Moana 2

The Polynesian wayfinder gains a crew to try and break an island curse in Moana 2. Three years after restoring her people’s status as wayfinders, Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) finds a clue about other people living across the ocean. While performing a ceremony with her father Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison, Moana has a vision of her ancestor Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey), who warns that her people’s history would end if she doesn’t break the curse brought upon the island of Motufetu by the god Nalo.

For her journey, Moana assembles a crew that includes fellow villagers Moni (Hualālai Chung), Loto (Rose Matafeo), Kele (David Fane), and Moana’s pets Pua and Heihei (Alan Tudyk). On their journey, the wayfinders find new threats, including the coconut warriors Kakamora and the underworld goddess Matangi (Awhimai Fraser). Moana also reunites with the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to help raise the island of Motufetu from the depths.

Moana 2 Synopsis

Moana 2 is the sequel to 2016’s Moana, featuring Auliʻi Cravalho (Mean Girls) and Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam) returning as the voices of the titular Polynesian wayfinder and her demigod friend Maui. Moana 2 began production as a series for the streaming service Disney+, before the idea was consolidated into a feature-length sequel. Some of the elements from the series are still evident in the sequel, such as Moana now having a full crew join her on her latest wayfinding journey and there being different “episodes,” where a new threat is encountered. Moana’s main quests sees her trying to reach the island of Motufetu and breaking the curse bestowed on it by the god Nalo.

My Thoughts on Moana 2

The announcement of Moana 2 as a feature-length sequel came almost as a surprise, since there was also a live-action version of Moana in development, which has the involvement of Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui. However, the news is less of a surprise when you realize that Moana 2 was in fact intended to me a Disney+ series, the episodes of which were consolidated down into a feature length adventure. While the end result is a fine Disney animated film that the kids would enjoy, the film is undoubtedly a downplay in quality.

Arguably, the biggest area where Moana 2 suffers in comparison to the original are the songs. The original film had very memorable musical numbers written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, including the Oscar-nominated “How Far I Go.” However, the songwriting duo of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear took over the songwriting duties of Moana 2, and they come off as a pale imitation of Miranda’s songs from the original. In fact, after the credits rolled, I found myself hard-pressed to remember any of the hooks.

Ironically, Moana 2 is a film that started off as a Disney+ series, and I recommend that it’s probably best to wait until it’s streaming on the service to watch. Moana 2 isn’t a poor follow-up to the original, but it isn’t a particularly memorable one either. The film will satisfy the kids, dragging their parents to the latest Disney animated film and not much else.

Trailer for Moana 2