Moana Review

Disney has recently released the new movie “Moana”.

After going to see this movie I have a lot to talk about on the plot, characters, music, and themes of this movie. Warning, this might get into some spoilers. If you plan on watching this movie I suggest coming back to this article later.

PLOT:

“Moana” has a very interesting plot that I really enjoyed. Moana, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, must go against what her people say to travel past the reef and go across the Ocean to find Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, “The Demi-God of wind and sea, shapeshifter, hero of man and woman”  because (SPOILER AHEAD) Maui removed the heart of Te Fiti and caused the lava monster Te Ka to start a curse that causes everything in nature to die. Moana must fulfill her people’s prophecy of how someone will find Maui, defeat Te Ka, and return the heart to the Spiral on the island of Te Fiti.

Themes:

Of course, “Moana” was heavily inspired by Polynesian culture. From design to the culture of the people it shows Polynesian inspirations in each part of the movie. Other than cultural themes, “Moana” has a big message of self-discovery. Throughout the entire film both Moana and Maui are searching for who they are. For Moana, it is whether she should stay in her village and become the chief or become something more. On Maui’s end he needs to truly see that even without his powers and his magical fish hook he is still Maui and can still be a hero.

Characters:

Moana- Moana is an incredible character. She is both strong-willed and powerful. She is different in many ways to other Disney female princesses(yes she is a Disney princess). Moana is independent, strong, smart, etc. Even though she is a new character in Disney’s roster she is a really great one. She is quite possibly one of the best characters in Disney’s history.  Auli’i did a great job representing this character, especially as this was the first movie role she has ever had.

Maui- Maui was actually a character that shocked me. In the trailers he seemed more cool and collected but in the movie he was all over the place. One second he would be happy and singing about his greatness the next he would doubt himself and question his identity as a hero

Heihei- What else can be said about a dumb-witted chicken other than, incredible. Heihei was definitely the comic relief and almost stole the entire movie!

The Ocean- Yes you read that right the ocean is a character alright! Though it lacks a voice and a face it shows emotions like a human.

Music:

The Music in this film was incredible. Even writing this right now I am listening to the soundtrack. From the background music to the songs sung from all the characters I really enjoyed it. Some songs were even written by Lin-Manuel Miranda!

Final Statements:

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed “Moana”. From the Characters to the music Moana was amazing. After talking to others that have watched it I have heard  that they think it is there “favorite Disney Movie” and I would mostly agree so I would give Moana a 9.5 out of 10