Moana 2 review: Moana sequel sees Walt Disney Animation at their lowest

In 2016, Moana took the world by storm and instantly became one of Disney Animation’s best-ever movies of the 2010s, if not the best. Grossing over $687 million worldwide, the film was a massive critical success and garnered two Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Song for “How Far I’ll Go.” When the film’s titular character (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) sang it for the first time on screen, it not only felt like a revelation for Cravalho’s singing and voice acting talents but instantly solidified Moana’s place in the pantheon of Disney princesses. She quickly became known and revered by the masses and will likely stand the test of time for generations to come.

With all of this incredible success, a sequel was, of course, inevitable. However, Disney had other plans for the character, announcing a long-form television series titled Moana: The Series for their streaming service, Disney+, in 2020. There was also news of a live-action remake with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reprising his role as Maui, directed by Hamilton’s Thomas Kail. In isolation, this makes sense, considering that the world introduced in the 2016 film is rife to be explored (and repurposed) in multiple ways. Whether the live-action remake will be of any quality remains to be seen, but the talents of Kail as a director (alongside cinematographer Óscar Faura, who recently worked on Joachim Rønning’s Young Woman and the Sea) can’t be overstated.

But in February 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the long-form show was retooled in a feature film sequel, Moana 2, to release on Thanksgiving weekend. Alarm bells immediately went off, notably when it was announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda would not return to lend his talents for the film’s songs, which was why the first film was so beloved amongst critics and audiences. Some detractors of Miranda’s work may have breathed a sigh of relief, but there’s a reason why “Where You Are,” “You’re Welcome,” or even “Shiny” are still collectively remembered by audiences eight years after the first film’s release.

Now, I’m not opposed to reworking shows into a movie, as long as the filmmakers (in this case, a trio comprised of David G. Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller) treat it with the same cinematic finesse as the first. Visually and aurally, they must feel completely distinct from the televisual language. However, film and TV have never looked this similar in the “corrupted by television” era we live in (Denis Villeneuve’s words, not mine, though I generally agree with him). Unfortunately, the filmmakers tasked to bring Moana 2 to life have seemingly forgotten that this is no longer a series, and the images they have now transposed with rigid extreme close-ups and empty space no longer look remotely decent when projected on a gargantuan IMAX screen.

Moana 2 has detailed visuals, but very little impact

Thankfully, the details on the characters’ faces look far more striking than in the original movie, with an actual closeness to the sea and natural elements that work in the sequel’s favor. But when it begins to represent the vast world of Oceania, it fails to tickle any form of imagination or wonder. Perhaps when the film reaches its “Get Lost” number, and the visuals recall the Stargate sequence in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, it makes excellent use of the 1.90:1 frame, but it still doesn’t flow as wondrously as the 2016 film, as minute as the features on the characters are. There was an artfulness to its animation that simply isn’t there in the sequel, which makes the boxed-in images feel less emotionally involving than the first movie, which was planned and developed for the big screen in mind.

The new aspect ratio (versus the 2016 film’s use of 2.39:1) hinders movement, which makes some of the film’s most elaborate setpieces feel more distanced than immersive. Of course, it also doesn’t help that the movie itself is completely unmemorable and feels more in line with the bad direct-to-VHS sequels of classic Disney animated films released in the 1990s than attempting to match the excitement of the original. Think of The Return of Jafar or The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. Sequels that were made solely to capitalize on the success of the original movie but severely lacking what made their films special in the first place.

It’s futile to think that the filmmakers could ever top Moana, even with a long-form series. However, there’s enough material to at least make it compelling. The sea calls Moana and is such a vast, bountiful environment where anything can happen, and she can meet anyone on her path. The possibilities are endless for something great to at least come out on the screen. Yet, one can tell that crucial parts of the sequel’s story (that were likely laid out in the series) are missing. The emotional core thus rings hollow and rushed because the audience doesn’t understand the why of Moana’s newfound quest. Perhaps they do, but the film never gives a compelling reason to latch onto its characters this time around.

Auli'i Cravalho is the saving grace of Moana 2, but can't overcome storytelling shortcomings

It makes the overall viewing experience feel more confounding than enthralling despite consistently incredible voicework from Cravalho, who pours her heart and soul into her portrayal of Moana. It almost feels criminal that she doesn’t have enough great material to work with, either in its practically non-existent story or through its remarkably unmemorable songs that pale in comparison to Lin-Manuel’s work. Her vocal turn can only go so far when everything around it is profoundly dull, not to mention that the filmmakers inexplicably decide to keep Moana and Maui apart for a good chunk of the film.

In fact, this long-anticipated reunion doesn’t happen until a good hour or so (in a 100-minute-long affair), when they have to unite to defeat storm god Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea'i) and raise the island of Motufetu. But why are they doing this? The character motivations are unclear, as they’re fleetingly lait out in its opening section. Perhaps this was more fleshed-out in the show, but in hampering this crucial narrative throughline, the directors sacrifice massive amounts of character development in the film to ‘get to the good stuff.’ However, even when the iconic duo is reunited together, their partnership doesn’t have the same spark and energy as the first. The characters have evolved, sure, but they still retain the singular emotional core that made them both special.

When the two are paired together for the first time in the sequel, it feels more like an afterthought than the central and most important part of the character dynamic. We’re mostly stuck with Moana’s wayfinding crew, comprised of Moni (Hualālai Chung), Loto (Rose Matafeo), and Kele (David Fane), for the bulk of the runtime, but they’re clearly not as enjoyable as the pairing between Moana and Maui. That dynamic popped off the screen and instantly made the characters the icons they are today. But Johnson doesn’t have enough material to work on (his character is mainly tied to fishbones for the bulk of the runtime), which makes his most emotional parts near its climax feel weightless compared to how well-rounded of a sidekick to Moana he was in the original.

A sequel made for monetary gains

When Moana 2 eventually gets to the aforementioned good stuff, it’s undoubtedly grandiose in scale but lacks emotion. As a result, it’s hard to latch onto anything going on in the sequel, as good as its final action setpiece may look. But since its aesthetic is dominated by an insistence on staying within the confines of the televisual language, Moana 2 never has a chance to do something unique, or at least entertaining, than the first incredible movie did. Reaching the same heights wasn’t possible, but at least instilling the same charm to its kiddie audience absolutely was. But when you retrofit a television series into a movie without changing its aesthetic and removing core parts of the narrative, the chances of it working are near zero. 

Perhaps this will make $1 billion at the global box office and give cinemas the push they desperately need, especially when riding the heels of Wicked and Gladiator II’s successes in cinemas. However, moviegoers clearly deserve better than a sequel solely made to get a quick buck about impervious audiences who might not have known how this “movie” was made, an inferior product that was exclusively released in cinemas for monetary gains, not caring about the audience’s intelligence but what’s in their wallets during the holidays. The corruption of cinema by television sadly continues, and the hope that it will someday move away from that language keeps dwindling by the day.

Moana 2 is now playing in theaters.