I’ve watched Moana 2 on the 30th November 2024. It was a stressful day, I didn’t really watch any trailers except one a month earlier, I didn’t have many expectations. Yet, when I finished watching, I was … disappointed. I literally wrote 4 pages on why I found it ‘awful’.
Okay – it wasn’t awful, I did like a lot of parts. But those parts apparently weren’t good enough for a good rating. I think I rated it 3 stars. Which isn’t that bad, but given that I rated Moana (the 1st movie) 5 stars, it definitely is worse.
However, due to my stress in December because of a major deadline, I didn’t have the time to write a proper review and go through all the notes. I let it sit for a while. Also, because of an earworm of one song, I listened to it again and then ended up listening to the whole soundtrack. In english, thai and german. (That says a lot cause I haven’t even listened to the whole Frozen soundtrack in one go. And Frozen is my favorite Disney movie.)
And then I was like … you know what, it’s actually not that bad. I’m rating it 4.25 stars now.

Let’s compare my thoughts …:
First time watching | After letting it rest |
---|---|
The songs were 50/50. Some feel too modern, too pop-like at times. | Yes, they do, but it’s actually not that different from the 1st movie. They did add instruments used in Maori culture and still have that “historic polynesian ocean culture” vibe to it. |
I don’t like the “can I get a chee-hoo?” song. It’s too modern. And I prefer songs/music videos that have “real” footage (in their world) than only what’s happening in their head. | I wasn’t very fond of “you’re welcome” in the 1st movie either, and still find it a kinda annoying song. “Chee-hoo” on the other hand only took 2 more listens in order for me to like it. It’s not my favorite, but definitely better than “YW”, and I actually love how much Maui supports Moana. Yeah, I still prefer song scenes with “real” footage, but song-wise it’s good. |
“Get Lost” is a banger, my favorite song. “Beyond”, on the other hand, unfortunately not that good. An earworm, but could’ve been better. | Yep! But “Beyond” is also really good. “Beyond” surely cannot match “How far I’ll go”, but it’s good. |
It has a lot of similarities to Frozen 2, almost feels like the polynesian/Moana version of Frozen 2. | Yes. But there are still lots of differences. It’s not that bad, but the more you think about it … better don’t. |
A little too much comedy. I felt like it took the emotions from the serious scenes by constantly trying to be humorous and teenage-like. Moana’s and Maui’s sibling relationship was captured really well, but that’s basically what the movie felt like – directed at teenage siblings. | I mean … yeah. But that’s kinda almost every Disney movie? And it’s not that bad, cause I love their sibling relationship. Although the comedy is very similar to Encanto, which may be the reason it’s so icky, cause I wasn’t a fan of Encanto’s goofiness much either. |
The villain didn’t feel like a villain at all. He wasn’t a threat to them, they didn’t even really had a reason to defeat him. I mean, apart from reconnecting the people, there wasn’t really anything to lose if they didn’t. Compared to the 1st movie at least, where literal death of all living beings awaited if Moana hadn’t restored the heart – this was nothing. Like, in Frozen 2, Elsa & Anna at least had a reason to travel to the enchanted forest, because they’ve been cast out of Arendelle. So it wasn’t just Elsa’s desire to follow the calling. But Moana 2 … that was basically just Moana’s desire to follow the calling. The villagers had nothing to lose, except maybe their future chief. But there wasn’t any urgency to follow the call at that moment in time. | Yeah, that’s true. That’s a little weird. I read a comment under a youtube video that, if Moana didn’t go on the journey, they’d basically kill their tribe, because there’s not enough women on the island to make sure they survive? So, humanity’s survival in general was the goal here. Which is a bit of an odd reason for a disney movie, but I choose not to think of it that much. But I mean … even if there wasn’t the reason above, Moana had no reason to wait actually. She’s not a procrastinator and didn’t really have much of a job on the island, had been looking for signs of other tribes anyways all the time either way. |

