Movie Review: ‘Moana’

‘Moana’
(Walt Disney Pictures)

By Lucas Allen

In the history of Disney princesses, these female characters represent courage and empowerment, and they make better role models for young girls than the stick-figure, reality-show dummies. The new addition to the lineup, “Moana” adds more diversity not seen since 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog.” Whether or not you’ll enjoy the movie itself, you’ll agree that Disney rarely fails at creating inspiring female heroes.

Somewhere in the South Seas, a curse put the Maori islands in danger as resources are suddenly running out. Its strict leader, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), tries to make his daughter, Moana (newcomer Auli’I Cravalho), the next-in-line chief to help the community. However, her grandmother, Tala (Rachel House), informs her that the curse was caused by demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), who stole a diamond heart leading to an evil lava goddess rising from the sea and spreading the darkness.

In spite of her father’s objections, Moana journeys beyond the reef with her pet chicken, Hei-Hei (Alan Tudyk), to locate the lost demigod. When they finally meet, Maui reveals that he has shape-shifting abilities from a giant hook and brought good things to the people. Although they don’t like each other at first, they try to work together to survive coconut pirates, recover the hook from a treasure-loving crab named Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement), and try to lift the curse and return the diamond.

This is another pretty good entry in the current Disney canon of quality animated movies that remains true to the studio’s roots while appealing to a new generation of fans. The first act is a bit slow paced in its setup despite some interesting character moments. But once Maui shows up, the movie picks up some steam thanks to great animation, some good songs and thrilling action. The scene with the coconut pirates will remind older viewers of last year’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” with the hodgepodge design of their ship that split into three smaller ones.

Some of the songs written by “Hamilton” sensation Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Speed” composer Mark Mancina are certainly enjoyable and not as earworm-inducing as the ones in “Frozen.” Cravalho’s “How Far I’ll Go” is a sure-fire best song nominee for the Oscars, while Johnson’s “You’re Welcome” is a fun ditty in the tradition of Robin Williams’ “Friend like Me” from “Aladdin.” With that said, ask your kids if they still prefer “Let It Go” and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” over those songs.

Much like the other films, the voice cast adds delight and emotion to their characters. Johnson is entertaining as Maui with the actor’s charm and charisma plus has great humor that becomes the film’s highlight. However, the film’s breakout star Cravalho is also a revelation in her first film role. There’s also some scene-stealing performances from Tudyk and Clement that add to the film’s charming comedy.

Though not an instant classic, “Moana” is sure to be an entertaining delight for all ages all over the world. It’s also the right movie to take the kids to see this holiday season in case the little ones didn’t want to see any space battles or boring awards fodder.

THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG (for peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.25 stars (out of four)