Coming this November to theaters, we get our first look at it today.
Moana 2
- Thread starter The Predaking
- Start date
Coming this November to theaters, we get our first look at it today.
wow! So new enemy and Maui is back of course! Little sister and aged parents. Curse island, and the tattooed boy and Pig are coming along with her this time. And I think the old man played by Alan Tudyk.
So this went on Disney+ last week, and we finally watched it this weekend.
Ehh.
Non-spoiler review. This feels more like half of a film than a complete story. The music in it a drastic step down from the original, and the most of the new characters are more annoying than helpful to the story. The relationship between the little sister and Moana are the highlight of the film.
Overall, I would give this film a 2 out of 5.
Ehh.
Non-spoiler review. This feels more like half of a film than a complete story. The music in it a drastic step down from the original, and the most of the new characters are more annoying than helpful to the story. The relationship between the little sister and Moana are the highlight of the film.
Overall, I would give this film a 2 out of 5.
I just saw it last weekend too. I generally agree here. It has always been strange to me to see the difference between a Disney movie and its straight-to-video sequel. What is it that makes it so much weaker? Weren't the same or similar people trying as hard? This one went to theaters only because they decided to put a straight-to-video sequel in theaters. But the new characters also made it kind of feel like a pilot for a Disney channel series.
If you didn't watch for a stinger, there was one. It is the setup for another movie.
My biggest gripe, I guess, needs to go in spoiler tags.
Moana becomes a demigoddess, okay. I thought the dynamic of the demigod with the brave mortal was a good one, but honestly they were always riding the line with the ocean helping her out all the time. That part is a minor bellyache, but my gripe is that her demigoddessness comes with a magic oar like Maui's hook and while I guess the indication is that it gives her the ability to know which direction to go, I don't feel like it was clearly nailed down. And it cuts away from the final scene of Moana where we see a Moana older than this that is now an expert explorer and we took it to be an extension of her courage and whatnot, but no it is pretty easy to be an expert explorer if you have a magic oar telling you where to go.
Saw this the day it came on D+ with the family. Not planned, just ended up watching it.
It VERY much felt like the pilot of a TV show. The structure was really weird. It doesn't have the format of a film story. The bat-lady gets no explanation and has no revealed reason for being there and doing stuff, and the "bad guy" isn't even in the film, but is introed in an after credits stinger that REALLY feels like "We are the villains and we'll get Moana and her friends each weekday at 3 o'clock on the Disney Afternoon."
Add in that Moana seems to become a demi-god but it's never actually explicitly said that's what happened, so you're sort of unsure/guessing. And yeah the songs are not bad but deeply lackluster and very quickly forgettable.
-ZacWilliam, we talked about it the rest of the night but we talked about how weird it was and how jumbled its whole deal was.
It VERY much felt like the pilot of a TV show. The structure was really weird. It doesn't have the format of a film story. The bat-lady gets no explanation and has no revealed reason for being there and doing stuff, and the "bad guy" isn't even in the film, but is introed in an after credits stinger that REALLY feels like "We are the villains and we'll get Moana and her friends each weekday at 3 o'clock on the Disney Afternoon."
Add in that Moana seems to become a demi-god but it's never actually explicitly said that's what happened, so you're sort of unsure/guessing. And yeah the songs are not bad but deeply lackluster and very quickly forgettable.
-ZacWilliam, we talked about it the rest of the night but we talked about how weird it was and how jumbled its whole deal was.
Just saw it on Disney Plus.
I liked it. I wasn't wild about the older guy not having an arc except learning to swim but builder girl was fine and fanboy could count as some sort of masculine admiration without going how it could go. They could have given those two more of a complete arc (builder girl having people trust her new ideas and fanboy could have gotten over his PSTD with help of Maui). Coconut is the best tho.
Ending wise, I loved that Moana reached demi got status and actual powers (she didn't command the oceans, right? It was just her friend?). But I thought it was at the cost of Maui losing his own status, like better than he lost his tattoos because he gave them to Moana. Or maybe the Maui tattoo gave up his life for her? Haha. I have no idea.
Yeah, seeing the human form of the storm god was weird. Would have liked more of the bat lady, who I don't think is really bad.
Would have I have traded the boat crew for the little sister joining instead? Honestly, I could SEE that movie. Heroine worship, some training, loss of faith, sacrifice, passing the torch. Yknow?
I liked it. I wasn't wild about the older guy not having an arc except learning to swim but builder girl was fine and fanboy could count as some sort of masculine admiration without going how it could go. They could have given those two more of a complete arc (builder girl having people trust her new ideas and fanboy could have gotten over his PSTD with help of Maui). Coconut is the best tho.
Ending wise, I loved that Moana reached demi got status and actual powers (she didn't command the oceans, right? It was just her friend?). But I thought it was at the cost of Maui losing his own status, like better than he lost his tattoos because he gave them to Moana. Or maybe the Maui tattoo gave up his life for her? Haha. I have no idea.
Yeah, seeing the human form of the storm god was weird. Would have liked more of the bat lady, who I don't think is really bad.
Would have I have traded the boat crew for the little sister joining instead? Honestly, I could SEE that movie. Heroine worship, some training, loss of faith, sacrifice, passing the torch. Yknow?
Word is that this started out in the planning stages as a series akin to Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, then got reorganized into a movie, and I can totally see it.
