Random sequel is lost at sea

Shipbreaking separates an end-of-life vessel so that its components can be reused, even recycled. It’s a nasty business, but recycling is definitely better than throwing something into the salty depths. Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) was originally not supposed to sail again on the big screen. Her further adventures were to fill the streaming ranks of Disney+ as a series. But the powers to be decided (possibly because Frozen successor grossed $1.5 billion) as the show was supposed to be reconfigured into a movieand the intrepid daughter of her island’s chief – still technically speaking not a princess – repositioned as its driving force. The resulting feature debut of directorial team David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller is a dilapidated Franken ship still seaworthy enough to navigate its theatrical release, but it has more in common with direct-to-video sequels than the clever original.

Three years have passed and Moana no longer has to figure out who she is. She knows that she can be both the future leader of her people and an adventurer, and so does her community. Her island is now populated entirely by Moana fans who fall over themselves to worship her and the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) with whom she entered the legend. This is usually where Disney heroes kick up their heels and start happily ever after, but Moana is once again called, uncharacteristically, away from home.

After the clarity of one of Disney’s best “I Want” songsthe mission Moana is set on feels forced and fake: after discovering a shard of pottery marked with the location of a mysterious island, Moana is confronted with evidence that her people are not only people. This, and her new designation as a wayfinder, means she is tasked with finding the island of Motufetu – which the god Nalo has for some reason cursed to no longer serve as a waypoint for disparate islanders – and restore all those who are separated by the waves. .

Moana 2 tries to split the difference between a few different motivations for this, pointing both towards Moana’s general curiosity about the larger world and towards an uncertain fate that will befall her (lush, thriving) island if it remains isolated. They’re half-hearted ideas, couched in Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear’s forgettable songs, ranging from truly awful shipwrecks to embarrassing Lin-Manuel Miranda tribute band numbers. Losing Miranda is a terrible blow to the film, though his presence still haunts the dialogue. Every other line is about knowing the way, telling our stories and how far we will go. It’s like how celebrities tend to repeat the same branding phrases after humanity has been trained out of them. It reinforces the feeling that the sequel is not confident enough to strike out on its own.

So do all the new supporting characters the film introduces but mostly ignores. There’s Moana’s new too-cute little sister (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) and the wacky crew who accompany Moana on her journey: Loto (Rose Matafeo), the maniacal builder, Kele (David Fane) the cranky old farmer, and Moni (Hualālai Chung ) ) the beefy Maui possessed. Finally joining them is one of Kakamora, the Mad Max coconut gremlins with more personality than most people. Everyone feels like they’ve just been introduced by the time the credits roll – just ready for the next episode where they finally learn to work together as a team.

Even their most important obstacles suffer from a script that looks like it’s been shredded for good. Nalo, for example, is a lightning god…but we don’t meet or understand him. Why did he curse this island? Where the volcanic island from the first film was a wounded and compelling force, Nalo remains inscrutable: he manifests only as lightning, tornadoes, lightning-tornadoes, and monstrous electric eels. Secondary antagonist but not Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) similarly suffers from the script’s seeming paring down — her arbitrary actions feel like they’re missing a dot-connected scene or two.

It leaves the dressing around the grounds to save things, and Moana 2 smoothly sailing through some of the most vividly animated water put to film. The film benefits greatly from the sea’s constant visual momentum; everything—the boats, the people on them, the rigging and oars, the giant monster clam in the distance—always feels like it’s moving. Throw in some delightfully varied and tactile textures, from splintering wooden masts to lumpy pufferfish snot, and the film has plenty of enjoyable atmosphere, whether it’s downing a motley vessel manned by strange little nut pirates or stormy waves from the tempestuous climax. It makes sense to want to see this on the big screen.

It makes less sense for this story, random and lost, to follow one of Disney’s better films from the last 20 years. There is almost an influencing message, where teamwork on a small scale results in greater unity on a large scale. There is almost a charming twist to the mature relationship between Maui and Moana. There are recycled versions of the first film’s slapstick and songs. It all threatens to come together if not for an unseen and all-powerful deity who throws a wrench in these plans for reasons beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals. Alas, it is lost at sea.

Director: David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller
Author: Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller
Cast: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Alan Tudyk, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Hualālai Chung, Awhimai Fraser, Gerald Ramsey
Release date: 27 November 2024