Moana 2 began life not as the sequel to the awesome, trailblazing 2016 adventure film. Instead, it was conceived to be a TV series to provide content for Disney+ when they were flush during the pandemic era subscriber boom. Disney CEO Bob Iger eventually got over all of that streaming nonsense and decided to make actual money with the film, but those original meager plans for the story remain and this sequel….well, it’s all wet.
Everything about Moana 2 feels lesser, and like it was hacked apart with a chainsaw and then stitched together with a few decent bits and a whole lot of packing peanuts. Auli’i Cravalho returns as the voice of Moana, the Polynesian princess (she still refutes this term, which is pretty cool) who became the Wayfinder of her people and helped the swaggering demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) get his groove back. Now a few years later, she’s a leader of her island home, with adoring fans and a little sister who looks up to her. But Moana is called to by her ancestors to find other lost tribes who have been scattered by a vengeful god.
In the first movie, Moana learns that her people’s isolationist stance couldn’t last. In this film, she actually sets out to change it by dredging up the sunken island of Motufetu. Not a bad place to start as far as sequels go, but Moana 2 doesn’t flesh out this plan at all. She just sorta gets on a vessel, gathers up a few quirky colleagues, her pet pig and that goofy chicken, and sets out. It’s like the details were left for some future episode of a TV show, which might actually be the case.
For much of the first half of the film, there’s little conflict, adventure, or passion. Maui is kept apart from the main story as he’s captured by Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), who is so thinly written as to be laughable. Only Nalo, the storm god who has cursed everything, is depicted less impressively. Moana and her gang encounter once again the coconut-esque warriors, the Kakamora, for a few laughs and a chance to bond rather than fight. Much of the humor seems to rely on Moana’s rooster pal Hei Hei, and not for the better.
Things pick up once Moana and Maui reconnect, with Johnson bringing a much-needed burst of muscle, humor, and action. Maui is in the position to do for Moana what she did for him, and he’s the character who has evolved the most while still retaining the attitude (and cool tattoos) that we love. While Lin-Manuel Miranda’s distinctive lyrical chops are sorely missed, Johnson’s Maui once again gets the best number of the entire film. The rest aren’t particularly memorable. At least the film looks terrific, bright and colorful, with water so gorgeous you want to dive right in and high-five the ocean waves, too.
Perhaps Disney should’ve truly started over from scratch with Moana 2 because it’s just so uninspired. The characters are still easy to love, and audiences will undoubtedly turn out to see them, but the hope is that the inevitable third film will give them a story that makes a much bigger splash than this.
Moana 2 opens in theaters on November 27th.
