On an island in ancient Polynesia, Moana, the village chief’s daughter, longs to be out in the ocean, but her father forbids it. When an environmental catastrophe reaches the island, Moana embarks on an adventure to seek the help of the demigod Maui and save the island. Facing adversaries and impossible odds, will the duo save the island in time?
Short review:
Thought: I’ve been waiting for the movie to come out here in the Philippines! But, I have to wait for a few more days because of overtime at work and studies ate up my nights last week. I considered watching it a weekend, but since this is a Rated G (general patronage) movie, I might get distracted by unruly kids watching. So, Monday night it is.
This is not a typical Disney princess movie. Yes, Moana is the chief’s daughter and has animals as sidekicks, a Disney Princess, but aside from musical numbers, that’s it. The story is a hero’s journey complete with a chosen one (Moana, voiced by newcomer Auli’i Cravalho), a supernatural (the ocean), a mentor (Gramma Tala, voiced by Rachel House), and a helper (the demigod Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson).
A Disney movie is incomplete without the musical numbers. I like the songs by Moana (“How Far I’ll Go”), but I love the song of Maui (“You’re Welcome”) as performed by The Rock himself. He really can sing. The songs in Polynesian highlight the scenes and bring out the culture of the source material. I will add songs from the soundtrack to my Spotify playlist.
Overall, this is a good movie for all ages. I never got bored. The characters and characterizations are rich. The pacing of adventure and emotional scenes is balanced with comedic scenes to spice things up.
In short: Go watch it!
: https://promdigeek.blog/2016/12/06/movie-review-moana-2016/