Beauty And The Beast ended up being a brilliant film while the joy on the faces of the children at the Lilo & Stitch premiere told me one thing – Disney seem to know best when it comes to knowing what excites families when it comes to their own products.
Of course, criticism again arose when it was announced that only ten years after the original film was released director Thomas Kail (Hamilton) would be in charge of a real-life version of the family favourite Moana. But once again at the premiere this week I witnessed just how many young Moana fans were excited about being able to see their hero ‘brought to life.’
The film itself doesn’t stray too far from the original. A young girl, Moana. (Catherine Laga’aia – The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart) finds herself obsessed by the ocean. Her Gramma Tala (Rena Owen – Once Were Warriors) tells her that it is her calling however her father, Chief Tui (John Tui – Solo: A Star Wars Story), forbids her to ever go past the reef.
However, soon the tribe finds themselves in a serious situation. The island is dying and food is becoming scarce – Moana is convinced that the answer is beyond the reef, but her father remains steadfast. That is when her Gramma Tala reveals all to her – the island can be saved but to do so somebody needs to find the demi-God Maui (Dwayne Johnson – Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle) and help him return the Goddess Te Fiti her heart.
After she learns the truth Moana decides to disobey her father and go on the adventure but she soon finds herself struggling. She is not experienced at handling a boat on the open sea and she soon discovers that Maui doesn’t want to help her plus there are many enemies who would like to get their hands on Te Fiti’s heart.
Talented
I found while watching this version of Moana that a special feeling washed over me. It felt like re-visiting an old friend but also at the same time really getting to see them for the first time. The animated character of Moana did enough to capture and inspire the hearts of a generation of children but getting to see Catherine Laga’aia bring the character to life takes her to a whole new level. Even the most talented animator can’t do things like capture the hurt in Moana’s eyes when her father refuses to listen to her. They can portray the emotion on the animated face enough for the audience to understand what the character is feeling but when you have an actress as talented as Laga’aia playing the role she can use every inch of her body to show how the character is really feeling. It really does feel like you are getting to know Moana for the first time.
It is the same with the character of Maui, and to be perfectly honest the film probably would not have worked as well as it did if Dwayne Johnson hadn’t agreed to reprise the role he voiced so well in the original. Johnson has shown over the past few years that he is an actor that is comfortable with drama and comedy away from his normal action genre and he gets to explore that further as he delivers moments of true slapstick comedy and some touching moments with Laga’aia. Then of course there is also his musical side – which he gets to show once again with You’re Welcome.
Keeping the music in mind you really are reminded what an amazing job Thomas Kail does to bring this film together. One moment on screen you are watching Laga’aia’s amazing rendition of How Far I’ll Go the next moment we are watching one of the film’s brilliant action sequences. There are so many elements of Moana and Kail brings them together amazingly well. In fact I would go as far to say that he has created some true Disney magic with his sequence of Moana and Maui battling against Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement – Flight Of The Concords) with the number Shiny performed. The sequence itself resembles what we saw with the brilliant Fantasia and shows that Kail and song-writer Lin-Manuel Miranda really do know what it means to be part of the Disney family.
If you are a fan of the original animated classic you are not going to be disappointed by this re-imagining of Moana. The film comes together remarkably well, it looks great and Catherine Laga’aia is a star in the making. If you want to see some true Disney magic go along and see this stunning real-life adventure.
Moana is currently screening in Phuket and is rated ‘G’
3.5/5 stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film journalist for over 25 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He currently hosts a film podcast called The Popcorn Conspiracy. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes accredited reviewer and is an alternate judge for the Golden Globes Awards. You can follow him at Facebook: SubcultureEntertainmentAus.