Starring: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Temuera Morrison, Rachel House, Alan Tudyk
Distributor: Disney
Runtime: 100 mins. Reviewed in Dec 2024
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.
It is a surprise to find that the first Moana film was released in 2016, eight years ago. There had been an intention to do a sequel as a television series in 2020 but that did not happen. Instead, here we are in 2024, meeting the characters again, travelling back thousands of years, to the islands of the Pacific and their Polynesian inhabitants.
Audiences who were enthusiastic about the first film, now have an opportunity to meet the characters again. The intrepid Moana (Cravalho playing Moana again), the companion pig and chicken (although this reviewer had very low tolerance for the chicken as a character, rather annoying, caught in all kinds of silly situations – but that is a comment from an older viewer, while the youngsters will probably want more).
In many ways, this is a repetition in story of the first film. We see Moana’s community, the chief her father, her great reputation she had achieved as a sailor and ‘Wayfinder’. But, the community is isolated, not sure where there are more people, more islands in the ocean. As in the first film, there is the heroic Maui (voiced by Johnson) who has been alive for thousands of years, his body covered in tattoos which come alive to tell the story of his adventures. He joins Moana and another group of sailors, a young man who idolises Maui and a feisty young woman and an old cantankerous grandfather, and the pig and the chicken.
So, lots of sea adventures. A visit to an island of coconuts who have a life and language of their own, seem hostile but are friendly, contribute to the expedition across the seas. There are all kinds of creatures in the sea, even waves of the ocean coming alive, and, as the crisis mounts, vengeful deities, a strange malevolent queen who has the power to destroy the wayfarers, and ever-increasing storms which take their toll on the expedition.
But, in the spirit of the traditions of the Polynesians, their seafaring, their settling of the islands around the Pacific, there is the revelation that they are not isolated, that there is great joy in finding other communities and uniting with them. (And, the alert audiences will hear many New Zealand accents – House, Morrison and Jemaine Clement, who appears in the mid-final credits sequence. Those who instantly make a beeline for the exit as words appear on the screen at the end, will miss him.)
So, a variation on the Disney princess. The Polynesian Princess, Moana, colourful action, intriguing characters, the importance of storytelling, images, not only in caves but on the tattoos of the characters, bringing those stories to life. And, this time there are some jolly songs, pleasant interludes, tunes and lyrics that are easily accessible, especially to the younger audience. And, indeed, Moana is a film for the younger audience, especially young girls.
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