Review of Moana (2016) by Jacob S — 17 Mar 2017

Pretty much a pacific Islander version of Brave, only you replace the Celt with an Islander, the crazy killer grizzly with a volcano creature, the crazy witch with a crazy grandmother, and the 'overbearing'(ha ha) mother/oddball father with an overbearing father/demi-God. But, hey at least they got their basic Neo-Disney formula down(I'll give you a hint it rhymes with 'human-empowerment'). However I do find that the pig on the cover is a bit 'misleading due to the girl's grandmother having more of a role in this movie than that scared little piggy(I think they were trying to lambast the 'cute' Disney companion stereotype and just went with the chicken, but then again they did the same thing in Mulan and the 'little brother' character). But all criticism aside, this movie is viewable and relatable on almost all fronts, which makes it a great reviewable movie. Maui makes it a breath of fresh air due to his misogyny, which tends to be rejected in MOST Disney movies rather than embraced (Yeah he get's dropped down a few pegs, but hearing Moana call him a 'son of a-' makes you get the idea). Another good point is that it reaffirms a message of 'equality' vs superiority, given that Moana and Maui both contribute in the restoration of the heart(unlike Maleficent, which makes men look like total daughter kidnapping, wing-stealing, power hungry douchebags). The last point I'll make is that the movie 'empowered' women without 'overpowering' them, which is a faddish archetype seen in MANY titles that seldom makes the movie lose its charm(basically it makes us forget that the main character is a girl and portrays her just like a dude, IE Snow White in Snow White and the Huntsman and Alice in the 'New' Alice in wonderland series) a feature easily found in Mulan where they literally portrayed every male stereotype possible; good or bad (Don't get me wrong it was still funny as hell). It also avoided the hammer to the face REAL LIFE politically driven subject matter which can be seen in Zootopia(another recent Disney title, which I still enjoyed)... well unless you look at the fact that Maui was basically aborted by his parents as seen in his backstory.

But all in all Moana made me laugh and my wife and kids enjoyed it(even if it is 'just another Disney movie').