Moana

After seeing this film, visiting any and all islands in the Polynesian Triangle has moved to top priority status on my bucket list. And they say movies nowadays teach people nothing.

Like most Disney films since the dawn of time, Moana follows a simple story structure that by this point, we know all too well: a main character knows they’re destined for something more, but their current living situation prevents their destiny from unraveling the way it should until either something terrible happens that boots them out the door, or they decide to disobey orders and do as they damn well please. Moana manages to group both storylines into one coherent adventure, pitting the titular character against insurmountable odds in order to save her people from the death and decay of a lava demon named Te Ka by returning the “heart” of a goddess named Te Fiti to its rightful place at the center of a faraway island. Te Fiti, in turn, is meant to restore beauty and life to the many islands dotting the sea (Moana’s in particular), but as with all Disney films, it’s never that easy. Thousands of years ago in a futile attempt to steal the heart, a shape shifting, magical fishhook toting demigod going by the name of Maui (Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock for the uninitiated), lost the heart to the crushing depths of the ocean, and now with Te Ka’s deadly influence spreading across the sea at an alarming rate, it’s up to Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) to find Maui, enlist him in her quest to bring the heart back to Te Fiti, restore her home to the way it is meant to be, and claim her birthright as the next chief of her island community. All in a day’s work for the newest addition to Disney’s pantheon of “princesses” apparently.

Right off the bat, Moana doesn’t waste time letting you know what her character arc is all about: finding yourself through hardship and adventure in order to come out the other side a better and more true version of yourself. It’s a simple mantra Disney has mined successfully for years, and one that doesn’t let the film down in the slightest. For anyone who enjoyed Tangled or Frozen, Moana is much more in line with those films in a structural and character arc sense than say, a Big Hero 6, or more recently, Zootopia, both of which seemed to dwell more on “adult” issues through the guise of a family film rather than mix themselves up with the oft used fairytale-esque angle Moana follows. Unlike those two films, Moana strives for a more kid-friendly approach as it deftly mixes a light-hearted adventure story with a more traditional Disney song-along (coining that phrase by the way) type of film.

At first everything seems to play out in a relatively safe manner, the script relying heavily on setting up the film in a way that doesn’t scream innovation or originality, but about a half hour into the proceedings – essentially at the point when Moana finally embarks on her quest – things start to uptick in quality considerably. Maybe it’s the change of scenery from her beautiful island to an even more beautifully rendered ocean setting that made everything start to click with me, or maybe it was the constant use of the vibrant and lush color palette that stood out the most, but whatever it was, there’s only one word that can describe this film in a visual sense: stunning. I don’t know how these animators do it, but this is about as photo-realistic an animated film can get without going too far into the realism department and losing its cartoonish charm. From the absolutely dazzling island and oceanic backdrops, to the minute attention to detail inherent in every shot, to the simply gorgeous lighting prominent throughout every scene, this film excels from a technological standpoint that I don’t even know if Pixar could top. There’s so much to look at in this film that I found myself distracted (in a good way) as my eyes darted around every frame to take in all of the beauty the filmmakers were setting up before me. Whether it be the great use of color or the subtle ways the animation itself made a scene that much more fun to watch, everything about this film’s look is on point, and has most definitely set a new bench mark for not only Disney, but for the animation genre as a whole.

As for the casting, newcomer Auli’i Cravalho is pitch perfect in the titular role to a point that I was seriously amazed that an unknown actor could pull off all of the emotion, charm, and wit that a Disney character of this caliber needs in order to be a successful character – and more importantly to the corporate overlords – a popular one. The addition of Dwayne Johnson to the cast seems like a no brainer at this point considering his natural charisma and screen presence is always the best part of whatever film he may be in, and this film doesn’t disappoint. While I did enjoy the performance Johnson manages to pull off here, I wasn’t as wowed by the general feel and presentation of his character. Don’t get me wrong, there’s more to Maui than meets the eye, but the script often takes the easy way out with his character in the form of low hanging and barely chuckle worthy jokes, and a sort of douchey quality that is apparently only reserved for vain demigods. None of this really hurts the character considering it all sort of makes sense when you figure out his back-story then pair it up his eventual actions that help Moana save the day, but I never truly believed that he changed as a character from the second we see him until the second we leave him. Again, none of this is on Johnson, he’s a blast to watch in the role, but it seems, in a scripted sense, like his character is the same general dude, just with a soft spot for Moana and a sorta vague appreciation for humanity as a whole. This is kind of a nitpick, but I was expecting The Rock to steal every scene he was in when in reality he was more hit or miss throughout; the misses still fortunately being fun enough to carry his character through till the end.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the original songs performed throughout the film, and while there may not be any breakout success stories a la Frozen’s “Let It Go”, “How Far I’ll Go” easily takes the cake as one of the only serious contenders in the entire movie that might be able to go toe-to-toe with Frozen’s breakout tune. The other songs, while perfectly fine in their own right and in the context of the story being told, did little to keep them in the forefront of my mind and truly stand out as a “classic” Disney tune. I’d liken the songs to the ones in Tangled: there’s nothing wrong with them, but you’d be hard pressed to find more than one standout that you’ll be humming on your way out of the theater.

While not quite as good as I hoped it would be, Moana is still able to successfully continue Disney Animation’s upward trend of producing stellar films that rival Pixar in ambition, visual beauty, character work and emotional consequence. It’s not often that a film can tie all these elements into one cohesive package, but for the most part, Moana pulls it off by combining tried and true “Disney” storytelling and execution mixed with some wildly entertaining and interesting ideas stemming from Polynesian mythology and culture. If you need a great family-friendly adventure to pass the time, look no further than this film.

Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go listen to “How Far I’ll Go” on repeat.