What’s a Girl Gotta Do to Get Some Conflict in Moana 2?

As a long-time Disney enthusiast who grew up with the classics like Snow White and Cinderella, I must admit, I was initially excited for Moana 2. After all, Moana was a breath of fresh air, breaking away from the traditional damsel-in-distress narrative. However, after watching Moana 2, I felt like I had been stranded on a deserted island with only a lackluster soundtrack and an unmemorable story for company.

Moana stands out among Disney princesses due to her unique circumstances. Unlike some of her counterparts, she isn’t forced into an unwanted marriage nor confined to a castle. Instead, she is preparing to assume the leadership role on her island home, Motunui, where both her people and parents hold her in high regard. When Moana finds herself torn between leading her people and fulfilling her destiny as a wayfinder to restore their lost ocean voyaging tradition, she manages to accomplish both.

Seriously, what’s a girl got to do to get some good old-fashioned conflict around here? This is something of a recent Disney Animation issue. After a long, fraught history of villains that were more exciting, more colorful, and invariably more queer-coded than the heroes, the entertainment giant has in recent years banked away from having clear-cut bad guys at all, opting instead for its characters to face down systemic problems, their own insecurities, or adversaries who are really just misunderstood. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this squishier approach to creating tension, but in the case of Moana 2, which was directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, the result is just boring. Whenever Moana, voiced once again by Auliʻi Cravalho, encounters an obstacle, whoever’s in her way turns out to be an ally in waiting, placated with an inspirational song, or both. The film is a series of stops in which this pattern repeats until we get to the end, when there’s an actual baddie, a storm god named Nalo who’s hidden away the key navigational island of Motufetū to keep the various Pacific Island communities apart for reasons all his own. It’d be great to hear them, but until a mid-credits scene, Nalo is literally just a bunch of baleful clouds and purple lightning.

Initially conceived as a Disney+ series, Moana 2 was later transformed into a theatrical release due to the absurdity of prioritizing streaming growth over massive box-office earnings. Although some remnants of its original structure can be detected, this contributes to an overall uneasy feel. For instance, the character development for Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), who shifts from imprisoning Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to aiding Moana, seems abrupt and confusing when occurring within a song rather than over multiple episodes.

In the sequel of Moana, the vivid, expansive vistas of an anthropomorphized ocean, painted in shades of azure-blue, stretch out as far as the eye can see. However, it seems less like a true follow-up and more like an enhanced version of the direct-to-video spin-offs that Disney used to produce alongside their major releases. Avalon Cravalho returns along with The Rock, but the David Bowie-inspired coconut crab is absent this time. Instead, we encounter a large, non-singing clam adorned with numerous eyes and tentacles that the characters must traverse. Regrettably, the production feels somewhat routine, as if it’s merely going through the motions, repeating familiar beats with less compelling material – such as the Rock’s song that includes a chorus of “Come on-a / Moana.” Despite its lackluster quality, Moana 2 is expected to be a significant box office success due to its appeal to families. Unlike a genuine film, Moana 2 doesn’t provide its protagonist with meaningful challenges to overcome as she develops and grows. Instead, it represents an expansion of a well-established intellectual property, a strategic move from a media titan that has consistently excelled in capitalizing on its successful franchises but may struggle when it comes to creating new, original content.

2024-11-26 20:54

What’s a Girl Gotta Do to Get Some Conflict in Moana 2?

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