This review contains spoilers for the movie “Moana 2”.
I recently went to watch the “Moana 2” movie the weekend it was released, and I’ll have to say, the storyline was spellbinding, though it fell short at some points. As someone who watched “Moana” when it was first released in 2016 when I was nine, I highly recommend this movie to those who want a taste of youth to rekindle their childhood spark.
Storyline
The movie starts with Moana finding evidence of “other people” when her pet chicken [Heihei] finds an artifact on the island from which Moana attempts to call other tribes. Moana is called to recover the island of Motufetu, which can unite different cultures, by her ancestors and the former wayfinder. She begins her adventure this time with a crew: farmer Kele, architect Loto, who specializes in shipbuilding, and Moni, who is well-versed in the stories of Montufetu (along with her pet rooster and pig). Together with her new crew and later Maui, they venture to the center of Nalo’s storm, which has trapped the island of Montufetu underwater for years. However, this is where the storyline falls slightly short, in my opinion. Despite the intense action while the crew and Maui were fighting against Nalo, I didn’t understand Nalo’s personality. In the movie, I recall his only actions were creating lightning storms to try and deter the crew from reaching Montufetu and striking Moana while she was trying to reach Montufetu from underwater. His role as an antagonist doesn’t go beyond his ten minutes of fame.
On the other hand, I’m very impressed by how accurately Disney represented the sisterly bond between Simea and Moana. Seeing it was heartwarming, especially when Moana returned from her journey. The storyline is intriguing, given the buildup, but the climax is a little lackluster. The exposition and resolution are beautifully projected with the unification of all the tribes.
Characters
One of the things I appreciated the most about “Moana 2” was that this film had many characters with varying personalities. Disney portrayed Loto, the shipbuilder and a close friend of Moana’s, as a character who is always on her feet to make the ship better, even if it is working perfectly fine. In my opinion, her highlight during the movie was during the battle against Nalo’s lightning when she cut the mast to maneuver the ship quickly around the storms. An additional message that I felt during that scene was that it showed how, even in tribes, women can still take on STEM-related roles. Farmer Kele had a vast character development throughout the movie, going from a grumpy old farmer who could care less about going “beyond” into a character who was willing to try out new things like swimming and learning the Kakamora language. Moni in my opinion had the least character development and scenes. We’re introduced to him as the crew member who is well-versed in the history to Motufetu with a humorous and kind personality. However, there isn’t much said beyond that other than that he’s a huge fan of Maui.
Matangi, the bat lady that lives inside the clam, gets around 20 minutes of screen time and then she was never seen again. Personally, I would’ve loved to see if she had escaped the clam after the main characters raised Montufetu from the ground. After the characters go through the portal, her screen time in the movie ends. We get no conclusion of her wellbeing in the end of the movie which I thought was disappointing. However, I hope that with the speculations of there being a third movie, she will return to the screen to give us her story’s resolution.
The emphasis on the villagers’ personalities were also emphasized more in this movie. From the hair swishing to the chanting and dancing, I could see that Disney tried to add a moder flair to some of the younger tribe members whilst holding traditional and cultural respect to the tribes with the dancing and feast traditions.
Music
“Moana 2” music, in my opinion, does not create as strong of an impact as “Moana.” The only soundtrack I can remember after leaving the theater is “Get Lost.” The absence of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical touch is evident throughout the movie [Disney had him focus on the upcoming “Mufasa” soundtrack more than the “Moana 2”]. Maui’s “Can I get a Chee Hoo” isn’t as catchy as his “You’re Welcome” from “Moana.” The new movie lacks a catchy song to hook viewers into the sequel. As Disney is known for the music in the films that they produce, I was disappointed when I realized that the songs in “Moana 2” were unsatisfactory.
Overall, this movie felt like a chapter in between the beginning and the end, connecting to “Moana” references while also teasing a future movie with unfinished storylines and cliffhangers. It was a nice movie to watch over Thanksgiving break with an exciting storyline and a new variety of characters to fall in love with.
On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from the MUSE Winter Collection.