Is a live-action remake of “Moana” necessary, only 10 years after the original animated film premiered? The answer, decidedly, is no, but then again, none of the Disney live-action remakes have been necessary, so that’s our starting point.
So, why remake this so soon? There’s Lin-Manuel Miranda’s incredible songs, including “How Far I’ll Go,” one of the best and most powerful “I want” ballads of all time. We love hearing them again, but that’s not the reason. There’s the lovely representation of Polynesian and Pacific Islander culture, which is nice, but not enough to remake this beloved film, either.
What seems the most plausible reason as to why they remade “Moana” now is about 250 pounds and sporting a really questionable wig. That’s right, co-star Dwayne Johnson, who voiced the arrogant demigod Maui in the 2016 animated film, now stars as the arrogant demigod Maui in the live-action remake, and it almost seems like they had to do it before he aged out of the role.
Indeed, the live-action “Moana” almost feels like a vanity project for Johnson.
That’s not to say that there aren’t fun aspects to watching “Moana” again, just slightly different. I’m only human, after all. I’m not immune to “How Far I’ll Go,” a song whose reprise can pull a tear from anyone’s eye. But it is very weird to be watching a movie with the same word-for-word, note-for-note story of a film we watched — and loved — only 10 years ago.
Was there an option to do a live-action “Moana” but perhaps with a new story, a new adventure of Moana and Maui? It really is strange to see something so identical, just not executed as well as the original. None of these songs hit like the first time.
Director Thomas Kail doesn’t stray from what we saw in the animated film, but he also doesn’t take as much advantage of shooting on location in Oahu or the possibilities that come from working with actors. It’s either too faithful to the original, or a bit staid, and even stiff and claustrophobic. Any elements of sweeping spectacle, like the visions of ancestral wayfinders navigating the seas, don’t feel all that much different from the animated version.
So what’s good about “Moana”? The heroine, as usual. Australian actress Catherine Laga’aia makes her film debut, and she’s terrific. Her singing voice sounds remarkably like the original Moana, Auli’i Cravalho (who also serves as a producer alongside Johnson and his team and Miranda).
She embodies the scrappy spirit of this powerful female character, and the emotional moments between Moana and her grandmother, played by the wonderful Rena Owen, are very strong. When it’s Moana on her own (or with grandma), the movie is genuinely moving, about a young person stepping into her power.
But “Moana” is, and always has been, an unlikely buddy comedy between the title character and Maui, with whom she has to collaborate to return the heart of Te Fiti, on an adventure that takes her far from home on her heroine’s journey. Johnson plays Maui just this side of too snarky and sarcastic, but the friendship between the two characters is ultimately sweet.
But the real problem with this version is the recency bias. With such a faithful remake so close to the original, it’s much easier to compare the two, and the second version is never going to stack up to the first, because we remember how we felt when we first heard “How Far I’ll Go” or “Where You Are.”
Kail, and writers Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, don’t do enough to distinguish this as a fresher take on the familiar material, leaving us questioning why we’re watching this at all.
Moana
Two stars out of four