As for things that stayed the same:
Negative:
A reason why it feels so hectic is the transitions. There were so many fade transitions, which were also quite unnecessary. Having the characters walk from point A to point B would’ve taken maybe 10 seconds, but instead they included many many fade transitions. (Particularly the one in “Beyond” bothers me. Did the scene on the ocean actually happen and it was a time-skip, or was that just in her head?)
The additional characters feel a bit out of place. They barely added anything to the story, if at all.
- Grandpa (Kele) at least was a character who was already in the 1st movie, so the audience more or less knew him.
- Storyteller guy (Moni) might’ve also been in the first movie, albeit without any lines.
- Loto, however, was a whole new character, and they didn’t even introduce her properly. She was thrown into the story as if it was a short story (the literary genre). They have some kinda awkward “I love building ships and you love my work, but other than that we’ve never really talked, but you’re also famous in town, so it’s difficult not to know you, but you don’t know anything about me, not that it really matters”-friendship.
I do like Loto’s weird-ish personality, reminds me of Anna (Frozen), but she needs to take a breath from time to time.
The first scene on the boat with all of them now being a team, was kind of icky. I don’t have the patience for these type of scenes, but mostly cause I really dislike it when people just don’t listen, only for the sake of having the trope “if only I listened to you earlier” or “my character growth is the trope of learning to listen”. It’s been used way too many times and just doesn’t feel like a character trait anymore.
Loto didn’t feel like a whole character. Which I find unfortunate cause I do like her. But she’s just there. Can fix anything. Doesn’t listen but at the same time does. Learns anything in a second. Kind of like the perfect sidekick. Or butler. But even Pua has more personality/depth than her.
Going on a (potentially) suicide mission: “What could be better than this?”
What? I don’t know about you, but there could be many better things than this.
Moana didn’t have any problems choosing her team either. Her dad just tells her she shouldn’t go alone this time, and she’s just like, “yeah okay if you insist”, and then has her new team together in 2 minutes. Kele made sense, but Moni and Loto … you know, I really do love Subtext in stories, but that wasn’t subtext. That was just missing plot.
They acted like best friends – the song would’ve made sense between Moana and Maui, but not with 3 new characters.
Moana’s personality felt like a copy of Mirabel and Rapunzel. I wrote a long paragraph of it in my first review, and because I don’t want to make this review any longer, I’ll be sharing these thoughts in a separate article. Hint: goofy princess formula.
Also, her parents acted way too chill. I do appreciate it when parents are supportive of their children, but here, it’s like they forgot that Moana isn’t only a heroine but also their daughter.
I found Simea (Moana’s sister) to be a little too dramatic at times, but in contrast to her parents and the whole village, Simea was actually the only person with a sane/realistic view.
The finale also seemed too easy.
There was a built-up, but it never felt like a real challenge. There wasn’t really a loss. Two characters almost died, one maybe did canonically, but it didn’t feel like that was worth shedding a tear. I didn’t even cry, even though I’m a very emotional wrack when watching anything.

Positive:
I’m glad there was no romance. Although it was hinted at that there are many guys crushing on Moana, there was no mention of her having to marry soon or any interest from her perspective either.
I love that it focused on platonic/family relationships instead.
- I love her sister, Simea, and the relationship she has with Moana. Felt quite real.
- The scenes with Grandma Tala were one of the best! Not gonna lie, Tala was one of the reasons why I wanted to watch it so soon. And she didn’t disappoint. I love her. And the relationship between her and Moana.
- Moana’s and Maui’s sibling dynamic is really cool. Especially the way Maui supported her this time.
Having Pua on the road was really great, and Hei-Hei also again was the real hero.
I loved the redemption of the Kakamora. That was a nice, unexpected addition to the story.
I also like the supposedly antagonist. I still don’t know whether she’s supposed to be an antagonist or whether Maui was simply wrong about her, but I like her. And her design is nice. She has a similar personality to me, and reminds me of Valka (Httyd). Her song also was a banger. Which really helped Moana actually. More than Maui, kind of. Maybe she’s not evil, Maui is simply jealous (platonically)? Cause Moana actually has chemistry with her. That’d be a good ship, but she’s 1000+ years old, so I don’t know.
As for the songs:
- Maui’s song after the finale was … chills. Amazing. I love it. Especially the fact that it’s completely in Maori!
- All songs in Maori were nice, actually.
- “Get Lost” is an absolute banger, in both english and thai (and german too, but I prefer thai/english). Been listening to it on repeat. 10/10.
- I may not like “What could be better than this?” song much, but the rap scene was great.
- Grandma Tala joining in “Beyond” was great. Made me tear up.
- “Can I get a chee-hoo?” is good after hearing it a few times. As said, I love Maui’s support towards Moana.

Conclusion:
Moana 2 felt like it was supposed to be a tv show, and they decided last-minute that it’s gonna be a movie, therefore shorter running time and had to cut a lot of scenes. But those scenes were (?) kinda necessary to not make it feel like a compilation of all important plot-points.
And while, yes, I am still a bit annoyed by the small parts that have left me so disappointed after the first time watching, overall it is still a good movie. I guess I really do judge too fast. (Same situation with Frozen 2.) Lesson learned: I’ll be waiting with publishing a review at least 5 days after finishing reading or watching a medium.
Criteria | Scores | Our Score |
---|---|---|
Acting | 1-5 | 4.5 |
Script | 1-5 | 2.5 |
Cinematography | 1-5 | 4.5 |
Soundtrack | 1-5 | 4 |
Originality | 1-5 | 3.5 |
Finale Grade
B+
Let me know in the comments what you thought of Moana 2, if you’ve watched it!
~Arden Skye
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Written By: Arden Skye
Favorite game/film/book: doesn’t have one, cause there are too many good ones!
About: generalist, who likes a bit of everything, but especially has a love for magic, queerness and melancholy. When they’re not arting, they’re probably dreaming/reading through another world, or spending time in nature with their dog.
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