The Cassandra-like new sidekicks, the expanded worldbuilding, the "season 2" hook, it's all stuff that Tangled did brilliantly, and I'm only mad that the PoC princess didn't get the same chance to shine.
The Cassandra-like new sidekicks, the expanded worldbuilding, the "season 2" hook, it's all stuff that Tangled did brilliantly, and I'm only mad that the PoC princess didn't get the same chance to shine.
(Hijacking but is the Tangled series worth watching? I'm not wild about the animation choice but a really good story would make up for it, for me)
I have not watched it all, or even most of it. But the impression I had was that after the first season its continuing plot really took off. For a while it was extremely popular to share clips of on social media and seemed to have a big fandom. Like I think I may have only actually watched the first couple episodes but clips were shared enough that I feel like I've seen all the surprising plot twists and dramatic moments that made people love it when it got going.
So my answer is "I think it's really well written and worth watching" but that opinion comes second hand and from disconnected social media clips and posts.
-ZacWilliam, take that how you will
So my answer is "I think it's really well written and worth watching" but that opinion comes second hand and from disconnected social media clips and posts.
-ZacWilliam, take that how you will
I loved the Tangled series, it has that perfect balance of action and comedy, some excellent songs, and lots of big plot twists that make it nigh-impossible to talk about without spoiling.
(Thank you for the recommendation. Back to Moana-ing)
I think that this story could have been done better and if they put more effort into the songs, it really could have been a good film.
Change #1:
No more of this Moana dying/demigod ambiguity. It is foolish, poorly done, and doesn't have any change on this film or her character. So let's just get rid of it.
Change #2:
Maui doesn't lose his powers. It's pointless and only there to serve Moana dying/resurrecting angle that we have removed. Instead of that we get Maui coming up with the idea for her to touch the island under the water, and swims her there with "Shark head". That sounds more like a Maui idea anyways.
Change #3:
Storm god needs to be properly introduced in the opening. He also needs to be a constant threat to the party. Maybe have him sends storms to try to stop Moana from exploring or threatens her island. Make it a need for Moana to go and raise the island to stop him. If we are not seeing him, then they need to be talking about him and worried about him.
Change #4:
Remove bat lady. There is no need for her to be here. She doesn't even tell Moana what to do, just to sings a lame song that gives her an idea. We have switched that to Maui now, so we don't need her. She can show up at the end and be the traitorous henchmen in the sequel, but we don't need her here. Just have her show up and look cool at the end with all the other villains.
Change #5:
Fanboy doesn't freak out Maui, Maui loves being adored by people, so Fanboy should be the person he likes the most on the trip.
Change #6:
We need to bring back Lin Manuel Miranda and get some better music. The first film had some iconic songs. Where you are, How far I'll go, We know the way, You're welcome, Shiny, I am Moana, and Know who you are. All of it was great and memorable. The only thing memorable from this film was when she reprised her line in one single from this film, Beyond, "I am Moana!".
I understand that the music team that was working on the TV series was kept when they changed it into a sequel film, but they really should have got Lin Manuel Miranda back at that point. Moana is about its music as much as its story.
Change #1:
No more of this Moana dying/demigod ambiguity. It is foolish, poorly done, and doesn't have any change on this film or her character. So let's just get rid of it.
Change #2:
Maui doesn't lose his powers. It's pointless and only there to serve Moana dying/resurrecting angle that we have removed. Instead of that we get Maui coming up with the idea for her to touch the island under the water, and swims her there with "Shark head". That sounds more like a Maui idea anyways.
Change #3:
Storm god needs to be properly introduced in the opening. He also needs to be a constant threat to the party. Maybe have him sends storms to try to stop Moana from exploring or threatens her island. Make it a need for Moana to go and raise the island to stop him. If we are not seeing him, then they need to be talking about him and worried about him.
Change #4:
Remove bat lady. There is no need for her to be here. She doesn't even tell Moana what to do, just to sings a lame song that gives her an idea. We have switched that to Maui now, so we don't need her. She can show up at the end and be the traitorous henchmen in the sequel, but we don't need her here. Just have her show up and look cool at the end with all the other villains.
Change #5:
Fanboy doesn't freak out Maui, Maui loves being adored by people, so Fanboy should be the person he likes the most on the trip.
Change #6:
We need to bring back Lin Manuel Miranda and get some better music. The first film had some iconic songs. Where you are, How far I'll go, We know the way, You're welcome, Shiny, I am Moana, and Know who you are. All of it was great and memorable. The only thing memorable from this film was when she reprised her line in one single from this film, Beyond, "I am Moana!".
I understand that the music team that was working on the TV series was kept when they changed it into a sequel film, but they really should have got Lin Manuel Miranda back at that point. Moana is about its music as much as its story.
Yeah, he was writing the music for that, according to the wiki, when they went forward as a film, they stuck with the two ladies that they were using for the series. Miranda gave his blessing to their work, but its just not up to what we got in the first film.
I saw speculations with evidence (something about the eels becoming coconuts) that Moana is suppose to be a demi god in mythology to begin with.
I should clarify that. I don't want to make it sound like I am trashing their work and that they couldn't make an awesome soundtrack like the first one, but they really didn't try. I mean the whole first film is packed with music and this one only has a few songs in it, and they are a bit subpar compared to the first film's songs.