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About halfway through Disney's latest animated sequel, Moana 2, Maui (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) claims to be missing “backstory,” which perfectly sums up the animated movie.
Over eight years after the first movie swam into theaters, a sequel is here. It picks up several years after the events of the first movie. Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is more established as a Wayfinder.
After receiving a call from her ancestors, she has to bring together a crew and reunite with Maui to save her island. Together, they journey across the ocean to break Nalo's curse on Motufetu.
Moana 2's plot is eerily similar to the first movie — at its core, she goes on an adventure with Maui. The dynamics between the two remain the same, just sprinkle in a new crew: Loto (Rose Matafeo), Kele (David Fane), and Moni (Hualālai Chung). However, this time around, Moana lacks purpose for her journey.
At least in the first movie, there were emotional stakes with her grandmother, Tala (Rachel House). In her place is Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), Moana's adorable younger sister. As cute as she is, a lot of the emotional scenes between them are contrived, using her similarly to Agnes in the Despicable Me franchise.
Oh, and not that I'm a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda's work, but his presence is sorely missed. While Mark Mancina and Opetala Foa'i return from the first movie, Moana 2 lacks a punch when it comes to the soundtrack. No song reaches the heights of “How Far I'll Go.”
Even Frozen 2 had “Into the Unknown.” It may not have been as popular as “Let It Go,” but it is similarly iconic. The Moana 2 crew even tries to do the spoken-word rap that made a career for Miranda.
Moana 2 review
Unfortunately, Moana 2 is a disappointing sequel to its predecessor. One could forgive it for having the same plot as the first, but it plays like a series of loosely stitched-together scenes instead of a cohesive movie.
It would be low-hanging fruit to point to Moana 2's troubled production. Moana 2 was originally developed as a Disney+ series. Disney then decided to make it into a theatrical movie.
To its credit, stars Cravalho, Johnson, House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, and Alan Tudyk return to reprise their roles. They also added Matafeo, Fane, Chung, Awhimai Fraser, and Gerald Ramsey in new roles.
But Moana 2 still feels like it would function better as a streaming series. For one, the supporting cast takes a backseat to Moana and Maui.
The Moana sequel was always going to focus on their relationship, but the title character's crew lacked any personality or agency for being on the mission. Instead, Loto, Kele, and Moni have one character trait. Loto is quirky, Kele is grumpy, and Moni is a Maui fanboy.
A lacking group of supporting characters
In a series, each character probably would have gotten more background. Instead, they are all introduced and quickly assembled as a part of the crew. It would have been great to know why Loto can never settle on a boat design and where she came from. Perhaps I'll have to wait until Moana 3 for that answer.
During their journey, they encounter the Kakamora, a group of coconut pirates. They eventually have to work together, but it feels like there is more to explore. Once again, it is a missed opportunity to build out the world of Moana.
Perhaps the worst missed opportunity was Matangi (Fraser), one of the new antagonists in the sequel. She controls bats and is presented as a creepy witch.
But they do not capitalize on the character at all. Her story arc is wildly rushed — clearly, the Moana series intended to show more of her relationship with Nalo, who is hardly in the movie.
It makes Moana 2 feel pointless. They would have been better off just regurgitating the original Moana with the live-action remake before the sequel if this was all they had to offer.
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And maybe next time, Disney will be smart enough to not reverse-engineer a series into a flimsy feature film.
Lin-Manuel Miranda's absence
The disappointment felt when watching Moana 2 extends beyond the aimless plot and misused supporting cast. Lin-Manuel Miranda's contributions to soundtracks usually range from tolerable to self-absorbed.
His absence is felt in Moana 2, where they have Dwayne Johnson deliver a rap as lame as his take on singing in movie theaters (for the love of God, please do not sing this rap in the theater).
Now, Miranda is not a fool-proof solution to lame raps (“The Scuttlebutt” from the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid is especially insufferable), but I'd be willing to bet he could have come up with something better.
There is a reason the expression “often imitated, never duplicated” is used. Miranda's style works for some, and Moana is one of those occasions.
Should you watch Moana 2?
There have been a lot of disappointing blockbusters this year — Deadpool and Wolverine, Joker: Folie á Deux, and Wicked, to name a few — but Moana 2 is up there as well.
As the follow-up to one of Disney's better original movies in the last decade, Moana 2 had high expectations. Visually, it does match, if not top its predecessor. There are some breathtaking visuals and huge set pieces.
The biggest mistake Disney made was making it clear that Moana 2 was strung together from a Disney+ series. Watching it makes it abundantly clear that there are hours of story missing from the 100-minute movie.
But the fundamental problems start with the most basic questions you could ask about the plot: What will happen to the island if Moana fails her mission? You know it's bad if you and the characters in the movie have to ask that question.
Grade: C
Moana 2 will be released on November 27.
