Review of Moana (2016) by Captiosus — 19 Feb 2017

Kind of torn on how to rate the film. John Lasseter's demands for research pays dividends in the presentation and yet having spent some time reading up on the actual mythology of Maui, I'm left disappointed by how the Disney mash-up is portrayed.

Almost all of the Maui mythology is contained in his one musical number ("You're Welcome") while the bulk of the story being told is a mix between two versions of Maui mythology with a generous side-helping of the Greeks' Prometheus.

Overall entertaining, well acted, great musical numbers and singing performances by all; there are worse ways of spending 2 hours. I just wish Maui's story and importance to Moana's people was told a bit better and not condensed into what was essentially a mythological crossover with a forced emotional bend ("I was discarded as a child and want to make the humans love me!").

Ultimately, and perhaps unfortunately, it won't have the musical staying power of Frozen or the cuteness factor of Zootopia. It'll be remembered as a good movie but not quite up to the same level as recent Disney releases.

While Frozen merchandising is still going strong, Moana has all but fallen off, with the only recent resurgence due to the impending Blu-ray release.