Review of Moana (2016) by Haneef A — 24 Mar 2017

Moana is the latest Disney installment of its computer-animated movie (Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia), directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (Aladdin, Hercules). Starring the voices of Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"A Disney movie with very excellent gorgeous graphic and songs, but don't resonate personally with me as Wreck-It-Ralph or Zootopia does".

Watch this if you like: Disney computer-animated movies, Brave.

Moana is about the title character Moana (Cravalho), a Polynesian princess who lives in the Pacific island of Motunui. Years before she was born, a naughty and mischievous demigod and shapeshifter named Maui (The Rock) stole the heartstone of the Mother Goddess Tefi-Ti so that he can have the power of creation, but he instead causes a slowly-spreading plague that kills the harvest and the fishes of the Pacific islands and he lost the heartstone in the process.

The Ocean gave Moana the Heartstone when she was a toddler. When she came-of-age and her island is threatened with the plague, she decided to set off in an adventure to find Maui and restore the Heartstone so that the plague can be stopped.

The positive things that I like about this movie is its graphic, music/songs, and the character Maui.

The graphic is the best that Disney has presented in a computer-animated film so far, bar none. The water and ocean aesthetics and imagery is so excellent, it is like you are seeing the Pacific Ocean yourself. The graphic really helps set up the Polynesian/Pacific Ocean setting well.

The songs in this movie is also very good (though I still prefer Tangled songs). The songs in this movie is heavily influenced by Polynesian culture (to the extent of having extensive Samoan language in one of its songs). The beats are really addictive, and the songs are easy to sing-along. However, I do find that the songs occasionally breaks up the plot's momentum and energy, and could have been scaled down a bit.

The movie also owes a lot to the character Maui (The Rock). The first act of the movie is at times plodding and slow, but when Maui is introduced at the start of the 2nd act, the movie becomes considerably more fun and energetic. Afterwards, if Maui is not on-screen, the movie loses some of it's verve and charm. Maui is naughty, mischievous, arrogant, self-centred and self-indulgent. Moana is not a bad character, she is in fact a strong and driven character, but it is more fun to watch her interact and argue with Maui.

Where the film doesn't really click with me is the overall narrative and plot structure. At the end of the movie, I was left a bit unsatisfied and felt the overall plot and its resolution was a bit simple. The themes that were highlighted in the movie such as self-determination and believing in one self don't really struck a chord with me, the way that Zootopia, Wreck-It-Ralph or even Aladdin did with me before.

I felt the plot was a missed opportunity, considering we have an interesting and strong, driven female protagonist...and the unique setting of Polynesian and Oceanic culture.

Nevertheless, it is a technically marvelous and fun movie. A grade of A-.