95% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: A must-see; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Are a fan of Disney; Don't want a typical Disney princess movie; Want a funny, adventurous, and exciting animated movie
Moana is a chief's daughter living on the island of Motunui. As she learns about her upcoming role as chief, she discovers that her island is dying. In an effort to save her people, she seeks out help from the demigod Maui to restore life in her island.
This movie is a really beautiful movie, in terms of characterisation, animation, and story.
It is visually breathtaking, with beautiful animation. I have never seen water animated so well like that before, and I especially loved the baby Moana scenes that were shown in initial trailers. It was phantastical, mesmerising, and so surreal.
I also really love the lore of this film. I was quite surprised at how much adventure and action there was in here, but it was a pleasant surprise. Throughout their adventures they come across a lot of different antagonists, realms, worlds, tribes, and so on. In particular, there is one Kakamora tribe that is essentially just Mad Max on water (I swear I could even hear the Fury Road soundtrack at some parts). I didn't realise how badly I needed that until now.
It also stood out from other Disney princess movies in that there was no love interest and no main villain. Just, as I said, only different minor antagonists.
I thought that was pretty interesting, because it allowed them to flesh out the characters a lot better. I really loved their portrayal of Moana as a really headstrong and determined child just looking out for her people.
One thing I loved about the storyline is that it had this great recurring theme of tragedy and trauma being able to destroy your potential and severely limit and hinder you. They show this in many different ways through different characters, and they also show the rewards of just pushing through and overcoming your fears to reach your maximum potential. I loved that and I loved how subtly they did this through the use of different characters and sources of trauma.
The humour was also pretty good in this. Sure, some jokes fell flat, but there are a lot more jokes that landed. I didn't feel like they were forced, and the writing was pretty solid in general.
Of course, being a Disney movie, most of the plot is pretty predictable, but it has some good heart and emotion in it that makes up for this.
The songs are amazing. They were composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and I'm very excited to see more of him working with Disney.
I loved the song "Shiny", and I also think The Rock did a great job as Maui, especially with his song "You're Welcome".
BUT. I was blown away by Auli'i Cravalho, the teenager who voices Moana. This is her debut film and she did a fantastic job. She is 16 now, but she was only 14 during production! Her voice is phenomenal and I am so looking forward to her in the future when her voice matures and she sounds even more amazing. I have been playing her songs "How Far I'll Go" and "I Am Moana" on repeat.
So all in all, this was a great film. The animation and soundtrack are beautiful, the storyline is impactful, and it's just an overall great time.
A few side notes:
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