Moana

“Moana” never makes live action more captivating than animation. On some level these movies will always be unnecessary. The remake of “Moana” can’t, and shouldn’t, replace the original. But it earns a place alongside it.

Johnson understands Maui, so his performance is good once you get past the initial shock of his unusual appearance. He has great chemistry with Laga’aia. But the best performance in “Moana” comes from Rena Owen as Moana’s grandmother Gramma Tala.

There’s a case to suggest that this new Moana may be the best Disney live-action remake, in no small part because it’s so loyal to the beloved source material. Yet in being so it proves its own redundancy. Everything good about it, from the jokes to the visual design, was already done, almost exactly the same, by animators a decade ago.

The remake of Moana is just a shameless attempt to make the accountants at Disney happy by using nostalgia to get audiences to buy tickets. There’s only one problem with that ploy: there hasn’t even been enough time for the original, as excellent as it is, to calcify into a widely-recognized source of cultural longing for yesterday.

Unfortunately, Moana’s desperately unambitious approach is its undoing, it’s a tale of great courage told with creative cowardice, that’s so in thrall to the masterful, much too recent original it’s impossible to see it as anything other than a financially motivated facsimile.

You know a movie is adrift when you spend the running time admiring the grooming.

Nothing much of any value is added in this lifeless, halfhearted picture.

I thought this was beautifully done. Catherine Laga’aia is a star. I cried twice.

As somebody who never watched the original animated movie when it was released and still hasn't, this is ok. The Rock being Maui is probably the main problem, and it's mainly due to his age. I think he did a fine job with the role, to be honest. Besides that, I know why they chose him since he was the original Voice Actor, but I don't think it was the best choice for a live-action adaptation; however, the best parts are the visuals of some of the scenes they are really pretty to look at and fun to watch move on the screen

It was colorful and charming and had its moments, but honestly I was thinking what it the point? Was this a remake that had to be made? Especially right after Moana 2 was just out in the theaters a couple years ago? This seems like a cash grab to me. The kids will love it because it’s the same story as the animated film and that will allow them to enjoy it without any uncertainty. But it’s not worth seeing several times and will most likely be on Disney plus in weeks. If you want a couple of hours of distraction for your kids, go and see it.

Another pointless live-action Disney remake that we didn't need or want but somehow returned and managed to make its way towards a theatrical release. I guess Disney didn't learn their lessons from their last two movies: Snow White and Lilo & Stitch. Both of those two movies underperformed and lost money. Now, this one did, and will go down in history, being the third worst attempt by Disney. They are overly indulgent at butchering their own ips. Dwayne The Rock Johnson simply can't act and certainly can't make movie theaters money for theatrical released pictures. He's not lead actor material and he's not an actor. He's a brand. Nothing more, nothing less. The You're Welcome song that Dwayne The Rock Johnson sang was done by autotune, and the lead actress who played Moana couldn't even cry on scene. Her face was dry as a desert and that's pretty pathetic, especially since she's the lead actress and literally portraying the main character of the film itself. The buildings, mountains, waves, and trees looked fake. Nothing felt real or authentic because it's so obvious that everyone must've been standing behind a green screen which diminishes their acting abilities towards carrying pivotal scenes and moments regarding personal growth and character development. The fire monster/goddess and animals are CGI. Even they aren't interesting, nor is the journey that lies ahead. This movie is about as memorable as a fart in the wind. By the time today, tomorrow or whenever, people would've already forgotten all about it and move onto the next big thing, being a bland nothing burger and so fourth. OMG, this movie **** and I fell asleep through the first half because of how boring and disengaging it is. I found myself dosing on-and-off, although that was some moments where I was actually able to stay awake but not throughout tough, unfortunately. Terrible costumes and wig choices which looks like something that came outta Party City. Wow, its no wonder why this live-action Disney Moana remake looks cheaply made, despite them having gone way over budget and money that they'll never fully get back, just to break even. Disney, please for the love of God, stop making live-action remakes. They have never been good and I don't want more of these kinda movies. Quiet frankly, I don't think that anyone does, although I can't necessarily speak for everybody else. Overall, it should've stayed as a streaming movie to watch onto Disney Plus since people are already paying for their weekly and or monthly subscriptions. Other than that, you're not missing out on anything special or remarkable in any way, shape or form. It's a DUD for sure and that is no cap but if you ever decide to watch it, feel free to check it out. Hard pass. Don't recommend. Skip it. 2/10

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]