Director – Thomas Kail – 2026 – US – Cert. PG – 115m
***1/2
Disney’s live action remake of its Polynesian heroine mythological romp – out in UK cinemas on Friday, July 10th
It’s a curious experience watching Disney’s live action remake of Moana (John Musker, Ron Clements, 2016), one of the Studio’s better animated movies of recent years. Of course, some audience members (particularly small children) may never have seen the orginal, or, equally, because Disney are very, very good at marketing their films to a mass audience, they may already be familiar with it. Either way, the film is likely to be enjoyed by both those who know the original and those who don’t.
The original had its roots in Maori mythology, and this live action retread follows much the same path. It’s set on the island of Te Fiti, a resting goddess whose heart (a small, round, green stone) has been stolen from her in order to give humans the power of creation by the demigod Maui, and then lost along with his giant fishhook which bestows shapeshifting powers upon him.
As a small child, the chief of the island Te Fiti’s daughter Moana can’t stop thinking about venturing beyond the reef, a trangression forbidden by her father Chief Tui (John Tui) and his ancestors. She is encouraged in this by her Gramma Tala (Rena Owen), the island’s self-described crazy lady. When little Moana goes out of her way to help a turtle crawl across the sand to the ocean, protecting it from predators, the Ocean itself rewards her with special effects resembliing the parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956) whereby the seas part and through the resultant dry land corridor surrounded by water, she gets to see the swimming turtle joining its fellow creatures underwater.
Suddenly she’s a teenager (Catherine Laga’aia) and the island is struck by blight – crops fail, and there are no fish to be caught within the reef. Her father insist that if they just sit tight, the Gods will sort everything out. Her grandmother shows her a grotto with a sailing boat and tells her of the one ancestor not mentioned by her father, the one who sailed beyond the reef. Against her father’s wishes, Moana comes to understand her purpose in life. She must venture beyond the reef to enlist the help of the demigod Maui, help him retrieve his fishhook and return Te Fiti’s heart to restore her and the island’s health. Easier said than done when Maui (Dwanye Johnson) turns out to be somewhat narcisissistic and self-obsessed, but he is also keen to live up to his appellation Hero of Men, which is what eventually gets him to come round.
Before Moana can set out, her grandmother dies, but promises to be always be there for Moana in the form of a manta ray swimming in the sea. In the course of her quest, Moana and Maui will encounter terrifying storms, fearsome if tiny pirates the Kakamora, the giant crab Tamatoa (voice; Jermaine Clement) who stole Maui’s fishhook, and the terrifying, volcanic demon Te Ka.
The original’s animated characters are replaced with live actors or animated special effects – in at least two cases (Maui and Tamatoa) these are played by the same actors who voiced the characters in the original. The live action film is carried by young newcomer Catherine Laga’aia as the teenage Moana, who possesses a highly watchable online presence, and holds her own alongside the movie’s big star, Dwayne Johnson as Maui, who between them for much of the movie form its central double act.
Laga’aia is well cast, so much so that you enjoy her performance as Moana for its own sake father than constantly wishing for the animated version of the character. Johnson’s Maui relies less on the visual gags about his constantly moving tattooes than in the original – they’re still here, but somewhat dialled down. If it’s a very different effect watching animated characters move around a live actor’s body than when the character and his tattooes were all animated, it works well enough.
Much is made of the uneasy relationship between the young, heroic Moana and the somewhat mercurial Maui, and if this aspect of the film sometimes feels a little over-extended, rather like the overall film itself it washes over you in an inoffensive, enjoyable way. The duo are acompanied by Moana’s likeable if stupid pet rooster HeiHei, here a marvellous creation of special effects artists, techncians and animators at the top of their game.
The big effects set pieces – the storm – and the presences and actions of the monsters – Tamatoa – and deities Te Fiti and Te Ka – seem to gain something in gravitas from being special effects animaion creations in a live action context.
And yet, the original animated film is so impressive in its own right that you wonder why Disney would feel the need to remake it. As far as Disney’s live action remakes of its animated back catalogue go, this is one of the better entries. It does what it says on the tin, and audiences young and old are likely to enjoy it.
Moana is out in cinemas in the UK on Friday, July 10th.
Trailer: