Ticketworthy - Moana

In 2025, I wondered why we were getting a live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. The film wasn’t that old, and it didn’t seem like the filmmakers intended to add to the story in any meaningful way. Happily, that movie had enough fantastic performances and breathtaking visuals that one could actually forget that they’d seen most of it before. Now Disney is trying to replicate that success with their own shot-for-shot remake that nobody asked for; Moana. It doesn’t work nearly as well.

The story of the film is the same as it was in 2016, and I do mean the same. Almost every scene is quite literally an exact copy. Moana (Catherine Laga'aia) is the chief’s daughter on the Polynesian island of Motunui, but she dreams of sailing the sea. When her people are in danger, she leaves the island to find the demi-god, Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and force him to help her restore the magical heart of Te Fiti, an island Goddess who can protect the world from darkness.

There are going to be plenty of people, children in particular, who enjoy this version of Moana. The story and characters were excellent back in 2016, and that remains true in the live action. Moana herself is a character that is easy for kids to latch onto and root for, and there is plenty of excitement and humor in the script to entertain anyone. If you only care about an interesting story and entertaining your children, you can stop reading right here. This movie will be exactly what you’re looking for.

If, however, you care about great acting, visuals, or songs, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Every single thing in this movie that isn’t a direct copy of the original is simply worse.

The visual effects and backgrounds are all obviously CGI and green screen, and they don’t blend terribly well with the actors or the few practical effects. Motunui looks great, but not a single other setting does. The world of the original Moana was vibrant and exciting, but without the animated elements, the remake’s world looks awkward and over-stylized.

Awkward and dull is also a fairly apt description of the acting as well. Laga'aia is given the impossible task of making a character known for her big personality and exuberance seem real and grounded. She tries her best, and she certainly has some standout moments, but her performance just never matches the energy of the world she inhabits. If the filmmakers had chosen to craft a more realistic world, her acting would probably feel more true and less restrained. As is, the world around her is still rather cartoonish, and her take on Moana is very much not that. It doesn’t quite connect.

It’s Dwayne Johnson, though, who delivers the film’s most confusing performance. Sometimes he tries to bring the same over-the-top personality that Maui had in the original, and he always comes off as silly and strange when he does. It’s not believable at all. Other times, he brings a more considered, somber tone to the character. That’s somehow even worse. Nothing about what he brings to the screen ever feels like it belongs in this movie, and the character himself has never seemed more disjointed.

Finally, the soundtrack is a real letdown. The original songs are iconic at this point, so real care needs to be taken when trying to recreate them. That’s simply not the case here. Most of the cast are perfectly good singers, though not all of them, so I’m not critiquing their abilities. Yet, between the production choices on the songs and some changes in delivery, pretty much every track is worse than its predecessor. Even the songs performed by the same actors who did them last time, like Johnson or Jemaine Clement, are just pale imitations.

The real question for most people is going to be whether or not Moana is an entertaining movie their children will enjoy. The answer is, obviously, yes. It’s Moana. That said, if you strip away all of the elements copied wholesale from the first movie, there’s not much to really praise about the remake. It’s a completely unneeded copy of a better film that adds nothing to the story and doesn’t elevate a single element of the original. You can certainly take your children to see it and have a good time, but if you already own the animated version, I’d recommend just watching that instead. You’re welcome.