Moana 2 was originally planned as a season-long Disney+ series. Reportedly, after work began on the show, Disney executives were so impressed by what they saw they decided to make it a theatrically-released film instead. It is, indeed, a beautiful movie. The first Moana movie is beautiful to look at too—I should know; it’s one of my four-year-old son’s favorite movies—and somehow Moana 2 is even more gorgeous. You just want to see it on as big a screen with as much light bounding into your eyes as possible.
You also can feel the pieced-togetherness of it all. Each act feels truncated or like it moves too quickly. It’s a much more complicated story than the first film, which, to its credit, is an extremely simple narrative. I think that’s one of the reasons my little kid likes it so much. It’s easy to follow. Moana 2 adds lots of new characters (who don’t get enough screen time or the associated character development), new lands to explore (quickly), and a more complicated mythological sphere in which Moana and her people live. Moana 2 is mostly world-building, and hey, I like good world building and Moana 2 features neat world building. I want to see more… as long as the more stays true to the Pacific Islander heritage of the story.
This time Moana is sent on a mission to restore a sunken island that will bring together the disparate clans who have long been so separated by miles of ocean that Moana’s people mostly don’t believe the other clans even exist anymore. There is a Big Bad island god who wants the people separate and a bat-lady goddess who needs help getting free from a curse or something. Maui is trapped in a grotto. Moana has a little sister. The Mad Max coconuts are back. Moana has friends of dubious usefulness. There are forgettable, unnecessary songs.
These are all fun pieces of a narrative puzzle that’s entertaining while you’re in the middle of it even if I’m having trouble putting it all together after the fact. I’m sure when this movie shows up on Disney+ and my son watches it a thousand times I’ll get it all straight. In the meantime I’ll just enjoy looking at it while I’m doing laundry. And it is still setting up a bigger story. I will look forward to that too.
Moana 2 was originally planned as a season-long Disney+ series. Reportedly, after work began on the show, Disney executives were so impressed by what they saw they decided to make it a theatrically-released film instead. It is, indeed, a beautiful movie. The first Moana movie is beautiful to look at too—I should know; it’s one of my four-year-old son’s favorite movies—and somehow Moana 2 is even more gorgeous. You just want to see it on as big a screen with as much light bounding into your eyes as possible.
You also can feel the pieced-togetherness of it all. Each act feels truncated or like it moves too quickly. It’s a much more complicated story than the first film, which, to its credit, is an extremely simple narrative. I think that’s one of the reasons my little kid likes it so much. It’s easy to follow. Moana 2 adds lots of new characters (who don’t get enough screen time or the associated character development), new lands to explore (quickly), and a more complicated mythological sphere in which Moana and her people live. Moana 2 is mostly world-building, and hey, I like good world building and Moana 2 features neat world building. I want to see more… as long as the more stays true to the Pacific Islander heritage of the story.
This time Moana is sent on a mission to restore a sunken island that will bring together the disparate clans who have long been so separated by miles of ocean that Moana’s people mostly don’t believe the other clans even exist anymore. There is a Big Bad island god who wants the people separate and a bat-lady goddess who needs help getting free from a curse or something. Maui is trapped in a grotto. Moana has a little sister. The Mad Max coconuts are back. Moana has friends of dubious usefulness. There are forgettable, unnecessary songs.
These are all fun pieces of a narrative puzzle that’s entertaining while you’re in the middle of it even if I’m having trouble putting it all together after the fact. I’m sure when this movie shows up on Disney+ and my son watches it a thousand times I’ll get it all straight. In the meantime I’ll just enjoy looking at it while I’m doing laundry. And it is still setting up a bigger story. I will look forward to that too.
Elijah Davidson is Co-Director of Brehm Film and Senior Film Critic. Subscribe to Come & See, his weekly newsletter that guides you through the greatest films ever made, and find more of his work at elijahdavidson.com.
Gladiator II is taffy, which isn’t to say it’s not tasty. It’s just not a meal in the same way its predecessor was.
