Moana 2
Currently Only in Theaters
Runtime: 1 hour and 40 Minutes
Rated PG
What can I say except it’s a sequel! After a “shocking” vision Moana is tasked by an ancestor to find a sunken island that will allow her to find people from other islands and reunite the ocean’s people. Maui, Hei-Hei, Pua, and even some old enemies make a return to help and hinder Moana’s journey.
Themes:
Wayfinding, connecting with others, getting lost, family, finding others, fear, siblings, responsibility, the journey, your/our story, ancestors, past vs future, spirits, the importance of finding a good crew, teamwork, doubt, near-death experiences, practicing what you preach, picking one another up, leveling up, fandom, gods and demigods, heroes, and Kakamora.
Language:
There is minor name-calling and the word, “sucks” is used once.
Stuff to be aware of:
Gross - Green slime is sprayed all over a character. Later a funny looking sea creature crawls over people and leaves a slimy, snot looking path.
Sexual - an older man’s butt is briefly seen. Maui’s tattoo twists his nipple and Maui tells the tattoo, “Hey, no purple nurples.”
Scary - There is a lady who stays in the shadows until about halfway through the film. She controls bats. This character tampers with another character’s dream causing the little girl in her dream’s face to transform to look more like a bat.
Several monsters make appearances that could be scary to younger viewers. There is a giant clam-like monster that has several eyes where it opens up. There is a worm-looking monster with sharp teeth that is beaten very quickly. There are glowing sea serpents that resemble eels with razor-sharp teeth.
Violence - Death is mentioned a few times in lines such as “we will die by lightning” and “you’re all going to die.”
Other - The gods in the movie are seen as evil and want to stop humans from succeeding. One of the male characters is obsessed with Maui. I did not put this in the “sexual” section because I felt the following things were not sexual but show that this character sees Maui as a hero. He faints when Maui winks at everyone. He paints a photo of himself with his hands on Maui’s chest. I think this was supposed to be him giving Maui’s high-fives to Maui’s tattoo. He also tells Maui, “I think you look great” after someone says something negative about Maui. He is a big fanboy, but I do not believe any of this to be sexual in nature.
Overall:
For families, this movie didn’t feel any scarier or more intense than the first movie. There continues to be no romantic relationships as part of the story which feels like a good direction for Disney to continue with.
My understanding is that the movie’s story was originally supposed to be a Disney+ show. I have read a lot of negative reviews about the movie so I went in with low expectations. So what are my thoughts?
Let me throw a few negative things out first…
First, the story and character development were not as well written and powerful as the first movie. Some of the story feels like a retread of the first movie’s story. Leave the island to go fight an elemental bad guy while fighting monsters and facing challenges along the way. There are a few plot holes in the story and some things seem to happen (like how Moana reunites with Maui) out of necessity to move the story along. The last thing I will say about the story is that there are a few things and characters that are not fully fleshed out or explained. Maybe we will learn more if a third movie is made?
Second, the music in the sequel is nowhere near as good as the first movie. I do not believe the soundtrack for this movie will make Disney as much money as the first. Some of the songs sound similar to the first movie and even use some of the same lines.
Is it as bad as some of the critics are making it out to be? In my opinion no, I enjoyed it. The characters are all likable, the humor feels like the first one, and the Rock still has all his charm. There are some fun references to the first movie and the story feels like a natural way to continue and connect the two movies. I also really liked how they aged the characters. Moana’s parents have some gray in their hair, Pua is bigger and has tusks, and even Moana is a little taller and has more muscular arms from all her sailing adventures.
All-in-all I think it was a worthy sequel, even if the music was not as good. In my opinion this sequel was better and made more sense than Frozen 2. I’m sure this will be viewed in my house multiple times.
One last note - there is a mid-credits scene so don’t leave when the credits start rolling.