By Josh Bate
Disney’s live-action remakes of animated classics have been anything but consistent. This century has seen the likes of Christopher Robin, Pete’s Dragon, and The Jungle Book breathe exciting, creative new life into established stories but has also seen the likes of The Lion King, Maleficient: Mistress of Evil, and Lady and the Tramp lifelessly recreate tales near and dear to the hearts of many.
Inevitably, the mammoth success that was Moana was next on the chopping block for Disney, culminating in this summer’s release of a live-action remake that doesn’t hit the heights of some of the best titles from the studio in recent years, but still does enough to pull the heartstrings.
Mirroring the story of the 2016 animated film, Moana follows a curious Polynesian teenager (Catherine Laga’aia) living on the island of Motunui under the leadership of her father and village chief Tui (John Tui) and her mother Sina (Frankie Adams). When she is chosen by the ocean to save her island from a curse, Moana embarks on a daring quest across the Pacific Ocean, where she must find the shapeshifting demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and convince him to help her return the stolen heart of the goddess Te Fiti.
The biggest question audiences have had going into a live-action reimagining of Moana, and of almost all the Disney live-action remakes that the Mouse has commissioned thus far, is whether or not they justify their existence. After all, the story of Moana was brilliantly told in an original film that released 10 years ago and generated a sequel just two years, which begs the question – do we really need this movie?
The answer to that question is complicated, as the new film does little to distinguish itself from its source material. The likes of Cruella, Maleficent, Mulan, and Christopher Robin all put novel spins on the animated classics they were based on, although diverging too far from the source material always threatens that die hard fans may come away disappointment. In Moana, all the major plot beats are the retained, as are the characters, which does make director Thomas Kail’s film feel repetitive, especially in its first act.
Notably, this new take on Moana avoids a core fault that hinders many live-action Disney remakes – it is not boring. So many of these remakes fall into a category of films that, while generally well made from a technical standpoint, do little to excite audiences. Jon Favreau’s The Lion King, for example, tells the same exact story as the original but in a much less compelling and emotionally stirring manner. Moana stands tall against The Lion King and a number of other Disney remakes by never falling into a lull, even to those intimately familiar with the original film.
In part, Moana avoids devolving into tedium by largely replicating the emotional pull of the 2016 film. The remake, while not quite as successful as the original in that regard, manages to earn emotional investment in the story and characters. It may not be the tearjerker that Lilo & Stitch was, but it is also a far cry from the flat and uninspired take on Snow White from last year.
Driving much of the film’s emotion is Catherine Laga’aia, who, in her debut role, stays true to Moana from animation while bringing a unique humanity and personality to the character. Dwayne Johnson, meanwhile, mirrors much of his work in animation and delivers a performance that just about makes it easy to overlook and not relentlessly laugh at his ridiculous wig.
Yet, Moana stumbles in several areas. The first act feels choppy, going from song to song without sufficient downtime, while the film more generally overuses green screen and CGI. The visuals are not nearly as poor as some have claimed (one social media user compared the trailers to a TV commercial), but off-putting backgrounds and occasional lapses in the quality of the visual effects shatter the suspension of disbelief at times.
VERDICT: 6/10
Disney’s live-action Moana does little to justify its existence given its proximity to the animated films and its rigid retention of the story, characters, and major plot beats of the 2016 animated classic. Yet, unlike many Disney remakes of animated classics, director Thomas Kail’s film avoids devolving into tedium, replicating much of the original’s emotional pull and earning genuine investment in its story and characters, even if it never reaches the same heights. Catherine Laga’aia brings a unique humanity and personality to Moana, while Dwayne Johnson comfortably reprises his role as Maui. The movie may not be the tearjerker that other Disney remakes have been and an overreliance on inconsistent green screen and CGI occasionally shatters he suspension of disbelief, but Moana largely makes up for its lack of creativity relative to other, more ambitious Disney live-action remakes by delivering a warm and engaging adventure that stands above many of the studio’s more lifeless reimaginings.