Vaiana 2

Nothing exciting here to see. I went with a pack of kids and teens. They all said it was kind of boring and not as good as the first. I had to agree. Floppy plot. A randomly weird new character gives her terrible life advice that steers her to make irrational choices that bring her success. The voices were good but the songs didn't wow. They were definitely not as good as the original soundtrack of Moana; felt more pop in style with less local color. The songs weren't memorable. We all kind of groaned when they sang again.

Some cute and funny moments. The kids laughed a couple times. The other feelings felt manufactured- like they were trying really hard to evoke emotions in the audience rather than just letting people feel in response to the story itself.

Moana is kind of a narcissist's love song and the other characters don't get filled out much. She saves the day all the time and has all the ideas, skills, enthusiasm, gumption, and smartness, whereas everyone else just muddles around not being as brave, smart, capable or bold. She talked about teamwork but it seemed like the other characters (other than Maui) were just foils. Moana was kind of annoying and Maui wasn't as well-developed this time around. The villains don't get much development either. The plot is kind of disjointed and meanders; I can see how this was originally conceived as a Disney+ series. Nice animation though, neat textiles; the animation of the woven sails and her hair were well done. Some fuzzy feeling family hugs; it was nice to see a whole family portrayed positively in a Disney movie. It wasn't awful, it just was a little flat despite the feeling that they were trying very hard. Maybe it felt a bit like a commercial for a new round of toys.

Moana 2 argues that she has to stop playing it safe and go off the beaten track only to then do the exact opposite as it copies the plot of the original just with greater scale and weaker everything else. Its origins as a TV show are definitely felt in the very choppy first act where no scene is allowed to last but it thankfully finds a better rhythm afterwards as it actually begins to feel like a film and then comes together nicely in the third act.

Auli'i Cravalho gives it her all as Moana again, bringing as much emotion as possible to her new songs and every scene with Khaleesi Lambert-Tsud as her adorable younger sister is heartwarming to counterbalance the fact her journey is so much weaker here. Her new crew are mildly annoying even if they all find their purpose by the end and it needed way more of Awhimai Fraser. Dwayne Johnson is still charming as Maui but all the flaws and vulnerability have sadly gone.

After the shaky start, directors David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller make sure the film feels epic enough to warrant a cinematic release and the visuals during the musical numbers are suitably inventive. The animation is the one aspect that comes close to the original thanks to its stunning detail and vibrancy from beginning to end. The new songs don't come close to the quality of their predecessors and the score is only memorable when reusing previous work.

An unmemorable movie that represents the current state of Disney. It started out as a Disney+ show and definitely feels like a pointless side quest made to add content.

Moana has no arc and there is nothing new with her. She already achieved her goal in the first film and there's little go forward with. Her plot is about finding other people, but there's no reason for her. She's lacking nothing, beloved by all, and gets everything her way already. There's no reason to root for her.

Maui also hasn't changed. He's still the same smarmy guy from the start of the first, basically undermining any meaningful development that could have been had following his terrific arc last movie. The movie does lighten up when he has friendly banter with Moana, but they're away from each other so much it's hard to care.

The other new characters don't fare much better. There's more added to the crew but they're one-dimensional rip-offs of the sidekicks from Pixar's Lightyear. They are nothing more than the fat one, the old one, the geeking out fanboy, and the brainy woman who knows more mechanical knowledge than people today could.

The villains are horribly misused. There's the bat-woman who is treated like a big deal in the first half only to disappear completely by the second. The movie builds her up as something just to fail on that promise, obviously she was intended to be a bigger deal in an intended second season. The primary villain, Nalo, falls prey to something that has killed a lot of franchises recently: a villain that's all setup and no pay off. Between Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Sony, fans are tired of seeing potential villains built up only to have to wait for a possible sequel just to pay it off. It's tired and cliched.

The songs are another disappointment as none are memorable. The first movie had one really good song and some others that grow on you after repeat viewings. Lin-Manuel Miranda's style is overused, but these songs sound like a bad imitation.

The animation looks good but only because it's the same stuff the first movie used. The only sequence worth remembering visually is the final battle in the storm. Otherwise, everything else is more of the same. Where other studios are emboldened to take animation into new styles, Disney seems content to just play it safe and reuse assets.

The movie screams that it's just going through the motions. It's enjoyable to sit through, but something that will be completely forgotten by the end of the credits.

Saw this with my nephew today--we're each a fan of the first one for different reasons--and both of us were whelmed. It feels like they didn't push or take any creative risks with this one. Flows like a recycled, watered-down attempt to replicate what the first movie captured so effortlessly. The emotional core is painfully missing with this one. None of the musical numbers have you at the edge of your seat like How Far I'll Go, or choking up like the Song of the Ancestors. It's beautiful enough to look at, but without a good story to ground it, it makes sense that the characters, the music and the overall experience falter. It was still as good a time as many animated films I've seen, don't get me wrong, but it pales in comparison to its predecessor.

Moana 1 was so magical and with Lin Manuel Miranda's Soundtrack, it was one of the best kids movies. Not to mention, there is a lot of cultural context about collective societies. Unfortunately, part 2 didn't keep me interested at all. I kept waiting for it to get better. This movie proves that a financial success is meaningless. It's not an indicator of a great film. It's just what was playing that weekend when you want to take your children to see a movie. The new characters lacked any depth. There wasn't half of the emotion of the first part. Grandma was missed dearly. I cried in the first Moana, a couple of times. I couldn't wait to get out of this short film. I wanted my money back.