Moana

Moana is a movie I felt destined to like. Here's a brand new Disney musical, in the midst of their latest revolution, with a Polynesian princess, voiced by an actress of with similar heritage, featuring songs by Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda and a character voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. That's a smoothie of things I love that I never asked for but still got. Regardless, the question is whether or not the disparate parts make for an entertaining and engaging movie.

The movie follows the titular daughter of a local chief. Despite a free spirit and natural connection to the water, Moana is discouraged from exploring or leaving her island's reef by her cautious father. However, when an apparent plague begins to kill the fish and plants, Moana seeks to revive the island goddess Te Fiti by seeking out the demigod Maui and returning the goddess' missing heart to its rightful place.

I loved Moana for all of the reasons I thought I would starting with the characterization of our lead. Though a lot of attention has been payed to the Disney "princess' that save themselves" angle, Moana takes this idea to another level. The guiding forces that push Moana toward her adventure? Female. The person that consistently saves the day? Moana herself. I literally can't think of an instance where the primary objective isn't completed by Moana. Her parents are even alive! There's a small element of tragedy that gives her the final push, but you get the impression that Moana was going to head out to save the day regardless. There's also no conflict in her community about her being the leader in training. It's quite refreshing.

The rest of movie's appeals come down to reliable Disney production values. The voice cast is phenomenal with new comer Auli'i Cravalho leading the charge as Moana. The Rock gets to stretch his acting muscles a bit by playing the energetic and moody Maui and even great character stand-bys like Jemaine Clement nail their bit parts.

Likewise, this is some impressive CGI animation on display. The thing that consistently impresses me is less the character design (that's typically kept less realistic and more cartoon-like) but the textures for water, hair, lava, or even plants.

Song-wise I have no other way to describe this other than it sounds like Lin Manuel Miranda's work. The funny song by The Rock is notably catchy as is Moana's ballad, though it may lack the typical Broadway bombast of Frozen's "Let It Go."

The film's humor is arguably a bit reliant on physical comedy (granted the use of the chicken Heihei was a complete clone of Becky from Finding Dory and I did not care because I was laughing so hard), but it knows which emotionally strings to pluck at the right moment.

By the same token I also understand why some audiences weren't blown away by it. There's elements of Disney's best work in here including Pocahontas, The Lion King, and the aforementioned Frozen, so much so that the movie even teases the formula mid-film (i.e. Moana says she's not a princess and people indicate they're about to sing before they burst into song). I'm also certain other folks won't find the songs as memorable as Frozen as well.

Regardless, in terms of characterization and representation Moana is an easy movie to recommend and celebrate. Check it out.