Damian Gordon/Staff Writer
“Moana,” a musical adventure animated film, centers on the titular character (Auli’i Cravalho), who’s on a journey to find the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), bring him back to her island to undo the horrific event he set in motion years ago that will otherwise destroy her homeland.
Hats off to Disney for putting out one of the best soundtracks in a long time. In the film, the tunes kept playing in my head, but unlike the songs from the 2013 film “Frozen,” it didn’t make me want to find the nearest spiked pit to jump into.
I have to admit, initially when the first song started, my eyes couldn’t have rolled further to the back of my head without someone having to check for a pulse. As it went on, I started really liking the track — and the track after that, and the track after that.
The best scores in the film are Maui’s “You’re Welcome,” Moana’s“ “How Far I’ll Go” and “Where You Are.” They’re upbeat and rhythmic tracks, fitting in with the island theme, on top of being now on my list of must-have songs when hitting the beach or taking a road trip.
“Moana” uses musical numbers not only to create a music video like some other animated features, but it also serves to move the narrative along and establish character personalities.
The film starts off strong, with a great build up leading to the adventure itself. However, the story gets muddled near the middle; the plot, which was the world ending if Moana didn’t accomplish her task, lost its urgency and felt insignificant, with the duo sidetracked by fighting coconut warriors.
Let me repeat that, fighting coconut warriors sidetracked Moana and Maui from saving the world. Later, after that foolishness, there’s a giant crab battle and lava monster boss, giving me the impression that the scriptwriter may have had a videogame gig at the same time and mixed the two up.
Somewhere right now, there’s a kid playing “Call of Duty,” confused as to why all the soldiers just broke into song and dance in the middle of battle.
There’s a great cast of characters, ranging from the eccentric Gramma Tala, to the pet rooster, Heihei, who always provides hilarious material when he’s on screen.
Usually, these pet sidekicks are supposed to be help, but Heihei is the exact opposite — Darwinism should have taken over long ago. Throughout the film, Moana must protect him from drowning, walking off cliffs and just about everything. He plays the worst sidekick, in the best way possible.
In addition to losing its urgency, a setback for the film is that middle feels rushed, resulting in the adventure missing cohesion. As the characters jump from one place to the next, the adventure plot stumbles and never quite recovers.
Despite their enjoyable interactions, Moana and Maui’s relationship is the typical begrudging partnership at first, but eventually, they become trusted allies.
The problem with that dynamic is that it doesn’t feel all too earned; their relationship never seemed implausible nor did they have any big conflicts that couldn’t be easily resolved. So, when they get on the same page, I couldn’t help mumble, “about time.”
It’s the usual Disney spiel: For everything the film tries to do differently to set itself apart, it ends up just being a different color of the same picture audiences have been shown for years.
The animation is beautiful, but praising great Disney animation is like praising the sun rising everyday. The characters hair, Maui’s moving tattoos, or lush vegetation of the tropical paradises are well presented in this very vibrant film. Water is also a character, following the tradition of bringing inanimate objects to life, like Aladdin’s carpet, the broom from Fantasia, etc.
It’s astounding how Disney can make its audience attached to these non-living objects. I’ll never step on a puddle on the street again, heck, I might not even cannonball in a pool anymore.
The biggest takeaway I got from “Moana” was the soundtrack. Since watching the film, the soundtrack album has worn out my repeat button on Spotify. While the movie itself is not something I see myself watching again, I did leave with a smile, which is exactly what I want when leaving animated features.
Image retrieved from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blondinrikard/17158111309/
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