Moana Review
Nearly identical to the animated film, so recent in our memory, this live action adaptation looks sumptuous - but more than ever before, begs the question; why?
Moana (Catherine Laga'aia) longs to explore the ocean, despite her overprotective father forbidding it. When her island starts to die, she sets off in search of Maui (Dwayne Johnson) - the trickster demi-god who stole the heart of Te Fiti a thousand years ago. She must find the fabled character, and convince him to sail with her to return the heart, thus restoring balance to nature and saving her island and people.
Moana (2026) is a gorgeous looking movie. Despite the occasional CGI quibble, the film is lively, beautiful and sunny. The set pieces look amazing, the costuming and design gorgeous, the cinematography unafraid of leaning into colour. It’s big and bold.
But the problem is, it isn’t as big and bold as the original animation. It can’t match the vibrancy of that piece. It can’t match the energy either. Dwayne Johnson still can’t quite hit the high notes - just like in the animation - but here he can’t hit the dancing either. The family of Moana can’t carry some of the songs. Moana fighting off little coconuts looks slow and limping in live action, whereas it looked amazing in the animation.
The whole film is hamstrung by the fact that there exists a wonderful animated version with some of the same cast, only a handful of years old. As much as you want to avoid the comparison, it is impossible. This is a worse version of a movie you could very easily be watching - and indeed hearing some of the same voices perform.
That being said, this isn’t a film that you will dislike; far from it. It’s beautiful. The music is good. Catherine Laga'aia is great as Moana. The story is wonderful. You know all this of course, because you saw it 10 years ago in the animated version. All this to say, if you find yourself in the theatre, you will have a good time. A great time even. But be forewarned - you will be left wondering why you bothered.
Oh, and this movie reaffirms that Lin Manuel Miranda was on his A-game when he cooked up the Moana score a decade ago.
