Disney's recent releases (say from 2009 onwards) have seen the studio
reach soaring heights reminiscent of what many regard to be their renaissance
in the 1990s. With that accomplishment, expectations of every new release are
consistently high. Most often in recent years these expectations have been met,
with movies such as Zootopia (2016)
and Big Hero 6 (2014) presenting us
with narratives and characters of surprising complexity. Naturally, this also
has its downsides, as any film that fails to meet the qualities of its
predecessor(s) risks being labelled as substandard. And that, I'm afraid, is
the case with Moana.
Directed by lead Disney directors Ron Clements and John Musker, the film tells the story of Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), the daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe, who is chosen by the ocean to find Maui (Dwayne Johnson), a demigod responsible for the loss of the heart of Te Fiti, a precious stone belonging to an island goddess. Moana’s father prevents her from leaving the reef, but upon realising that Maui’s actions have cursed the island, and that her ancestors were voyagers, Moana sets out to find Maui and retrieve the heart. Its plot maintains your attention throughout, but it unfortunately feels incredibly derivative – which is particularly noticeable after the refreshingly original Zootopia.
Don't get me wrong, Moana is tremendously accomplished. It's one of the most vibrant, lively and visually arresting animated movies I've ever seen. But beyond that, there's little that's memorable about it besides the surreal - which is not a good thing. There's one particular sequence I have in mind which features a giant crustacean performing a song titled 'Shiny'. It's not an especially poor song - it's just plain weird, and bears little meaning to the overall plot. Otherwise, there's nothing really wrong with the story- at least it wraps up nicely and cohesively, which is more than can be said for Frozen (yes, I still hate this movie, and I still don't care how disgustingly unpopular this makes me), but it is a tad, dare I say it, bland. Maui and Moana form a kind of ‘buddy comedy’ double act – one we’ve seen too many times before. And that’s the issue - Moana doesn't really achieve anything *new*. Even several of the ideas used throughout are noticeable rehashes of pretty common Disney tropes – Maui’s ability to shapeshift bears a vague resemblance to the climactic scenes from The Emperor’s New Groove (2001), while the grandmother's reincarnation as a stingray reeks of Brother Bear (2003). Even so, despite the distinct lack of innovation, the film remains supremely enjoyable, marred only by a few setbacks and personal grievances I have with a number of their recent flicks.
To begin with, there's something about the writing that really bothers me about recent Disney films. The dialogue is 'modernised', littered with fast-paced colloquialisms and jarringly ineffective puns regularly being hurled back and forth – put simply, they're just not funny, and it’s very incongruous and distracting. Okay, so Moana is hardly the worst culprit for this, but it's still apparent, and it's no less, like, totally jarring. With movies such as Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia, this style works, or is at the very least bearable because of the setting, but it simply has no place in a film like this. There were several dialogues and gags that stuck in my mind for being completely unfunny and unnecessary- to the point where it actually distracted me from the narrative. The character designs, too, actually disappoint me. I hate to say that, I really do - especially because the animation quality itself is sublime, but the designs, facially and, to some extent, proportionally are noticeably similar to previous films Tangled and Frozen. Call me old-fashioned, but back in the days of traditional animation, one film was always easily distinguishable from another in style and tone. Computer animated Disney seems to have a distinctly recognisable, ‘soft’ look, accompanied by an ill-placed fast-paced humour, with which I’m not entirely comfortable.
Directed by lead Disney directors Ron Clements and John Musker, the film tells the story of Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), the daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe, who is chosen by the ocean to find Maui (Dwayne Johnson), a demigod responsible for the loss of the heart of Te Fiti, a precious stone belonging to an island goddess. Moana’s father prevents her from leaving the reef, but upon realising that Maui’s actions have cursed the island, and that her ancestors were voyagers, Moana sets out to find Maui and retrieve the heart. Its plot maintains your attention throughout, but it unfortunately feels incredibly derivative – which is particularly noticeable after the refreshingly original Zootopia.
