Despite the extremely linear storyline there’s much to enjoy with Disney’s family-friendly sequel.
Yes, you can tell it may have originally been intended as a limited series – then no doubt upgraded to a cinematic release when executives saw ‘dollar signs’ – due to its formulaic ‘A to B’ plotline.
And yes, due to that, there are moments where it’s hard to distinguish this between the first film. There’s only so much you can do with a generally water-based setting to be fair.
But, and it’s a big ‘but’ – this is ultimately a lot of fun and still ticks all the right boxes.
Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson – as Moana and demigod Maui respectively – once again prove to be extremely amiable in the lead roles; there’s a noteworthy supporting cast; and the songs are pretty decent too.
And this animated release may just have the cutest infant in movie history – in the form of Moana’s little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda).
As alluded to above, the story is a fairly simple one. Several years after her adventures with Maui, Moana spends her days exploring other islands near her homeland of Motunui, in the hope of finding people connected to the ocean.
After receiving a vision that the malicious storm god Nalo sunk legendary island Motufetu into the depths of the sea – and to make matters worse her people would eventually become extinct if she didn’t find it – Moana heads off a wayfinding mission to save her homeland.
She assembles a rag-tag crew – clever craftswoman Loto, historian and Maui fanboy Moni, and grumpy elderly farmer Keke, alongside her pet pig and rooster, Pua and Heihei – for her quest, which takes the inevitable (and fairly predictable) twists and turns.
Along the way she reunites with her friend Maui – who has had a spot of side-quest bother with Nalo’s enforcer Matangi – and it all simplistically unfolds to the breathtakingly jaw-dropping animated backdrops, and half a dozen passably enjoyable musical numbers.
It may not quite have the same depth (in terms of scripting and songs) as the original, but my ten-year-old boy Joshua, enjoyed it more than the first film – and as he’s generally the target demographic – that’s good enough for me.
As it battles Paddington in Peru, the forthcoming Mufasa and Sonic 3, and Wicked at the Christmas box-office – it does have one major advantage over the latter. It’s an hour shorter.
And has arguably the most luscious animation ever experienced on the big screen to boot.
Rating: 3.5/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now
Voice Cast: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chang, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Awhimai Fraser, Temuera Morrison & Nicole Scherzinger
Running Time: 1 Hr 40 Mins
Directors: David Derrick Jr, Jason Hand & Dana Ledoux Miller
For all the latest film information & showtimes at Peterborough’s Showcase Cinema De Lux & Odeon Luxe Cinemas go to www.showcasecinemas.co.uk and www.odeon.co.uk
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