‘Moana 2' review: Belle Mariano cover caps off another Disney ocean adventure
MANILA, Philippines — Disney threw their chips back in the Pacific to bring "Moana 2," the sequel to the beloved 2016 film starring Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson.
Three years after the events of the first movie, Moana (Cravalho) is beckoned by her wayfinding ancestors to break the curse of the hidden island Motufetu. Failure to accomplish it can lead to her people and their stories being forgotten.
After forming her own crew with sea experience much less than hers, Moana's journey sees her reuniting with the demigod Maui (Johnson), who also seeks Motufetu, and in the vast ocean, every bit of help matters.
It should come as no surprise that Disney wanted to cash in on the success of "Moana," and in the era of streaming, the studio planned for a series to come out on Disney+.
These plans changed and what was supposed to be a series was instead a sequel coming out before the holidays, with the studio perhaps hoping that families will head to the cinemas ahead of audiences interested in seeing Oz or ancient Rome.
Apart from "Moana 2," cinemas are also showing the film adaptation of Broadway's beloved musical "Wicked" and the sequel "Gladiator 2."
Children will certainly enjoy seeing Moana again, but traces of the planned series still come through with how fast-paced the film runs at 100 minutes.
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Scenes fly by so fast that Moana and Maui hardly spend any quality time together until the middle of the movie. It says a lot that what's keeping viewers on their toes is whenever Alan Tudyk's Heihei the rooster gives a nervous cluck.
The animation is stunning as one would expect from Disney, but the magic feels lacking because the songs are not as strong as the first film's iconic tracks, "How Far I'll Go" and "You're Welcome," which were creations by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear wrote the songs for "Moana 2." The pair tried to emulate the catchiness of the previous songs with the new ones like "Get Lost" and "Can I Get A Chee Hoo?"
Forming the musical heart of the movie is "Beyond," which has a Filipino cover titled "Anong Daratnan," sung by actress-singer Belle Mariano. It is played during the end credits in Philippine cinemas.
Moana remains a beloved character in Disney's collection of heroines, but perhaps the studio gambled too much on its next approach to reintroducing her to audiences.
What is for certain is Filipinos' love of the sea will remain because of our deep connection to the waves that helped form our identity as island people, just as it did for one courageous wayfinder.
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