Even though Auli鈥檒 Cravalho, the voice of Moana, sings the heck out of her songs, Sioux City Journal entertainment editor Bruce Miller says 鈥淢oana 2鈥 has such a similar trajectory to the original that it almost looks like a remake.
Unless you鈥檙e a diehard 鈥淢oana鈥 fan, there鈥檚 nothing new to discover in 鈥淢oana 2.鈥
Sure, the plucky adventurer is a little older but she鈥檚 still on a mission to help the people from her island, reconnect with Maui and try to sound like she鈥檚 singing songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda. (They鈥檙e not.)
Now, Moana identifies as a wayfinder and must find groups of islanders who were separated by angry gods.
Friends (and sidekicks Pua and Hei Hei) agree to go along on her trip but don鈥檛 get in the way of their captain. She depends on the shapeshifting demi-god Maui to see her through and finds new creatures and old haunts. Their boat is more impressive this time out; the water effects are state-of-the-art. There's where the money was spent.
Dwayne Johnson, as the voice of Maui, gets in a few good one-liners but a 鈥淵ou鈥檙e Welcome鈥 isn鈥檛 lurking. Auli鈥檌 Cravalho stills sings beautifully but has to trumpet a number that actually includes her character鈥檚 name. Opetala Foa鈥檒 and Mark Mancina are among those responsible for the songs. They worked with Miranda on the first film but didn鈥檛 capture his adventuring spirit. As a result, 鈥淢oana 2鈥 has a start/stop quality when it comes time to cue the orchestra. The songs drift over the story; they don鈥檛 advance it.
Moana鈥檚 friends could have been mined for more humor. Her history-loving friend Moni could also be a potential Tinder match and Loto, the shipbuilder, and Kele, the farmer, could be as vital as the pig and the chicken (or, as Maui calls them, 鈥渂acon and eggs鈥).
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Directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, however, take the safe route and make a nebulous storm god their villain. He鈥檚 not enough, particularly since the battle comes without much conflict. Moana鈥檚 success is never in doubt 鈥 which could be because the sequel was originally envisioned as a TV series. When it was bumped up to feature, peaks and valleys weren鈥檛 added.
If you stick around after the credits, you鈥檒l see hints of a story that could fill 鈥淢oana 3.鈥 It has different antagonists and the threat of a real crisis.
Leave before they roll and you鈥檒l think Moana has settled into a place where she can do no wrong, thus the desire for cruising.
Cravalho is still charming as Moana and Johnson gets in more conversations with his tattoos than a demi-god should. They鈥檙e game but the movie is hardly 鈥淭he Godfather Part II.鈥
