MOANA 2 (2024)

It’s difficult to find a movie that the whole family can enjoy together, especially when there are younger kids in the mix. The older demographic is usually left suffering through corny or unnecessarily snarky drivel. Yet, films like The Wild Robot (2024) and Flow (2024) prove that it can be done, and done very well. I didn’t care too much for the first Moana (2016), however the kids really liked it and at the very least I was looking forward to their excitement with the sequel. The premise is the basically the same; Moana doubting/believing in herself, but this time with a new and forgettable crew. The Rock does his thing, but the days of The Rock just being The Rock (and that being enough) are long gone. The music is even worse. Now I’m no fan Lin-Manuel Miranda, who’s absent this time around, but at least the original had a couple of decent, heartfelt show tunes. As my mind wandered throughout the film, I sensed the creators were attempting to imitate Frozen (2013) with its witty, wise-cracking banter, whereas the original featured a heroine who was original and sincere. The animation is first-rate, but when even the kids’ eyes and minds start to wander, you ask how Disney could fumble a film this hard, essentially pleasing no one.

WATCH OR NOT: NOT

Additional musings: I know it’s just a kids’ movie, but with Disney taking great pains to represent the people and islands of Polynesia, and the film is literally about uniting, up-until-now isolated islands and communities, why are Australians roaming about? Again, my mind was wandering.