Director: Ron Clements and John Musker
Starring: Auli’i Cravalho (voice), Dwayne Johnson (voice), Alan Tudyk (voice), Jemaine Clement (voice), Nicole Scherzinger (voice), Temuera Morrison (voice)
Running Time: 113 Minutes
Rating: PG
Release Date: 2/12/16
From Disney legends Clements and Musker comes Moana, the story of a young girl (newcomer Auli’i Cravalho) who sets across the ocean to save her pacific island village with the help of demi-god Maui (Johnson).
My heart belongs to Disney. From my childhood trips to Disneyland Paris I’ve been a fan. Sure, I’ve not seen every classic from the Disney animated canon but I’m a Pixar obsessive and now, with the second Disney renaissance (beginning with The Princess and the Frog) and the stunning re-birth of Star Wars (a franchise I can now only associate with Disney and their Star Tours ride) I’m captivated by each new film. And boy, do Disney have an unbroken string of new animated classics.
I was excited by the prospect of Moana from the beginning. Set in the beautiful Pacific Islands with a diverse cast, Disney legends at the helm and Lin-Manuel Miranda as the guy behind the songs. It was a winning formula from the start and there was no way I could see this failing.
It hasn’t. Moana is a bonafide classic. It’s a joyous, beautiful, engaging, funny, charming film that will leave you feeling elated as you leave the cinema and desperate to talk someone’s ear off about how it makes you feel.
First of all, despite being from the familiar Disney story mould, it has an unparalleled heart with a great message and a tough, independent lead to rival any of the previous Disney princesses. Auli’i Cravalho is a star in the making and her confidence in the role is proof that 2016 is the year of the child star.
Then there’s the breathtaking animation. From the photorealist ocean to the lush, verdant colours of the islands. Every frame of Moana could be hung up on the wall as art, it’s so stunning you’ll want to take a holiday immediately after leaving the cinema.
There’s no reason animation has to be boring (I’m looking at you, Minions), Disney and Pixar are the masters of CG that make you weep and when the local is as vibrant as this, it’s all the more suited to the art form.
What Moana does so well, however, is in the way it makes you feel. Maybe it’s because I’m such a Disney fan but all the film had to do to make me cry was just sing the songs. I was thankful, then, that they were good because even in my favourite Disney film (The Princess and the Frog) I didn’t even love all of the songs. Yet Moana has true talent behind it with Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton phenomenon) who’s created some of the most memorable, beautiful and catchy songs since Beauty and the Beast.
Don’t get me wrong, the songs in Frozen are great but there’s a bit more imagination and fun in both the lyrics and style of songs here. With each new song I was staring at the screen, a big grin stretched across my face, resisting the urge to get up and cheer. A rare occurrence for someone who has to pick and choose the music he likes from albums and a sure sign that Miranda as Disney’s new staple is the best thing for all.
Yet, it’s not just the music that captures the heart. Moana is also very funny. Disney has a sometimes great tradition of animal sidekicks. Whilst in some cases (Pocahontas I’m looking at you) they’re utterly shoehorned in and terrible, in recent years they’ve been great.
Technically Moana has four of them. You have the adorable pig (who I want a plush of please), the moving Maui tattoo and, sort of, the ocean. Yet, the real stand-out here is Hei-Hei the chicken, the intellectually challenged side-kick who stows away aboard Moana’s boat and provides many of the film’s best, most guffawing laughs.
Sure, the chicken steals the show, yet the film has plenty of laughs from elsewhere. The Maui tattoo gets some wonderful visual humour and Johnson, in particular, proves that he’s a continued surprising comedy talent.
If I had to be critical of the film at all it’s that the third act isn’t as quite as joyous as the first two and in some cases feels a little rushed. The beginning and middle take their time to get going yet the final happens quite suddenly in comparison. There may also be one specific joke that falls a little flat, especially for those of my generation.
Really, though, that’s about the best that I can do in saying anything bad. Sure there’s a formula to the story and you could sit and talk about commercialization all day but you’d have to be a grumpy little cynic to be concerned with that.
Moana is in keeping with the animated tradition of films for both kids and adults that sacrifice for neither. It’s got a little emotional heft, with some moments of sadness that are also a bit of a Disney tradition. Plus, there’s also a little weirdness as the heroes journey to a realm of monsters and encounter a jewel encrusted crab played by Jermaine Clement.
It’s got all the staples of a classic Disney film yet at no point does it feel like you’re going through the numbers. It’s terrifically knowing and doesn’t take itself too seriously, that’s the mark of a great film.
Gosh, I can’t stop gushing about this film, can I? No surprise whatsoever that another Disney film (Hello Zootropolis) has made my top 5. In fact, I’m pretty confident that Moana is my favourite film of the year. When there’s such darkness in the world, it’s films like this that say come sit down for two hours and forget about everything else.
You could be cynical and distrustful of a giant like Disney, yet in terms of their current output, I’m freely throwing myself at them, heart and soul. If they keep making films like Moana, Zootropolis and the rest, then I’m not about to resist anytime soon.
Joy is about the simplest emotion to feel and the most difficult to elicit yet, to me, Disney have the recipe.
Verdict
