Bad sequels get made all the time. And it’s worse when one is flat out disappointing. Such is the case with Moana 2, a film that should have been a slam dunk. It’s just too bad Disney didn’t spend more time polishing up the script to make it a little more shiny.
To set expectations, just know that not only did the film go into production originally as a Disney+ series, it also comes in tow with three story credits, two screenwriters, three directors, and no Lin-Manuel Miranda.
It’s ultimately a boring patchwork of ideas that you can totally tell were supposed to be split into individual episodes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that — action movies thrive on it — but not when it comes to a modern Disney classic.
Alas, there’s nothing here you haven’t seen before. I guess aside from Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) now having a little sister, Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda). Kids may love it for the bright colors, Maui’s (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) slapstick antics alongside Pua and Heihei (voiced by Alan Tudyk), and Moana helming some new songs. However, not even those are a saving grace.
Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i return as composers and co-songwriters, this time joined by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, yet all they manage to conjure up are what sound like first draft rejects from the first film. That’s right folks, not a single earworm in sight. In fact, the only songs I’ve had stuck in my head are all from the first film.
They do try to spice things up with a dash of a pseudo-villain, Matangi (voiced by Awhimai Fraser), who’s in cahoots with the god Nalo (voiced by Tofiga Fepulea’i). While they may manage to whip up some storms to try to stop our fearless Wayfinder in the finale — incidentally whipping my daughter’s excitement into overdrive — the film thrives too much on the supernatural, sucking it dry of stakes, let alone tension.
Only families of the most forgiving nature will enjoy, let alone love, Moana 2, as for the rest of us, the mid-credit scene does set things up for another entry. Let’s just hope they spend more time with their now-franchise to keep it afloat.
