Moana 2

 It's not even been a decade since Moana came out, and already, Disney is giving it a live-action remake. Come to think of it, by the time it comes out, it will have been a decade. But it's still too short to give it a remake.

In the meantime, we have an actual sequel, aptly named Moana 2. This was supposed to have been a Disney + series until the big mice promoted it to feature status. It's a fine sequel, but I don't think it's a new modern masterpiece. You can disagree once you read on.

This time, Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) learns about the lost island of Motufetu, the lost island that was once the center of the oceanic world. The evil god Nalo sunk it beneath a nasty tempest, and unless Moana can find it, her people will eventually face extinction. Moana sets sail with her pig and rooster, Pua and Heihei, along with a few villagers - Loto the shipwright (Rose Matafeo), Moni the historian (Hualālai Chung) and Kele the farmer (David Fane) - to find the island. Their quest gets slightly easier when they locate Maui (Dwayne Johnson), the demigod apt at pulling islands from the ocean.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Besides from Nalo, our heroes tangle with Matangi (Awihimi Fraser), a literally batty witch who keeps Maui tangled up. When Moana eventually reunites with Maui, he warns her that Matangi is bad news. When Moana finally meets Matangi, we find out that she's not so bad, but we're left expecting some kind of double-cross. Keep expecting that, because she flies off after her big musical number, Get Lost. She only shows up again in the mid-credits, which is where we finally see Nalo in-person, where he's voiced by comedian Tofiga Fepulea'i. I wonder if the feature promotion left some of her big scenes on the cutting room floor. 

The new human crewmates all embody a collective case of "remember the new guy?" syndrome. From the first number onward, they're set up like they've always been part of Moana's community, and not characters created for this movie/series. At least Moana's new sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), was born during the three-year gap between movies. These three are already there. They're all likable thanks to their amusing, if somewhat surface level, quirks. Kele's grumpiness made him the best of the new crewmates. Meanwhile, Simea, who doesn't join the voyage, has some of the best lines in the film.

Maui, meanwhile, has not only the absolute best lines in the film, but has the best number, Can I Get a Chee Hoo?, which is part of a pretty good training montage. Moana's new song, the rousing Beyond, isn't as instantly impactful as the first film's How Far I'll Go, but it's still pretty good. There's not much new of them, personality wise. For most of the film, Maui hangs around the stomach of a giant clam, while Moana joins him about halfway through. The late reunion eventually pays off when things get exceptionally dark during the climax. You'll need to see what I mean, but you can already guess things will turn all right. It's still powerful when the happy ending kicks in.

With Lin-Manuel Miranda off doing this month's Mufasa: The Lion King, the songwriting duties fell to Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical). All of the songs are decently entertaining, especially with the pattering in Can I Get a Chee Hoo? and What Could Be Better Than This? The songs are paired with a rousing score by returning composer Mark Mancina. The accompanying animation is still impressive, whether it's for the ocean itself, the insides of that giant clam or the storm around Motufetu. In fact, the animation and music collaborate the best when Maui finally raises Motufetu.

Don't expect a deep story if you go into Moana 2. It's just a family matinee movie, and it's certainly not the worst movie of its kind. It still has a few good songs, a good sense of humor, a great climax and a welcome presentation of Polynesian culture. It would have been slightly better if the villains had a lot more presence. Ironically, I'm slightly interested now in a Moana 3, just to see if they'll figure into the story a lot better. I'm more interested in that than the Moana remake, though maybe it might surprise me in a few years. Until then, I have to sail off to my next reviews.