Moana (2016)

Review

103min

Genre:      Family, Animation, Adventure, Musical

Director:   Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker… and more

Cast:        Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison…more

Writers:    Jared Bush, Ron Clements, Don Hall… and more

-Synopsis-

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and newcomer Auli’i Cravalho star in Disney’s animated Polynesian adventure following the exploits of a bold precocious teenager and a mighty demigod, as they team up on a quest across the ocean to find a fabled island and stop a dark force from consuming the people and lands of the South Pacific.

In an effort to promote diversity in their own distinct corner of the movie industry and add a new flavour to their extensive animation legacy; Disney take their considerable resources and unique brand of family fantasy adventure to the South Pacific in this epic Polynesian tale packed with humour, music and more life-lessons than you can shake a magical fish-hook at.

Like every 21st century Disney animation, ‘Moana’ is a visually stunning and meticulously crafted blend of charm and humour with a measure of pathos and plenty of life-lessons, all in a fantasy adventure package for the whole family, and in this case requiring the efforts of no less than four veteran Disney writer/directors responsible for films like ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Big Hero 6’ among others.

But with the added responsibility of depicting a people who’ve been underrepresented in modern media and entertainment, the producers turn to a voice-cast of largely Polynesian descent to alluringly and cleverly bring across the beauty of a rich South Pacific island culture and its mythology. Epitomised by the Dwayne Johnson’s central role as Polynesian demigod and culture hero “Māui”; here depicted as the half-man half-deity and all mischievous self-professed hero, whose exploits have shaped the world but also brought a darkness upon it.

Enter our teenage heroine and chieftain’s daughter “Moana” (Auli’i Cravalho); who defies her island responsibilities to reclaim her voyager roots and embark on a great seafaring adventure, forcing “Māui” to atone for his mistakes and form an unlikely alliance to save the world… and in the process learn a little something about life and each other.

As you might expect with a $150 million budget, ‘Moana’ is a true visual spectacle; from the stunningly recreated natural beauty of the South Pacific to the adorable big-eyed aesthetics of the human characters, with the most realistic skin tones we’ve seen in an animation thus-far, painted with delightfully animated interactive tattoos which tell a story in themselves. Not to mention some fantastical action sequences and quirky non-human personalities.

Like all good modern animation, the meticulous digital artistry is blended with plenty of charm and humour and is wrapped up in a universal narrative which works across generations. ‘Moana’ is very much the traditional coming-of-age story, but packed with social messaging and life-lessons, the central one being about remembering your roots and the importance of taking risks and not always playing it safe. There are also clear themes of female empowerment, self-acceptance, duty and social responsibility as well as environmentalism, all playing out through a great voyage which is a clear metaphor for life’s journey… whoever you are.

Along with several elements which make it feel like the smash-hit ‘Frozen’s’ tropical stepsister, ‘Moana’  has almost enough sing-along numbers to qualify it as a musical, with several being co-written by the hugely popular star of hit musical ‘Hamilton’ Lin-Manuel Miranda. And although the songs are sweet and enchanting to a point, particularly the more traditional Pacific Islands rhythms, they do eventually start to become tedious and surplus to requirement.

‘Moana’ admirably bucks the trend of the Disney princess romance while presenting a young heroine as far away from “damsel in distress” as possible, but despite the novelty of new characters and a fresh context, it still sticks to a tried and tested formula without rocking the boat too much… pardon the pun. It just doesn’t have dynamism and pathos of ‘Big Hero 6’ or the ingenious premise and execution of ‘Inside Out’ and isn’t quite in the league of recent Disney & Pixar classics, nevertheless this delightful adventure has more than enough to make it yet another absolute hit from the good folks at Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

The Bottom Line…

Although it doesn’t quite reach the heights of some recent animation instant classics and despite treading familiar narrative waters, this epic Polynesian ocean adventure is a delightful cinematic treat for the whole family. With stunning sights & sounds, plenty of humour and broad life-lessons for both young and old, ‘Moana’ shows that with a proven formula and enough space to Hula dance around it, the hits just keep on comin’ for Disney.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Frozen (2013)

A princess embarks on a quest with a rag-tag group of companions to end the perpetual winter which has consumed her land after her powerful Queen sister unwittingly unleashes her hidden special powers, in this smash-hit musical animation and cultural phenomenon from Disney.

Directed by  Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee and starring Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad among others.

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