Moana is a household name at this point. A movie with songs kids will sing for generations, hit songs like “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome”. It was a new movie, with a well-developed plot, and catchy songs. So naturally, they go for a double-dip and make Moana 2. While, sure, many people have seen this movie and liked it, it will never live up to the first. Here’s why.
One of the biggest factors in a movie is music, whether it be in the background to set a mood or having it actually sung in the movie. It’s especially relevant in Moana because music drives the story. It explains why many characters make the decisions they do, and it’s a necessary storytelling tool in a movie. Not to mention, since Moana and Moana 2 are musical movies, they need to have good music. But Moana 2 fell flat; there were no songs that are going to become household names.
This is devastating, especially when there’s that big expectation for these types of movies. So you may be asking, how could this have happened? It must be because it’s a sequel, right? Well, no, not exactly. Frozen 2, which is also a movie musical, did exceedingly well and has music that will live on for generations like “Into The Unknown” and “Show Yourself”. So, what is the difference between Frozen 2 and Moana 2? Composers. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez composed music for both Frozen and Frozen 2. This is most likely the reason why there was such a natural transition between the two movies. For the Moana movies, the first movie consisted of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina, and Opetaia Foa’i. But for the second movie, the composers consisted of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Mark Mancina, and Opetaia Foa’i. We are seeing the difference, aren’t we? You may not think something as miniscule as a singular writer for music can change a whole movie, but unfortunately it did.
Another factor that went into this movie was their use of side characters. In Moana 2, Moana travels with many fresh faces. For example, Loto, Moni, and Keke, her wayfinding crew. There are many other characters brought in, like Simea, her little sister, and Mantangi, who is described as a villain, but serves more as an anti-hero. It felt like characters were being brought in left and right, just to fill a part in a story. Technically, that is the job of a character. But realistically, there were just too many parts. They should’ve stuck with a few characters and given them a well developed backstory, rather than just a few quirky traits to help the adventure move along a story.
Lastly, the way they developed the plot was strange, to say the least. I feel like it was a rush to get to the point, and some characters lacked depth. For the plot, everything seemed to jump from one place to another. For example, the scene where Moana is told by her ancestors that she needed to save the island. It seemed like it was taken out of nowhere, whereas in the first movie she was already questioning everything she had already known. There was no character like her grandma to keep her questioning. There were also some characters where it seemed like there was a secret motive, but it never went anywhere. For example, Mantangi. A character who seemed evil the whole movie, even Maui didn’t like her. She had a whole song about leading Moana into places where she doesn’t know, getting lost. I don’t know about you, but it felt like they were hinting at Moana being sabotaged. But then Maui and Moana reunite and it was revealed that she was just trying to reunite them the whole time to save the islands together. It was all hyped up, just for her to be another character that moves the story along. Anti-climatic, to say the least.
Other than my strong critics, I would say you should see the movie yourself. It wasn’t all that bad, and the plot has potential. It’s worth the watch; although cringey at moments, it is still cute. So go watch Moana 2, if I didn’t spoil the movie for you too badly!
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