“Moana 2,” the sequel to Disney’s splashy island adventure, while a lighthearted and fun movie, falls flat in comparison to its predecessor. The sequel follows the titular protagonist Moana as she ventures into distant seas to save her island from danger; her homeland, Motunui, will be abandoned if she does not raise a deserted island from the ocean and defeat the villainous god Nalo. Of course, she can’t pull it all off without help from her good friend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who voices Maui.
If that plot sounds familiar, that’s because it is. It’s almost identical to the storyline of the first film, which also follows Moana as she teams up with Maui and explores the sea on a mystical quest to save her island from peril. This rehashing of the same plot devices leaves any viewer who knows anything about the original able to predict exactly what’s going to happen within the first few minutes of the movie: Moana’s going to go on an oceanic adventure, belt out some tunes, and do some much-needed self-reflection along the way before finally defeating the powerful villain.
Overall, the storyline wasn’t terrible — after all, the formula it followed was very well-received the first time around — but it didn’t have the elements of a ground-breaking fantasy adventure that characterized the success of the original.
The introduction of new endearing characters softened the blow of the redundant plot by giving the audience something novel to focus on. Throughout the movie, we meet Loto, a nerdy yet lovable craftswoman, Kele, a grouchy old farmer, and Moni, a major Maui fanboy (Honestly, I can’t blame him — who wouldn’t fawn over The Rock?). These three new additions didn’t add much to the plot, and they definitely weren’t anywhere near fully-fleshed, three-dimensional characters, but they made for some good laughs along the way.
Besides new characters, “Moana 2” is also packed to the brim with new original songs. Except this time, they were written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (professionally known as Barlow & Bear) instead of the iconic Lin-Manuel Miranda, who took the reins on the original. Many of the tracks were upbeat and lively, with Moana’s voice actress Auli’i Cravalho hitting some serious high notes.
However, Miranda’s absence was sorely felt, as none of these songs were as catchy as the ones from the original movie. The only exception is “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” which highlights a common Polynesian phrase and emulates the fast-paced, energetic rapping that characterizes Miranda’s work.
Of course, asking any musical to live up to the songs of the original Moana is quite a tall order. After all, hits like “You’re Welcome” and “How Far I’ll Go” are very difficult to recreate. But that’s exactly the point; there was no need to recreate the first movie. There were no loose plot points to tie up, no extra character development Moana needed to go through, and no real target demographic for a sequel since all the children who watched the original in 2016 are no longer Disney-princess-aged.
Disney’s urge to crank out another part in the franchise makes sense: the original was a hit that raked in $687.2 million globally, and it’s understandable to want to recreate that level of success. However, when the creators clearly have nothing more to say or no meaningful way to expand on the world, it’s better to let a good thing rest rather than beat a dead horse (or in this case, a dead island monster).
Overall, “Moana 2” isn’t a waste of time to watch, especially since it provides great Pacific Islander representation and will hold the attention of younger audiences. It’s an uplifting story that, on the surface level, can be an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes with the family. Just keep in mind that it may fall in flat waters compared to the original.
