'Moana 2' Review: No Rea$on to Exi$t

Much ado about … not much, in the high-priced sequel featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson and Aulii Cravalho

Now Streaming: Coming eight years after the original, Moana 2 feels completely adrift from its original inspiration. 

Developed by veteran animators Ron Clements and John Musker and released in 2016, Moana tried hard to be "fresh and modern," as I wrote back then for another outlet, "but it doesn't quite get there." Instead, the movie ended up inverting "the expected paradigm; Moana is not a hero's journey, it's a sidekick's journey. The young girl Moana learns practical things -- how to sail -- while slowly becoming a supporting character to Maui, a male demigod who needs to learn Important Life Lessons. What may have been intended as an inversion of gender roles instead ends up reinforcing them." Coming straight from the Mouse House, the film's big budget was amply rewarded by the public at large, earning nearly $650 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. 

The sequel, released this past November, easily outperformed the original, raking in more than $1 billion dollars at the box office worldwide. So, the company's faith in its own intellectual property was rewarded, which also explains why the film is just reaching the studio's streaming site this week. 

I missed the original theatrical release, due to an overcrowded work schedule, yet even at home, the film looks spectacular in 4K, the rich range of colors bursting out of the screen and the details looking mighty clear. Unfortunately, the higher density also reveals that every character looks like they are skinned in plastic, betraying absolutely no imperfections and resembling blow-up dolls for children. 

Which, after all, sounds appropriate: the movie is designed and targeted at youthful audiences, after all. Even so, the best films intended for youthful audiences, animated or not, never make the mistake of talking down to their audience. Children, even very young children, can quickly grasp the meaning behind facial gestures and body languages, even if they can't understand the words that are spoken. 

In Moana 2, a plethora of people are constantly acting much sillier and more juvenile than their fictional ages, explaining everything over and over again. When Moana decides to embark on another grand adventure for a MacGuffin or two, she decides to bring along a group of friends who are absolutely no help to her. If anything, they serve as a distraction to Moana, who must then spend time saving them from their own foolishness or worrying about them as they foolishly and/or needlessly put the lives of themselves or others in danger. 

The demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), formerly all powerful? Now he's not much use to himself or anyone else. He's the one in need of rescue by Moana, who has grown into a fine leader, although she too needs reassurance from smiling dead relatives who rise from the afterlife to cheer her on. 

The narrative itself, which has something to do with uniting the world somehow through its ocean people, is rambling and incoherent. To some extent, all sequels are remakes, especially one released eight years after the original; the original featured Moana setting off to find herself, only to be overcome by her association with Maui. The sequel revolves around Moana again setting off on an adventure, though its purpose remains curiously uninteresting.

It's difficult to discern any creative or story-driven purpose behind the sequel. Like a high-priced DTV release, Moana 2 is all tarted up for no good reason except Disney's bottom line, and has precious little to recommend for adult viewers, except for hard-core feature animation fans. [Disney Plus]