Over the past thirty plus years,
John Musker and Ron Clements have made a true name for themselves as directors
of animation at Disney. From their directorial debut with “The Great Mouse
Detective,” to help kicking off the Disney Renaissance era with “The Little
Mermaid,” and delivering other iconic films from the House of Mouse, such as
“Aladdin,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “Treasure Planet.” When these two
are brought together, you can expect a real treat in the form of traditional
animation. Sure, they showcased a few dabbles with CGI in some places, but
they’ve mostly focused on keeping the style and form consistent. However, all
that changes today, with their first 3D animated film, “Moana.”
The film tells the story of Moana,
the daughter of the chief on the island of Motunui, who dreams of exploring the
ocean, but duties of leading the island tribe tend to get in the way. When the
island’s resources become scarce, Moana sets off to find the shapeshifting
demigod, Maui, and save her island from what’s about to come.
First off, the animation in the film
is absolutely spectacular. Much like how “Frozen” did an excellent job making
snow feel so natural, “Moana” does the same with the ocean. The way it flows,
how it glistens, and looks so realistic, telling me that Disney is getting
better and better with its 3D animation. Also, considering it’s a film about
sailing across the ocean on an adventure, it reminded me a lot of my favorite
Legend of Zelda game, “The Wind Waker.” Even the character designs are really
nice, showing that Musker and Clements have adapted their 2D style to 3D in a
manner that fits excellently. It truly feels like this film was made purely for
the third dimension. I also love the one action scene that references “Mad Max:
Fury Road,” but in a very creative turn of events.
As our main character, Moana is a
very likable protagonist. Despite wanting to venture out into the world, she
still puts her duties as the next chief before everything else, only resorting
to the task when it becomes the only option she has left. She is a very level
headed character, and definitely one of the boldest princess characters that Disney
has put out. And for Disney’s first Polynesian princess, that’s pretty damn
cool. Not to mention, Auli’I Cravalho’s performance is a really damn good vocal
performance, especially with her singing. It’s nice to see Disney go back and
give the role of a princess to an unknown, because it truly helps give them the
proper mainstream introduction. I also got a kick out of Alan Tudyk as Moana’s sidekick
pet, Heihei the rooster, who has been described by Ron Clements as the dumbest
character in Disney history...and he’s right. This bird is truly dumb, but I
like how he does add a good deal of comedic relief, especially when the ocean
gets involved and gets tired of its BS.
This brings us to Maui:
shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, hero of men and women. Basically, he’s
the character perfect for Dwayne Johnson to play in a Disney animated film,
even animating him down to the brow. He’s a cocky jerk who’s larger than life,
is incredibly overconfident, even when he’s desperate for some salvation. I
even love how all of his tattoos play the part of the audience, telling him to
make the decisions that we want him to do. However, he can be a little too
cocky, as he is responsible for the events that transpire, and I thought the
end of his arc was a little bit too kind. I just didn’t feel like the film gave
us a proper change of heart for him, aside from that one bit about who
he was from the start.
Now when it comes to Disney Princess
films, there’s always one aspect that truly captures audiences: the music. This
may come as a shock to some people, but I’m not actually a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s
music. I’ve only listened to a few songs from “Hamilton,” so I don’t have much
of an opinion on that, but I have seen a full on production of “In the Heights”…and
I didn’t like it. So I was a bit worried about how the music in “Moana” would
turn out. But much to my surprise, I found myself really enjoying the songs in
this movie, from the first song we hear “Where You Are,” to Maui’s ego song “You’re
Welcome,” Moana’s journey song “How Far I’ll Go,” and to the epic tune that is “We
Know the Way.” The only song that I didn’t like was the one sung by Jermaine
Clement’s character, which I won’t spoil. Sure, the visuals are really cool,
but the song itself…is not.
This brings me to the main complaint
with the film: the story. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, it just didn’t have
as much depth as Disney Animation’s previous film, “Zootopia.” With that, we
had a buddy cop film that dealt with prejudice, stereotyping, racism, and
political corruption, making it a much more mature story than the typical
Disney film. “Moana” is a fun and exciting adventure film on the high seas…and
that’s it. Nothing wrong with that, I’m all for having a fun adventure flick,
with some good morals about breaking through boundaries and there’s a bigger
world than the one you’ve known around you, but I probably was expecting a
little more.
If you’re looking for a fun
adventure flick for the holiday season and you have kids with you, then “Moana”
is the film for you. It’s a very enjoyable musical with top notch animation and
great characters to go along with it. I mean, I’d definitely recommend this
over “Trolls” any day. Give it a watch, and see for yourself.
Rating: 8/10
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