Moana 2 info:
Director: David G. Derick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller
Writer: Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller, and Bek Smith
Starring: Auli’I Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, and Rose Matafeo
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. I hope everyone had a great Holiday season, you had some time off work/school and got to relax and spend some time with family. I did all three! Here at the Mindless Homestead, we had plenty of time together for food, games, and movies. One of the movies we saw was “Moana 2”, so that is my choice to write about this week. So, for the first time in 2025 let me officially put out my spoiler warning. If you have not watched “Moana 2” yet and don’t want to be spoiled by what happens, then you might want to go to my website here and check out some of the other recent movies I’ve been talking about. Otherwise, keep reading, and let’s get into the fun.
Disney definitely knows how to make a good, animated movie, and they make sure you have a good time while you are watching it… even if it’s not as good as the original. In “Moana 2”, we find the titular character off on an exploration adventure (with Heihei and Pua in tow) as she’s now a Wayfinder. She is on a distant island looking for any signs that will point her toward other civilizations. Thanks to Heihei (Alan Tudyk) she stumbles upon a broken piece of clay with a clue on it.
Back on her home island, enough time has passed that she now has a younger sister, Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) who adores her and the island appears to be thriving. But, as soon as she gets a vision from Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), she is off again on another adventure, but this time she takes a crew with her. Joining her are Moni (Chung), Loto (Matafeo), and Kele (David Fane). As they set off, I couldn’t help but feel the first part of the movie was rushed. I know they only have limited time and they needed to get her and her team out to sea, but I feel like they left some parts out. Unfortunately, this would keep happening.
As Moana and the gang are on their journey, they run into the Kakamora (the little coconut pirates). Just when you think it’s going to be a battle, one of them joins them as they make a plan to dive into the humongous clam to find the lair of Matangi (Awhimal Fraser) since she works for Nalo and they need to find where he buried the island to break the curse and unite all the clans from around the oceans. I know that sounded like a mouthful because it was. It sort of felt the same way while watching it. I know “Moana 2” was originally being written as a Disney + series and I think I see why now. It’s convoluted and has many layers and would probably play pretty well in six to eight episodes spread out.
Inside, they meet up with Maui (Johnson) and we find out that Matangi isn’t bad at all and she helps them escape. Then we very oddly don’t see her anymore until the mid-credits scene. I thought she was going to play a bigger role, but this is all we get… for now. Once out Maui tries to discourage them from going after Nalo with him until he realizes that he actually needs a human. So, they make a plan to have Maui use his powers to raise the island of Motufetu and Moana will make it there and touch it and the curse will be broken.
Nalo has other plans of course as a huge storm arises just as they show up. Maui does his best, but he eventually gets struck down and his powers are taken from him. Moana with no other choice, dives into the ocean and swims down to touch the island, just as she is struck down as well. Maui jumps in to save her just as the ocean and her ancestors bring her back to life…and she now has some powers of her own and is a demigoddess with her magical oar. With the curse broken, Maui lifts the island and all the tribes show up.
So, what’s seemingly a happy ending, may end up being a Disney + show in the future anyway with the unresolved conflicts with Nalo and Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement). Maybe a six-episode run to tell all the stories that need told? In the end, it was a fun movie and it looked good on the big screen. It could have been so much better, but there was still enough mouse magic to make it an appealing film either way.
If you are a fan of “Moana”, then you will be a fan of “Moana 2” and the kids will love it either way. I for one thought it was fun enough as a sequel, but still left a lot to be desired. As much as I want to give it more, this will be sitting at a 6 out of 10.
Have you seen “Moana 2” yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Did you like her having a team this time? Do you think the story was rushed? Did Disney do enough to salvage this as a big-screen production? Let me know in the comments below and until then, I will be back next week with another mindless movie review of some sort.
