The Movie: Moana
The Director: Thomas Kail
The Cast: Catherine Laga ʻaia, Dwayne Johnson, Rena Owen, John Tui, Frankie Adams, Jemaine Clement
The Story: Same as the animated movie.
The Rating: 6 / 10
The Review:
I get that these live action remakes are basically cash grabs for Disney and whoever is producing them, but I would hope that a little more effort would be put into them outside of just being shot for shot remakes. Should we expect more than that? Is there a way to tell the story in a different way that still holds on to the magic that made them great stories in the first place? In the case of Moana, this is a very specific story that I don't think gives more ground for big, sweeping changes although I do feel like there could have been room for some flexibility in what ended up on screen.
It's nice that Dwayne Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho, the original voice actors for Maui and Moana respectively, were two of the main driving forces behind getting this movie made and I think the spirit of the animated movie is there, it just feels kind of empty. As big of a physical presence and personality as The Rock is, I feel like even he couldn't do justice to Maui in live action form, in much the same way that no one, not even Will Smith, could ever have adequately recreated Alladin's Genie as a live action character. Watching the movie, I never felt like I was watching Maui, all I saw was Dwayne Johnson doing Dwayne Johnson things and that just wasn't nearly enough for me.
On the other hand, I absolutely loved Catherine Laga ʻaia as Moana. Imagine making your feature film debut and you have to, or get to, work alongside one of the biggest stars of this era and you still manage to keep the spotlight firmly pointed in your direction the entire time. I don't know if we'll ever get to see her as Moana again, but I'm definitely interested in seeing what other kind of projects she's able to take on. If given the right opportunities, we could have another big star on our hands.
From a technical standpoint, the movie is absolutely beautiful with all the spectacular water effects and lush live action backdrops you could ever hope for from this movie. I think that's the one thing that translated really well from the animated version with all the vivid colors and beautiful island scenery on full, big screen display. There were a few moments here and there that looked unfinished or a little too digitized, for lack of a better description, like a few of the early scenes of Moana sailing the canoe sticking out in my mind. Water is really difficult so I'm willing to give most of it a pass.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie for what it is and I'm not mad that it exists, it just doesn't stand out in any way that makes it memorable or worth the effort. Given the choice, I would absolutely prefer to watch the animated feature over this live action version. I did see it in the IMAX format which I would recommend as a way to take full advantage of how good the movie looks on the big screen.
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