to live up to, the sequel was never going to be as good as Moana, but it could have set sail on a more distinct course. Rather than giving the Polynesian princess (Auli’i Cravalho) an entirely new story, the directors have settled on giving her the exact same voyage just with fewer jokes, action and whimsy, and no Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the songs for the original. The result? A sequel that only exists to make money.
A gorgeous opening scene puts us right back on Motunui, an island surrounded by turquoise waters where our heroine first became a light to little girls everywhere. After saving her home from destruction, Moana’s back as “chief navigator” of her village, which is basically just an excuse for her to leave should any trouble arrive — and what do you know, trouble arrives in the form of a mythical island.
Of course, Moana’s not the only one after the island. The antagonist, a woman who looks like a bat, wants to get her hands on the island as well, but for reasons far different than Moana’s quest to find her ancestors. She captures Moana’s buddy Maui (Dwayne Johnson) in an attempt to slow her down, causing Moana to team up with some newbies in a race to find the island first. In a boat strung together by rope, they sail across the ocean fending off the same monstrous crabs and creatures Moana faced in the original but with a different end destination.
It’s a weak premise and execution since we’ve already seen all these scenarios play out before: Moana leaves her island to find her calling, runs into a bunch of wacky characters, sings a few catchy tunes and eventually finds her identity along the way. It’s visually dazzling, to be sure, but you want something more on your cinematic vacation, something new on the itinerary. Believe me, I enjoy returning to the Polynesian Islands as much as anyone. I’ve swam in their crystal waters, explored the lush, fragrant mountains and inhaled the island air, but I try to mix things up on my visits to Tahiti, unlike this film that assumes you aren’t smart enough to realize you are watching the same movie all over again, just without the same heart or coherence.
The new Moana is so confusing it makes you seasick — or just sick of the characters. Like most Disney sequels, a bunch of new characters are on board to distract you from the fact you are watching a similar voyage. They certainly distract you from our heroine, who is the beating heart of this franchise yet is surrounded by obnoxious caricatures who only have one trait, whether that be the grump or the nerd. They aren’t people you want to be stuck on a boat with. But you are. Like it or probably not, this film is another example of Disney treading water.