3 min readNew DelhiJul 10, 2026 05:14 PM IST
In the long list of prequels, sequels, three-quels etc etc, Disney’s contribution has been live action remakes of its popular animation films. Moana, which is still very much alive and rolling out in surfeit animated forms, is the latest.
This is as sadly cynical as it gets because Moana stood out for being a departure from the usual Disney heroines – she was dusky, pudgy, a little stout, with no romance on the vast horizon that she conquers.
Played by Catherine Laga’aia in the live action version, Moana is more a self-conscious teen than a carefree spirit. Laga’aia, making her debut, also struggles to hit the right note of chutzpah that marked Moana’s animated version. Her eager-to-please smile is the biggest detractor, for one.
Rena Owen as Moana’s inspirational grandmother – one of those wise old women given to dispensing deep wisdom with a naughty twinkle and, since this is Polynesia, with a waving-of-the-arm, swaying-of-the-hip dance – is also too stagey to seem genuine.
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Dwayne Johnson returns to give real life muscle to the character of Maui he voiced in the 2016 animated film. He slips right in as the demigod with a need for fawning fans, rippling pectorals and a slightly doubtful wig.
But, as Moana treads the ground – literally – on land and in sea of its 2016 version, what keeps chasing her and the viewers is ‘why’. Given the storyline, based on a Polynesian myth, about a goddess, stolen heart, angry earth, dying lands, and monsters, with Moana and Maui tackling them one by one, there is a lot that still can’t be live action. Plus, the filmmakers don’t want to take too many chances and stick to the blockbuster formula of before, down to the songs.
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The one sequence that steals the show involves the crab monster Tamatoa who loves bling and is not averse to snatching it from whoever comes bearing it on the seas. Jemaine Clement voices him again, to superb gleeful effect.
Moana may live by the song ‘How far I’ll go’. The film doesn’t.
Moana 2 movie cast: Dwayne Johnson, Catherine Laga’aia, Rena Owen, John Tui, Voice of Jemaine Clement
Moana 2 movie director: Thomas Kail
Moana 2 movie rating: 2 stars
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