Moana 2 has a buried heart, if you can find it

Moana 2 is a mess, but it has enough heart where it counts. The titular star of one of the most successful Disney films of all time, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), is called by her ancestors to reunite the peoples of the ocean. But this time, Moana has a team of colorful characters on board: resourceful builder Loto (Rose Matafeo), grumpy old farmer Kele (David Fane), and energetic storyteller Moni (Hualalai Chung). Of course, their trip is not for pleasure. Their village will be doomed if they don’t reach their brothers in time.

It might sound good Moana 2 managed to raise the stakes beyond the now classic trials and tribulations of the original film. But unfortunately, these risks are forgotten as quickly as they are discovered. The film is just too rushed. The opening sequence goes far beyond meaningfully introducing the new characters, instead spending time making weak meta-jokes about what Pua will actually be like in the adventure this time. And soon after the challenges of the grand narrative are revealed, the film forgets to pursue them. The opening song sort of sets up the current situation of Moana and co., but relies too heavily on the audience vividly remembering the first film.

In the original classic, the danger Moana faces if she doesn’t return Tafiti’s heart is palpable. We see the black, crumbling coconuts. We know something terrible is about to happen. In Moana 2there is absolutely no evidence of any danger to their people at home. There’s also no reason to care about anyone in this film other than Moana and her new little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda). Their bond is felt deeply and sincerely throughout the film. Everyone else might not be there at all. The film’s main antagonist never appears on screen once.

The three new characters are so poorly developed from the start that they are annoying on the first leg of the sea journey. They each have a characteristic, none of which is charming or funny, and only one of them really grows from one end of the film to the next. And if it seems strange that it takes until the fourth paragraph to even mention the original film’s co-lead, the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), that’s because his presence is felt so little.

Maui appears fully as a character in this film. His funniest moments are meta-jokes for the adults in the audience, and only half of them even land. He has a few heartfelt moments, but like the rest of the non-Moana cast, he doesn’t learn a single lesson in the entire film. It’s not like Moana’s lessons are particularly coherent, either. A number of bait-and-switches occur with characters Moana encounters. One of them is completely confusing. Some work more effectively than others. But very few of them actually help her grow. She never really “levels up,” as one of the film’s terrible songs suggests she must.

Disney needs a hard reboot of its musical style. Lin Manuel Miranda is an incredibly talented musician. No one on this planet that they hire if they can’t get them to write songs could do justice to their abilities. So why keep trying to copy his style from lesser-known musicians?

There are a few decent songs. The song “I Want” is certainly the best and most musically interesting. But even the best ones are now littered with references to the original’s impeccable soundtrack Moana 2 When it’s over, you’ll probably sing the original songs to yourself again. And that’s being generous, because some songs are truly, tragically bad. The more composers and songwriters are instructed to copy Miranda’s style and include as many words per minute as possible, the worse a song becomes.

All these poor elements are a shame, because underneath everything Moana 2 actually has an incredible heart – enough to almost redeem it, in fact. If you strip away the music, the bland characters, and the strange porcelain-like shine of the models, Moana’s story in the film is actually incredible and deeply moving. A large part of the character’s success is due to Cravalho’s excellent voice acting and incredible singing. She sells it as a film about a young person who has finally found her calling and is suddenly asked by her ancestors to complete an impossible task.

Placing the fate of your entire people on your shoulders is an enormous and unjustified burden. The moments throughout Moana 2 where she wrestles with the burden and privilege of carrying the dreams of all who came before her, for the benefit of all who are yet to come, is beautiful. They’re not even fleeting. They permeate the entire picture and enhance even the weakest elements of the film.

For all ways Moana 2 Although it doesn’t live up to the standards of 2010s Disney films, it has a buried heart that almost redeems it. Sticking to this core element at least makes the rest of the film more bearable.

Moana 2 is now playing in cinemas everywhere.