Moana

Have I mentioned that Disney is the largest marketers on the planet? Yeah, I thought I did. And because of this, I figured that quality has to take a back seat for the bottom line. When I saw the trailer of "Moana", it didn't actually wow me, but after viewing it, I came to realize that you can't judge a book by its cover.

 

Young navigator Moana (Auli'i Cravalho), the daughter of a Polynesian chief, Tui (Temuera Morrison), is chosen, through the eyes of her Gramma Tala (Rachel House), to find a precious artifact that could save her people. She eventually teams with reluctant demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to locate a legendary island, and together the pair explore fantastical islands and encounter incredible sea creatures. Their team efforts are tested time and again as their banter back and forth increases which hampers the success of their journey. Will their bickering interfere with succeeding in the mission at hand?

 

Others to round out the cast are Jemaine Clements as Tamatoa, Nicole Scherzinger as Sina, Alan Tudyk as Heihei/Villager #3, Oscar Knightley as Fisherman, Troy Polamalu as Villager #1, Puanani Cravalho as Villager #2 and Louise Bush as Toddler Moana.

 

This was effortlessly team directed by Ron Clements and John Musker ("The Great Mouse Detective" '86, "The Little Mermaid" '89, "Aladdin" '92, "Hercules" '97, "Treasure Planet" '02, "The Princess and the Frog" '09). It was co-directed by Don Hall ("Winnie the Pooh" '11, "Big Hero 6" '14) and Chris Williams ("Bolt" '08, "Big Hero 6" '14), One would think that with four directors in tow, this would be a mismashed film with little to no continuity, but each director obviously had their section of film in which to work. The pacing, staging and clarity with this was executed with expertise. It was well written by Jared Bush ("Zootopia" '16) plus TV, based on a story by Clements, Musker, Williams, Hall, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell and Jordan Kandell. For a screenwriter with the limited experience that Bush has, this script was amazingly well thought out. I would expect less from seasoned screenwriters. There was a couple of small places of choppiness, otherwise this storyline soared. The characters were delineated with clarity, conciseness, and richness. And, of course, the visuals and animation were seamless, but you'd have to know this before entering the theater, this being a Disney production.

 

Trust me, the trailer doesn't sell this film. It was superiorly different and better than the trailer depicted. The animation, the music, the writing and directing were all worthy of seeing this in the multiplex. It has humor, heart all wrapped up with an entertaining theme. Grab the popcorn and enjoy this one.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                 Rated: PG                                 108mins.