Don't get me wrong, Moana is tremendously accomplished. It's one of the most vibrant, lively and visually arresting animated movies I've ever seen. But beyond that, there's little that's memorable about it besides the surreal - which is not a good thing. There's one particular sequence I have in mind which features a giant crustacean performing a song titled 'Shiny'. It's not an especially poor song - it's just plain weird, and bears little meaning to the overall plot. Otherwise, there's nothing really wrong with the story- at least it wraps up nicely and cohesively, which is more than can be said for Frozen (yes, I still hate this movie, and I still don't care how disgustingly unpopular this makes me), but it is a tad, dare I say it, bland. Maui and Moana form a kind of ‘buddy comedy’ double act – one we’ve seen too many times before. And that’s the issue - Moana doesn't really achieve anything *new*. Even several of the ideas used throughout are noticeable rehashes of pretty common Disney tropes – Maui’s ability to shapeshift bears a vague resemblance to the climactic scenes from The Emperor’s New Groove (2001), while the grandmother's reincarnation as a stingray reeks of Brother Bear (2003). Even so, despite the distinct lack of innovation, the film remains supremely enjoyable, marred only by a few setbacks and personal grievances I have with a number of their recent flicks.
To begin with, there's something about the writing that really bothers me about recent Disney films. The dialogue is 'modernised', littered with fast-paced colloquialisms and jarringly ineffective puns regularly being hurled back and forth – put simply, they're just not funny, and it’s very incongruous and distracting. Okay, so Moana is hardly the worst culprit for this, but it's still apparent, and it's no less, like, totally jarring. With movies such as Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia, this style works, or is at the very least bearable because of the setting, but it simply has no place in a film like this. There were several dialogues and gags that stuck in my mind for being completely unfunny and unnecessary- to the point where it actually distracted me from the narrative. The character designs, too, actually disappoint me. I hate to say that, I really do - especially because the animation quality itself is sublime, but the designs, facially and, to some extent, proportionally are noticeably similar to previous films Tangled and Frozen. Call me old-fashioned, but back in the days of traditional animation, one film was always easily distinguishable from another in style and tone. Computer animated Disney seems to have a distinctly recognisable, ‘soft’ look, accompanied by an ill-placed fast-paced humour, with which I’m not entirely comfortable.
Speaking of traditional animation, however, one of the film's most innovative
aspects is Maui's hand-animated tattoos, courtesy of Eric Goldberg, which frankly
don't get enough screen time. It's both refreshing and somewhat bittersweet to
see the format with which Disney animation was once synonymous relegated to a
mere running gag - however you perceive it, it's well done and very charming,
and provides some of the film's funniest moments. At times, Moana simply tries too hard to be funny,
and instead it is conveyed as awkward filler. There are also some moments that
would have been better played straight as opposed to being played for comedic
effect, such as the intervention of the ocean. But this isn't a major
complaint- it's more of a personal preference.
As for the soundtrack, it's decent, although the songs, besides perhaps one (‘How
Far I’ll Go’), aren't remotely memorable, and instead, too, feel like
unnecessary filler material. ‘You’re Welcome’ and ‘Shiny’ are enjoyable, but
lack the catchy hooks Disney are traditionally known for. In fact, this is a
problem I’ve noticed in several of their newer flicks, from Tangled onwards. Generally, the songs
just don’t seem to be as catchy and melodic as they used to be, and instead
sound as though the characters are telling us the events of the narrative in a
sing-song voice, which is really just lazy exposition and character
development.
It’s hard to pool all my thoughts about this movie into such a short
piece. Overall, the movie is enjoyable. Despite my criticisms, this is a very
likeable film. Does it meet the standards of Disney’s other recent releases?
Well, for the most part, no. The characters just aren’t as well-rounded; the
friendship between Maui and Moana falls flat, and the forced humour and
meaningless songs don’t help either. Throw in a heap of other Disney tropes and
clichés, and that’s pretty much all Moana is – it’s essentially Disney by the
numbers. From a critical perspective, this movie is far from the best, but if
you’re looking for a decent family film to kill a few hours, Moana has very little to moan about.
