There’s a reason Disney has been around for nearly 100 years and continues to make great films: they have a formula that consistently works.
Whenever there’s been a rough patch in Disney’s quality, they alter the formula in small ways to fix the problems but tend to keep the overall formula the same. It happened in the 1950s, it happened in the ‘90s and it happened again about five years ago. And yet, we still instantly recognize the formula.
In several of Disney’s latest movies, especially “Frozen” and “Zootopia,” they even reference how predictable and outdated the Classic Disney Formula has become. But in “Moana,” we have a story about a princess (who’s not really a princess) going out on an adventure to find where she belongs.
However, regardless of how predictable that formula and those tropes are, Disney uses them because they work. “Moana” is great. Not only because it uses that formula well, but because there are enough new ingredients added to make it required viewing for the whole family.
Pacific-islands princess Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho in her first role), the daughter of a Polynesian tribal chief, is chosen to restore an ancient artifact to its rightful place in order to save her people.
But first, Moana must find and team up with the demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) to locate the legendary island where the artifact came from. Together, the pair explores fantastical islands and encounter incredible sea creatures on an adventure as big as the Pacific itself.
Along the way, Moana and Maui discover there’s a lot more to being a princess and a hero than they originally thought, learning from their histories to make a better future for themselves and Moana’s people.
There is a lot to like here. It’s a great film for the whole family, which means it’s not just a kids film. Many scenes adults will enjoy just as much as the children, if not more. There’s nothing inappropriate or scandalizing or anything like that.
In fact, I’d say it almost plays it too safe. Although nothing is technically bad, there are no risks taken it to push the limits beyond that checklist Disney has for all its animated movies.
Now, with that said, there is a lot of truly great elements here. The animation, of course, is amazing. Every year, Disney tops itself on certain elements and this movie had phenomenal water animation. It’s the most realistic CGI water I’ve seen, and it plays a big part in the story.
Also, Moana is great. For her first ever acting role, Cravalho knocks it out of the park as Moana. For a 16-year-old girl, Moana has a lot of character moments that are mature and emotional, and this actress handled them like an old pro. Her singing voice is also quite beautiful, especially for a first-timer. I think we’re going to see a lot more from Cravalho in the near-future.
Speaking of the music, it’s amazing. We’ve not had a score with a Pacific Islands sound in Disney before, but the composers delivered a solid score with some really heartfelt and catchy songs. What do you expect from Tony- and Grammy-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda? I don’t know if this will quite hit “Frozen” levels, but it could be close.
The rest of the characters are…good. The Rock, as the only real celebrity in the film, does a good job as Maui. He’s that classic know-it-all, kind-of-a-jerk hero with a heart of gold. And the Rock is always awesome, so he gets a pass.
But no one else really stands out. Moana’s parents are typical Disney parents, her animal sidekick doesn’t contribute anything, the enemies they come across are uniquely designed but not very memorable and the basic story is something we’ve all seen before. But because Disney is so good at what it does, the film is still great.
The absence of a romance was a welcome change from typical Disney. There really isn’t a romance anywhere in here. Similar to other recent princesses (Anna in “Frozen,” Merida in “Brave”), Moana doesn’t need to get married to the charming prince by the end of the movie. Her concerns are with her family and her people, not in having a husband and kids.
Although it’s not Disney’s best work, “Moana” is still a great fantasy and family film.
Everything about it is likable, even if it is familiar. There’s just enough different to make it interesting and just enough of the same to know you’re getting a great product.
Quigley Films Unlimited 