Resulting in more of the same, minus the first movie's freshness. That sailed to the ancient island of Motifetu, accompanied by a crew of her fellow islanders. Of the countless directions that the filmmakers could have taken the oceanic tale, they chose instead to reproduce the original blueprint with only slight variations to the story.
There's similarly not much of a visual departure from what Moana accomplished with water effects and photorealistic vistas. There's still some worthy spectacle in Moana 2's most intense action sequences, particularly one with a group confronts a furious storm, but there's no formal risk taking as far as character design or the animation style.
At least the filmmakers were able to come up with one early standout segment. Very briefly dabbling in evocative dream-like imagery, while Moana has a bleak vision of things to come. Moana's adorable pet pig, Pooa, gets to join the journey this time around. The same goes for the white-eyed chicken, whose comic relief role has less impact.
Characters repeatedly ask themselves how far they'll go, and at one point Maui drops a tongue in cheek. Originally envisioned as a Disney plus series, Moana two bears the scars of a mangled conception. Its mixture of too many ideas and no clear vision is most evident in pseudo-villainess Matungi, whose introduction and swift dismissal squander an opportunity to provide Moana and crew with a memorable antagonist.
There's a suggestion that she has a history with Maui, and she gets a musical number that's in life and by the cookie bass who service her flying backup dancers, but just as suddenly as Matungi arrives, she vanishes. Moana two's inability to tell a brand new story with these characters and this setting speaks to a sickness plaguing Hollywood studios.
In a version, even disdain towards originality. Even if there are a few scenes that help Moana too float above an awful misfire like Frozen two, this sequel still doesn't hold much water. While the sequel gets some laughs, it doesn't make the world Moana introduced eight years ago feel richer or more exciting. The few aspects with potential to turn this into a memorable Odyssey, including an intriguing new character, are unfortunately stifled.