Moana - Again

 Today, I get to review a remake of a film I’ve already reviewed!

I’m old.

Because Disney felt that it wasn’t enough for Moana to sail the CGI seas, they fast-tracked her a voyage across the CGI seas … in live-action form! Yeah, it’s kind of pointless this soon, which I already complained about, but it’s shockingly decent. Let’s see if I can explain why.

If you’ve seen the first film, then you’ve seen this one. All the songs, pretty much all the dialogue (with some additions here and there), and the twists are where they are. I’ll just link you my review from a decade ago; what can I say except you’re welcome?!

But seriously, the film doesn’t deviate exponentially from what Jared Bush and the numerous story writers charted out a decade ago. During its 115-minutes, eight minutes more than the 2016 original, its most original scene is a montage where demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson, in-person this time) re-accumulates with his magical fishhook. This gives space for a new song, Along the Way, by original songwriters Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foaʻi and Mark Mancina. I can at least say the music, new and old, all sounds great.

Catherine Laga’aia, who plays Moana herself, has particularly strong vocals for How Far I’ll Go, the first film’s Oscar-nominated “I Am” Song. She and Johnson are pretty good, even if their live characters are nowhere near as animated (ha ha) as their CGI counterparts. Grandma Tala (Rena Owen), on the other hand, is just as delightful as her animated counterpart. As with the first film, Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement, again reprising the role), the monster crab, provides a musical and action highlight with his song Shiny. For a photorealistic behemoth, he’s not as unnerving as Heihei the scatterbrained chicken.

Besides its movie bonus song, there’s also Production Designer John Myhre and Costume Designer Liz McGregor to consider. They visualize Moana’s home village of Motonui with a splendid attention to detail. It may not be as bright as its animated counterpart, but its own color palette’s still appealing. The wayfinding anthem, We Know the Way, and its finale reprise, do a splendid job obfuscating the differences between the practical and CGI canoes on-screen. The ocean is obviously CGI, but it’s still a stellar effect. The best effects, both sound and visual, belong to Te Ka the fire demon and her true identity, Te Fiti the creation goddess (statute of spoiler limitations is over).

As a remake, Moana’s story is more familiar than it was ten years ago. It could have used a bit more originality than that one scene for the new song. It wasn’t boring, and had fits of charm, so I can’t bring myself to hate it as much as others have. You can see it if you have nothing else to do; I mean, there is a dearth of family films between now and Paw Patrol next month. But if any possible Moana 2 textually adheres to its animated counterpart, I won't be amused. Just bemused.

Next up, a remake of a six-year-old Spanish film. Fun!