Moana 2

There’s an easy way to tell if a musical, animated or otherwise, has been successful. If, after the movie, you can sing at least one or two songs, the movie has done its work. After Disney’s Moana, the songs “How Far I’ll Go,” “We Know the Way,” and even “Shiny” stuck with me—they reverberated in my chest, producing an involuntary emotional response that has endeared me to that experience. But Moana 2 isn’t quite the movie that its 2016 predecessor was. Disney’s latest animated feature lacks much of what made the original memorable. The songs by Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foaʻi, Abigail Barlow, and Emily Bear (but not Lin-Manuel Miranda this time) don’t have the same resonant harmonies that stick in your head long afterward. The visual luster feels somehow less vibrant and awe-inducing. And the story of a heroic Polynesian wavefinder, once again saving her people on another ocean adventure involving sea monsters and angry gods, doesn’t snap with the same vitality. Whereas the first one felt like an instant classic, the sequel feels like, well, the obligatory follow-up. 

It’s not as bad as all that sounds. For much of Moana 2, I was pleasantly diverted, if not entirely wowed. Perhaps that’s because the sequel began production in 2020 as a television series for Disney+ before someone at the House of Mouse realized the studio would be giving up hundreds of millions in box-office receipts and merchandising revenue by not releasing a sequel in theaters. Screenwriters Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller reworked the episodic story with three credited directors—Miller, Jason Hand, and David Derrick Jr.—and turned the material into a feature. Although one could spend time speculating where the seams have been patched, there’s not much point to such an exercise. No matter how it started, the resulting sequel feels cohesive enough; it doesn’t have that characteristically disposable quality of a Disney+ series. Though, it’s not the “A” production one might expect for a sequel to one of Disney’s best recent efforts. 

Picking up a few years later, Moana 2 finds the titular hero (voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho) looking to the ocean to reconnect with her people, long since separated by the storm god Nalo. When Nalo submerged the island Motufetu, he sunk a hub for oceanic currents that, if Maui brought the island to the surface, would guide the tribes back together. Leaving behind her charming little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), Moana assembles a team for a long sea voyage, including engineer Loto (Rose Matafeo), curmudgeonly farmer Kele (David Fane), and resident mythographer Moni (Hualālai Chung), alongside her pet pig Pua and mindless rooster Heihei. They set out to find Motufetu—and, of course, the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), who will help raise the sunken island—but find themselves confronted by a bat-centric goddess Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), coconut-wearing Kakamora, and lightning-slinging Nalo. At 100 minutes, the movie rushes into action and resolves its conflict before establishing any significant sense of peril or consequence.

Although not one song stayed with me, the music is lively yet unmemorable, including two Miranda-style raps and a reprise from the original. The songs play as though the writers tried to recapture Moana’s magic. Note how Maui’s song “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” is a forced callback to Maui’s catchphrase. But then, most sequels remind viewers about moments they loved from the first one. Set aside the music and sequelisms. At least the animation delivers some striking visuals with bioluminescent creatures, including a glowing whale shark and the ghostly stingray that signals the arrival of Moana’s late grandmother. The water tendrils, straight out of The Abyss (1989), look photorealistic. And several sequences involving sea creatures deliver eye-popping visuals, among them a section where Moana and company team with warrior-like Kakamora to neutralize a colossal clam. But elsewhere, Matangi’s cauldron of bats and the finale, involving multiple twisters and pink lightning, don’t leave an impression. 

Whatever quibbles I have, Moana 2 is handled competently enough. My biggest complaint is that it isn’t better, even though it’s thoroughly watchable. Seeing a Disney animated feature about a strong woman who isn’t storybook royalty is refreshing. “Still not a princess,” Moana clarifies. “Well, a lot of people think you are,” jokes Maui, referring to the widespread assumption—even though it’s been a few years since Disney told a princess story. Set 2,000 years ago, the sequel also continues to expose a largely unversed audience to Polynesian mythology, cursory as it is. But most of the goodwill I offer Moana 2 stems from my held-over affection for its predecessor, without which, the filmmaking-by-committee quality of the sequel might overwhelm and neutralize its pleasures. Children will no doubt enjoy it more than their accompanying adults, who might feel relieved by a new Moana that enters the rotation of animated movies played on an endless loop at home.