Verdict:
Thinking about Moana now, the first thing that comes to mind is the scene in which she goes to the shoreline of her island and the first song plays. Watching this scene on a big screen in HD is a jaw dropping experience, as you are mesmerized by all the pretty colours. The rounded shapes of the human characters are contrasted by the crispy textures of moss, grass and waves.
As with many such Pixar animations, the creators go out of their way to make everything as colourful as possible, to the point that they create scenes with neon-lit magical creatures seemingly for no other purpose than to justify using colours you would not otherwise encounter in that environment.
This does have the desired effect of making this movie look gorgeous, but also acts like a set of jingling keys, meant to distract the viewer from the fact that everything else is just ok.
This animated film has interesting characters, with Moana herself not being one of them. The demigod Maui’s dominating arrogance is a refreshing trait for a main character, his animating tattoos are funny (although this again is more of a visual aspect than a character trait), his backstory is interesting, and his arch is subtle. Dwayne Johnson fits very well in this role. The giant crab is fun, even though he is not on screen for long.
However, the plot is just a rehash of the same old story: a young woman feels the drive to cross a boundary set by her guardians. She then disobeys, gets in trouble, but ultimately overcomes the hardships, learning about herself in the process and usually learning to be more responsible. The garnish put on top of that foundation, in the form of a stone Moana has to return to a goddess, does nothing to make things fresh. There is a fascinating little twist at the end, which puts Maui’s character in an even more interesting light but that’s about it.
Most of the songs are curtesy of Lin-Manuel Miranda. How Far I’ll Go has a catchy chorus but is otherwise very simple lyrically. You’re Welcome is much more interesting, and it was surprising to hear Dwayne Johnson sing so well. Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Concords gives an eccentric performance of the song Shiny. None of these songs are particularly catchy, but they are diverse and interesting.
Moana is a pleasant watch from beginning to end. It’s a shame about the unremarkable main character and an even more unremarkable plot. If I have to sit through another aspirational story of a girl dreaming about the horizon and finding herself, I am going to puke.