Moana 2 Movie Review: Eight years after the release of the first film, Moana 2 finally arrives in theaters - bringing with it a baggage of important expectations to satisfy - the sequel to the 56th Disney Classic released in 2016 that was a huge success with audiences and critics, arriving to conquer two prestigious Oscar nominations the following year (best-animated film and best original song for "How Far I'll Go").
Sequels to Disney films rarely manage to reach the quality of their illustrious predecessors (just think of Raph Breaks the Internet or Frozen II - The Secret of Arendelle). Surprisingly, Moana 2, directed by David Derrick Jr. along with Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller (all three making their directorial debut) and coming out on November 27 in Italy, represents a sort of positive exception to this unwritten rule.
Although the film never manages to reach the heights of the original, playing in territories already traced in the past, therefore quite defined, it is still able to offer excellent entertainment, giving an equally engaging adventure for viewers of all ages, which will prove fundamental for the growth of an intrepid and sensible protagonist that we have all learned to love.
Moana 2 Movie Story:
In Moana 2 we find Vaiana, who after having returned Te Fiti's heart at the end of the first film has now managed to earn the title of expert navigator. Life on her island and among her people flows peacefully, but Vaiana - driven by her indomitable spirit of exploration - has the desire to continue expanding her horizons and meeting the inhabitants of the other islands of the ocean.
So, after receiving an unexpected call from her ancestors, she decides to travel towards dangerous and forgetful waters with a rather sui generis crew. Awaiting her in this new adventure - in which she will also find the formidable Maui - a series of challenges that the young woman has never faced before and that will question the typical steadfastness of every great navigator.
Knowing the way, but remembering to "get lost"
The first Moana 2 had a cultural impact whose effects are still tangible today. Mythology merged with the epic nature of the story to offer an extremely modern look compared to the entire Disney canon. The goal was not only to make Vaiana the heroine par excellence of our time – in fact, in the most recent collective imagination she has become – but also to contribute substantially to clearing the figure of the traditional princess (a label that ironically Vaiana herself rejects in the films).
Undoubtedly, this sequel aims to expand Vaiana's story through the new journey that makes her takes, a journey very different from the previous one because there are different things that Vaiana will discover about herself once she reaches her destination. In the first film, Vaiana, driven by a noble and altruistic purpose, went to discover her own identity and at the end of her journey she became a navigator in all respects.
This sequel – which is the natural continuation of that hero's journey – raises the stakes, especially about the interiority of our heroine: Vaiana is now a leader and has learned to fully embrace her nature as an explorer; after having gone in search of her identity and reconnected with her past, this time she will have to deal with her personal growth and the future of her people.
Driven by a new sense of responsibility (which she will also test thanks to the bizarre members of the crew that she will find herself having to lead), along this new journey Vaiana will mature until she reaches the awareness that sometimes it is essential to break out of some established patterns, abandon one's certainties or convictions and "get lost" - as is often repeated in the film - to truly learn to understand who we are, even when we are strongly convinced that we know the way.
A journey without unforgettable music
From a purely spectacular point of view, Moana 2 remains a work of exquisite workmanship, capable of giving the viewer a lively, colorful, and immersive experience. On the musical side, however, it is undeniable how much the film suffers from the absence of Lin-Manuel Miranda (who had worked on the lyrics of the first film): no song, in fact, is capable of deeply striking the emotional chords of the viewer and reaching the levels of songs like “How Far I’ll Go” or “You’re Welcome”, making this new journey of Moana an adventure among the seas without truly unforgettable music.
Among the new recordings (by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear), one of the most significant is probably “Get Lost”, which contains a bit of a leitmotif of this second chapter and which, over time, could be remembered as the best song of the soundtrack (also thanks to the sequence that accompanies it) is. The song is performed by one of the many new characters in the film, namely Matangi (voiced in the Italian version by Giorgia), who despite her aura of charm and mystery, seems not to be fully in focus within the narrative structure: she appears as a sort of threat at the beginning of the film, but by the middle of the story she is completely forgotten.
In fact, in the story, Matangi does not have a role important enough to justify an entire song she performs; rather, she seems like a character conceived to have a greater development in a possible third chapter. Like her, the other new characters, namely the members of Vaiana's crew, do not have enough time available to blossom as they should, thanks to a screenplay that focuses once again on the introspection of the protagonist (perhaps excessive, given the repercussions on the pace of the film), allowing this observation to overshadow everything else.
Moana 2 offers a true maturation process for our indomitable Vaiana, further enhancing the characteristics that have made her so unique and special. At the same time, however, the film never seems to anticipate a real evolution for the story of a hypothetical saga in progress, inevitably casting a shadow on what a new journey of the heroine across the distant seas of the ocean could really offer - in terms of story, entertainment and character development.
OVERALL RATING
Moana 2 is the natural continuation of the hero's journey told in the first film, but this time the stakes are raised, especially about the interiority of the protagonist Vaiana. This authentic leader has learned to fully embrace her nature as an explorer. The film offers a true maturation process for the indomitable Vaiana, further enhancing the characteristics that have made her so unique and special; at the same time, however, it never seems to anticipate a real evolution for the story of a hypothetical saga in progress.