In Moana, demigod Maui (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) steals the heart of Te Fiti (an island goddess) to give to mankind as a gift. Unfortunately, he loses possession of the heart and his magical hook (which gives him shape-shifting abilities) during a battle and is banished to a small island. With the heart gone, a darkness starts to overwhelm Earth. Years later on another island, 16 year old Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is set to become the new chief of her people. The island her people and her live on starts to slowly die, so Moana sets out on a quest to find Maui and give Te Fiti her heart back.
The animation is Moana is consistently exquisite and breathtaking, and the musical numbers are beautiful. Lin-Manuel Miranda helped to write some of the songs for the film, and it shows. It's very easy to tell which songs are written by him. You can hear his voice in them, and they are the best songs in the film (my personal favorite is Maui's 'You're Welcome'). Moana is a film about remembering where you come from and using that knowledge to help guide you on your way, thusly it's a film that feels like it was made for Lin-Manuel Miranda (I also had some flashbacks to his first musical 'In The Heights' while watching Moana). Having him assist easily helps to elevate the proceedings.
Speaking of things that help to elevate the film overall, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is absolutely perfect as Maui. Maui is an egotistical, bad-ass jerk who hides a heart of gold under his tough, tattooed exterior. I'd compare him to Aladdin's Genie. He's a very memorable character that becomes yet another icon in the lexicon of Disney's animated films. It's becoming more and more apparent that there is nothing The Rock can't do. Auli'i Cravalho (pronounce Ow-Lee-E Craw-Vah-Lee-Oh) is also great and memorable as the resilient and fiercely independent Moana. Auli'i fills the character with a genuine warmth and heart that resonates throughout the film, and she is quite a talanted singer (She has a beautiful voice). Moana easily takes her rightful place among Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna as yet another strong female role model for little girls. Little girls deserve great female role models, and Disney keeps on churning them out. Another memorable character is Heihei, a dimwitted rooster who inadvertently tags along with Moana on her adventure. He's voiced by Alan Tudyk, who makes rooster noises for the duration of the film. This is a cute character that almost didn't make it into the finished product. Honestly, I'm glad to have him here. He doesn't add much to the proceedings but he's certainly cute enough to be easily remembered.
Moana was a film that, surprisingly, gave me a lot of feels and chills throughout (I even teared up during a small scene). It's definitely more of an emotional film than Frozen, and the message here is certainly much stronger too. I will say that I liked it better than Frozen. Moana is a touching, heartfelt, sweet film that is another welcome addition to what may be later referred to as Disney's third golden age. It's beginning to seem like a good time to be a Disney fan.
4 STARS
Yes, I did see Moana in 3D but found it didn't add all that much to the experience. The added depth is very nice and appreciated, but other recent 3D films *cough Fantastic Beasts cough* impressed more.
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