‘Moana 2’ Movie Review: Disney Sequel Is An Uninspiring Wave of Disappointment

Directors: Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand, David Derrick Jr.
Writers: Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller, Bek Smith
Cast: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane
Language: English 

Early on in Moana 2, we meet Kele (David Fane), a grumpy farmer with all the enthusiasm of a soggy towel, and by the end, you’ll feel just like him — wondering if you just “don’t love anything.”

The film picks up three years after the events of the first film. Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is now a certified ‘Wayfinder’ and has been anointed Tautai, the connector of the entire sea. Her new quest is to find the island of Montufetu in order to reconnect the scattered islands and, by extension, their people. To help her, she assembles a crew, hand-picking the people of Motunui. Among them are Moni (Hualālai Chung), a burly man who is queer-coded but not defined by it; Loto (Rose Matafeo), a resourceful inventor who’s far more interesting than the plot; the cynical farmer Kele; and returning teammates Pua the pot-bellied piglet and Heihei the chicken. It takes an hour for the film to bring Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and Moana together because Maui is busy being the demigod in distress.

A power-hungry god, Nalo, has cursed the islands and created a storm to keep them divided. Why? Who knows. His motivation remains as vague as his endgame, leaving us to wonder why we should care.

The stakes are high — unite the islands, or everyone dies in isolation — but the film never bothers to explain how Nalo’s stormy power trip benefits him in any way. It feels like a desperate attempt to raise the stakes beyond the first film, in which  Moana restored Te Fiti’s heart to save her island from dying. That film was a story about course correction — about protecting nature and following one’s calling. The beauty of Moana (2016) was that it resonated equally with both eight-year-olds and 28-year-olds. After the success of Inside Out 2 earlier this year, there was hope that sequels could build on their predecessors. But this uninspired film, originally reconfigured from a Disney+ streaming series, is a harsh reminder that some stories don’t need to be told twice.

But all is not lost, even if our heroine is. Visually, the film dazzles. The VFX team goes all out to create breathtaking landscapes — water that seems to kiss your skin, the sand grinds against your senses — and a climactic thunderstorm that evokes gothic sublimity. However, despite the stunning imagery, the narrative feels bloated and lost. 

Some narrative decisions also leave you scratching your head. Why does it take Moana and Maui so long to come together? A duo that is electric on screen are left fumbling through a fog of missed opportunities. By the time they finally meet, the film has already lost most of its rhythm.

Then there's the writing. The attempt at humor with “besties” and “out demigodding” feels painfully forced, as if the writers just googled the latest buzzwords to stay relevant. The result is a screenplay that’s more cringe than clever, detracting from the authenticity of the characters and their dialogue.

Meanwhile, the absence of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs from this film make you appreciate the rousing ‘How Far I’ll Go’ and the tongue-in-cheek ‘You’re Welcome’, which managed to make even Dwayne Johnson’s singing enjoyable. The soundtrack consists of many spiritual successors to those songs — like ‘Beyond’ and ‘Can I Get a Chee Hoo’ — but not even a single one is memorable or moving. What’s worse is that Johnson sings at a very crucial and emotional point in the film, but his singing negates all those emotions. Opetaia Foa'i and Mark Mancina return to collaborate on the music of this film, along with Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, but without Manuel Miranda, they are out of their depth.

With the exception of a handful of laugh-out-loud moments, Moana 2 relies a little too much on toilet humor (puking scenes that even the kids seem uninterested in). Some charm is added by Moana’s little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), whose playful and adorable moments make you smile. At one point, Moana and Simea use the ocean to communicate with each other, but blink and you’ll miss it, as the film quickly returns to its unfunny and slightly icky ‘jokes’. The Kakamora (a tribe of coconuts) also return, bringing in some lightness, but they're saddled with a slimy new friend who is also throwing up.

The film harps on many themes: being lost and finding your way, starting even if you don’t feel ready, and other Pinterest-worthy messages. But without an emotional core, none of it sticks. Of course, you don’t expect to be surprised by the plot — a hero’s journey always ends the same — and the primary audience for Moana 2 is children, not critics. But there’s nothing novel about how the story unfolds. It feels like the new iPhone — not all that different, just glossier. Moana 2 doesn’t improve anything substantial from the first film, and worse still, it strips away much of the universal resonance that made its predecessor so special. Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), a new addition to the cast, tells Moana that there’s always a way out. For Disney, the only way out might be to stop making sequels. Not that they’re listening.