Moana 2 (2024)
★★★ — Moana 2 (2024)
Moana 2 began life not as a theatrical feature but as a Disney+ streaming series, before being reworked and expanded into a full cinema release, which goes some way to explaining its episodic, loosely connected feel. Walt Disney Animation Studios put a reported $150 million behind it, and the gamble paid off handsomely, with the film crossing a billion dollars at the global box office and becoming one of the biggest animated releases of 2024. The three directors, David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, were all relative newcomers to the top chair, with Miller having co-written the original Moana (2016). Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson both return, picking up a story that the first film's enormous popularity had made a sequel to almost inevitable.
If you’re going to set sail again, you better have a good reason. Watched this with my 6 year old son, and to its credit, it kept his attention the whole way through, which is probably the biggest win any kids' movie can have. My 10 year old daughter (who loved the first one) didn't even sit all the way through it. The art style and animation? Stunning. The voice acting? On point. The story? Touching. But… something was missing. Maybe it’s just the impossible standard set by the first Moana, but this sequel doesn’t quite reach the same heights. The adventure is fun, but the songs didn’t hit as hard, and let’s be honest - leaving out "What Can I Say Except You're Welcome" was a bold (and questionable) choice. Still, for what it is? A solid, enjoyable watch. Just not quite the ocean-sweeping epic I was hoping for.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2024 | Watched: 2025-03-22
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK
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