Review:
"Moana"
Release Date: July 10, 2026 Rating: PG Running Time: 115 minutes It’s Maui time—again. For some inexplicable reason, Disney has turned Moana, one of its biggest animated hits of the past decade, into a very expensive live-action adventure and has brought back its lead voice actor Dwayne Johnson for good measure. As with its animated predecessor, which was seeped in Polynesian mythology, this Moana finds Johnson portraying Maui, a capricious demigod recruited by the titular young chieftain-in-waiting to help her free her tribe’s old island home of a volcanic demon. Of course, the Mouse House would not remake its beloved 2016 classic so soon unless it thought it would make enough money to fill the South Pacific Ocean. There’s no denying Moana’s popularity—it’s a Disney+ favorite, and its 2024 sequel is one of the studio’s high-grossing animated blockbusters (not bad considering it was retooled from a Disney+ miniseries). But not enough time has passed between the first animated Moana and this live-action retread to warrant the latter’s existence. The animated original remains fresh on our minds given it is only 10 years old and has not aged, and Moana 2 only hit theaters 18 months ago to much excitement. Moana 2 begs the question: If Disney believes that Moana has franchise potential, why not continue as an animated endeavor for the foreseeable future and then reboot it as a live-action film in a decade or two? Perhaps it has to do with making a live-action version before Dwayne Johnson ages out of the role. In all fairness to Disney, this live-action foray was announced before Moana 2, and it was pushed back a year from last summer to create some space between the two films. But 18 months between films is still not enough time to make us forget Moana 2–or Moana, for that matter—and this live-action attempt to expand the franchise suffers not just due to recency bias but from failing to find its own way. Credit Disney for going out of its way to find a director with a background in musicals. The Tony Award-winning Thomas Karl directed the stage productions of In the Heights and Hamilton for Lin-Manuel Miranda--Moana franchise’s song composer and a producer of this version—as well as the 2020 filmed production of Hamilton, the 2019 FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon, and the 2016 Fox production of Grease Live! Credentials established. The problem lies not with Karl’s direction, which is zippy and sassy enough for young kids weaned on the original Moana and sincere and forthright when necessary for adults desiring more than kooky animals and demigod antics. All issues stem from the script credited to Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux, the latter of whom wrote the original Moana while both contributed to Moana 2. Unfortunately, their slavish devotion to the original Moana results in a live-action undertaking that looks like Moana, feels like Moana, retains everything audiences love about Moana, but plays like nothing more than a very glossary, very expensive reproduction with none of Moana’s heart, soul, and magic. If there are any tweaks, they are hard to spot. And, for some unfathomable reason, the only new song contributed by Lin-Manuel Miranda—“Along the Way" by Dwayne Johnson, the new Moana Catherine Laga'aia, and Moana voice actor Auli'i Cravalho—is placed over the end credits. What’s the point of Miranda writing a new song and not using for a centerpiece musical number to shake things up? Also, take the actors out of this Moana and what’s left is just is mostly charmless computer-generated animals, sea beasties, monsters, and background scenery. For example, Moana’s pet rooster Heihei looks so creepy that you long for a shark to devour it in one bite. Also, the giant coconut crab Tamatoa—again voiced by Jermaine Clement—looks cartoon-ishly rendered and devoid of the colorful personality his animated version possessed. What’s the point of making a live-action version of an animated film if you are going too lean so heavily on CGI? So what does this Moana have going for it? Newcomer Catherine Laga'aia makes for a spunky and headstrong Moana. She takes an establish (voice) role and makes it her own with smarts and confidence. On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson’s live-action Maui is no match for his animated Maui. Johnson’s delightfully sly and blustery as the voice of Maui. For this Moana, Johnson is self-consciously theatrical as a flesh-and-blood Maui. His long black wig is a distraction. His tattooed prosthetic suit, designed to match the physique of his squat but equally muscular animated alter-ego, is an uncomfortable sight to behold. If the purpose of this Moana is to give young kids any option between watching Johnson in animated form or Johnson artificially bulked up, kids are going to stream the former each and every time. Had Disney elected to shake things up a bit with this new Moana—as writer/director David Lowery did with his 2016 Pete’s Dragon remake—then this live-action offering could almost justify its existence. But this Moana offers nothing new that will draw kids away from the 2016 original. So best to look past this live-action misfire and wait until the early 2030s for the inevitable Moana 3. Aired: July 8, 2026. Web site: https://movies.disney.com/moana-2026 |
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