Moana 2 (2024)

Watching Moana 2 it quickly became apparent this was more like Frozen II than Toy Story 2. By that I mean, an afterthought, whose story and characters are solely designed to capitalize on the popularity of the previous film and not in any authentic way of continuing a story in exciting and or fascinating directions. I get it. Disney has struggled with new stories in recent years and returning to old wells is a safe bet for making money... which is the point right? But is that the point for the audience? I am not opposed to sequels. I find a truly good continuation of a story and taking beloved characters in new directions can be a very satisfactory narrative experience. But just recycling them into a similar version of their previous adventures just feels lazy. 

Also like the Frozen sequel Moana 2 has a story problem in that the "challenge" set our for our hero is one unbound by any natural constraints. It is metaphysical so that the writers can just write whatever solution to it that fits their time frame. The stakes just never feel like they are there. I never once doubted that they would pull off their nebulous mission which always just felt made up in the way a fortune teller makes up a "future" that can sort of fit into whatever box the listener wishes to place it. 

Moana 2 also exposes that outside of the title character and the scene stealing Maui, there aren't really characters we care about from the first film. Perhaps the grandmother but everyone else just feels like they could fade into the background and not be notices. Here we are introduced to a new crop of friends for Moana, each one blander and less interesting than the last. Her little sister is just every little kid character all melted into one cliche. I will give the film points for not feeling the need to give this princess a prince charming. The sheer lack of a love story is a strength of the first Moana and this film holds tight to that. Good choice. 

And one can't discuss a future animated Disney classic without discussing it's music. Well maybe in this case we can. The songs here all feel generic and forgettable. The centre piece song Beyond very much feels like an attempt to remake How Far I'll Go and it likely the most hummable of the bunch. 

Moana 2 is a surefire hit in that it sets out to give audiences exactly what they expect. However there is a message in this story about not knowing "the way" and perhaps needing to get lost to truly find it. I would rather Disney keep flailing around with original ideas and characters until they find another new original Moana instead of just retelling these stories over and over again. 

Moana 2

Starring: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Hualālai Chung, Rachel House, Awhimai Fraser, Gerald Ramsey, Alan Tudyk 

Directors: David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Mille

Writers: Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Mille