The turning of the tide
(This
review contains minor spoilers!)
If there’s two things I love, its
Disney animation and Polynesian culture. I don’t know why or where it came
from, but I’ve always had a fascination for the mythology and gods of Polynesia
and Hawaii over their more famous Greek and Egyptian counterparts. I’ve always
felt that the mythos would go hand in hand with Disney’s storytelling prowess.
I was right.
Moana is, without a doubt, the best
Disney movie in years, and that’s saying something considering their recent
catalogue (Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia). If there was one word I
could use to describe the entire experience, it would be “spellbinding”. Disney
veterans John Musker and Ron Clements (they also directed Little Mermaid,
Aladdin, and Hercules among others) have crafted a fully realized world, filled
to the brim with memorable characters, fantastic songs, and gorgeous visuals.
Speaking of the visuals, let’s talk
about those first and foremost. I say without any exaggeration that Moana is
the most beautiful piece of CGI animation I’ve ever seen. Having visited places
like Bahamas myself, the filmmakers have perfectly captured the ocean perfectly
in the animation, right down to the correct hue of the colour. The rest of the
island world is rendered in incredible detail, from the trees and jungles of Moana’s
home to the boiling hot magma home of villain Te Ka. Similarly to Doctor
Strange from earlier this month, this is a movie that needs to be seen in theatres to fully appreciate just how beautiful
it is.
The rest of the movie lives up to its
gorgeous visuals, with a stellar and original story, fantastic characters, and
songs that I’m sure will become instant Disney classics.
The tale of Moana begins Moana herself,
a girl who literally befriends the ocean. Years later, as she is training to become
the chief of her tribe, the ocean calls to her with a mission to locate the
demigod Maui and use a magical stone to stop the islands from growing
corrupted. While it does have its tropey moments, the story overall is
enthralling and wonderful, being both very funny and very heartfelt.
This is very much thanks to the
fantastic characters and cast. Moana is played by newcomer Auli’I Cravalho, but
you’d never be able to tell this was her first major role. I kid you not when I
say she gives most, if not all, the previous Disney princesses a run for their
money. And yes, that includes Frozen’s Elsa. She’s goofy and quirky, but never
becomes annoying. She has a lot of serious moments, but never feels stone cold.
Her struggles of deciding whether to follow what her father wants and become chieftain
or risk her life to protect the ocean are extremely relatable, and you find
yourself rooting for her within the first 15 minutes of movie.
The other characters don’t quite reach
Moana’s heights, but each are welcome additions to the Disney pantheon. Dwayne
Johnson’s Maui is a lot of fun, and while he falls mostly into “big strong guy
who’s full of himself but has a heart of gold” route, Johnson puts all of his
charm and fun into the voice, and you wind up endeared to him. Alan Tudyk’s
role as idiotic rooster Heihei doesn’t give him much in the way of dialogue
(his ability to cluck in many different ways is remarkable), but the poultry immediately
joins the ranks of loveable Disney animal sidekicks by stealing the show
whenever he’s onscreen. Prior to release, the directors called Heihei “the
dumbest character in the history of Disney animation”, and I feel they fulfilled
on that.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Disney
musical without some great songs that will inevitably be played in car radios
for the next year, and Moana doesn’t disappoint either. Written by Hamilton’s
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the songs for the most part give Frozen’s legendary tunes a
run for their money. The main theme, Moana’s solo “How Far I’ll Go” is very Let
it Go-ish, a ballad of empowerment about the ocean and sailing. That’s not to
say it’s a direct rip-off of Frozen’s signature song, but rather an improvement
on the foundation Let it Go set. There’s also lots of songs sung in both Polynesian
and English languages, fitting the atmosphere perfectly. My personal favourite,
however, would have to be Maui’s song, “You’re Welcome”. A bouncy and joyful
song, it definitely resembles the excellent Disney sidekick songs of the past,
but Johnson is able to give it his own flair that allows it to stand on its
own. The backing music is also fantastic, with lots of heavy percussion to
really give it that Hawaiian feel. The one problem with the songs comes in the
form of the villain song, as sung by a giant crab with the voice of Jemaine
Clement. It’s very different from previous Disney villain songs, to say the
least, feeling more like a hip-hop tune than something like Be Prepared or
Mother Knows Best. Now that’s all fine and dandy, but it feels extremely out of place in Moana’s tribal
island environment. It honestly broke my immersion, but it thankfully is over
fairly quickly. It’s not a bad song, per se, just one that’s incredibly out of
place.
But in all honesty, one bad song isn’t
going to stop Moana from being a masterpiece of animation and storytelling. In
a year that’s already had one good Disney movie and one good Pixar movie, it
just feels like they’re spoiling us at this point. Moana is beautiful,
heartfelt, funny, sad, empowering, and just plain incredible. I’d highly
recommend checking this one out, because it’s Disney at their absolute best.
You’ll thank me later. And when you do, I’ll say you’re welcome.
FINAL SCORE
10/10
Legendary
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