Moana: A Review

 

MOANA

Polynesian myths and legends come to life in Moana, an original tale with South Seas origins. With pleasant songs, some wonderful animation, good voice work and a plucky heroine, Moana is quite a delightful romp. 

Long ago, the goddess Te Fiti brought life to the world. Things were going well until Maui, the demigod of wind and sea, stole Te Fiti's heart. With that, the mother goddess faded and in came Te Ka, demon of earth and fire. In the ensuing battle, the shapeshifting Maui lost both the heart and his magical hook, with all disappearing from history.

Now on the island of Motunui, the chief's daughter Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) has a wanderlust to go beyond the reef. This is firmly opposed by her father, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison) but quietly encouraged by her beloved Gramma (Rachel House).  Moana has a special connection to the ocean since childhood, which her grandmother knows of. Gramma also has Te Fiti's heart, which she urges Moana to take. 

Motunui soon begins to suffer decay due to Te Fiti's long absence. Before she goes to the spirit world, Gramma urges her granddaughter to see How Far I'll Go. With that, our heiress presumptive sets sail to fulfill her mission. Her task is simple: find Maui and make him return Te Fiti's heart back to the goddess. How hard could that be, especially with her oddball pet rooster Heihei with her?

Obviously, it is not easy, as Maui (Dwayne Johnson) is arrogant and egocentric. He has no desire to help Moana and is interested only in finding his magic hook. Unfortunately, he has no choice and cannot get rid of this girl. With that, first they must find the hook and then go to Te Fiti's island. It will not be without dangers, but also not without encouragement from the spirit of Gramma. With our demigod and princess finding strength they never knew that they had, they face off against Te Ka to save their Polynesian world. 

At a little over an hour and a half, Moana never wears out its welcome, though I would argue that it might actually have been shorter. I say this because I found one or two sections in the journey that seemed to stretch things. Granted, I found the attacking coconuts as cute as Moana initially did and part of me would probably keep them. 

The section where Moana and Maui must find his hook, however, seems a bit longer than I think it should be. It does not help that the villain here, the giant crab Tamatoa (Jemaine Clements) seemed almost as filler for the film.

Add to that how Tamatoa's song, Shiny, is probably the worst number in Moana. I still struggle with Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrics in Shiny: "Maui, now it's time to kick you in the heinei, ever seen someone so shiny?". I cannot imagine how someone thought rhyming "heinei" (as in "buttocks") with "shiny" was anywhere near good. 

That does lead me into another issue that popped up in my mind while watching Moana. There seems to be a bit too much adult humor in the film. At one point, Moana is attempting to learn about wayfinding from Maui, who teaches her that the warmer the water gets, the closer she is to her desired destination. She puts her hands in the water and comments that it is cold, then how it is suddenly getting warmer. It is quickly established, however, that Maui has helped raise the water's temperature in a way that, even as obliquely as Moana has it, seems a bit tawdry. 

Moana may also be at times too contemporary to be truly mythical. While cute, there is one child dancer clearly meant to echo a young Michael Jackson. In perhaps the worst moment of Jared Bush's screenplay (with story by seven writers), Maui decides to autograph Moana's oar, convinced that she is a fan who has come to meet him. He grabs Heihei to write out his symbols and remarks, "When you use a bird to write with, it's called tweeting". While Moana is only eight years at the time of this writing, this joke now makes it sound dated. 

One particularly off moment is when Moana finally finds Maui. While the cocky and uninhibited egocentricity of our demigod is amusing, I do not know if we needed Dwayne Johnson to belt out a song. There is nothing bad about You're Welcome, a nice and amusing song that reveals Maui's thorough self-aggrandizing worldview. I just wish that Johnson had been dubbed by a professional singer.  

Those seem hiccups and missteps in a film that overall I found myself enchanted by. Moana has some excellent animation sequences that are beautiful to look at. The scene where Gramma returns to encourage our heroine is a wonder to look at. It is also a deeply moving moment that did hit me on an emotional level.

The songs were on the whole good, Shiny notwithstanding. The standout was Moana's How Far I'll Go, the Oscar nominated number that is clearly inspired by big Broadway numbers. Where You Are, describing the world of Motunui, is also good. I could hear Lin-Manuel Miranda's voice coming through in We Know the Way, which speaks of the voyager ancestors. I guess he could not resist a chance to give himself a musical number despite not playing a character in the film. 

The characters are on the whole quite positive and enjoyable. Cravalho is a delight as Moana, a young girl whose love for her family and for wanderlust blends beautifully. She is strong and resourceful but not a Mary Sue. She is also at times unsure, unaware and even fearful. Moana stays within the familiar Disney themes of princess who forges her own path. Cravalho does a wonderful job in the role, making Moana a positive role model for girls while still being flawed in her hesitancy and fears.

Johnson makes Maui into a highly pleasant and comical character. Maui is outwardly arrogant but allows moments of vulnerability to come through. In some ways, Maui reminds me of Prometheus, who also went against the gods to help mankind. 

House's Gramma and Morrison's Chief Tui allow for moments of tenderness and strength from the characters. Their motivations are presented in a rational manner, born out of deep concern for their community and family. Children, I think, will find Heihei and the pet pig Pua delightful and nice comic relief, though I would have liked to have seen more of the latter.  

Moana is a strong family film, filled with some beautiful animation and a pleasant musical score. Moana herself may insist that she is not a princess, but Moana makes the case that she is, and one of Disney's stronger ones. 

DECISION: B-