Review of the film “Moana 2”: sunshine in your eyes

No doubt, this Moana 2, in which Anthony Kavanagh doubles the voice of Maui, warms the heart… but not necessarily the ears.

The first Moana, released in 2016, was popular. The heroine, the opposite of the defenseless young lady who is only waiting for her prince charming, the highlighting of Polynesian culture as well as the songs had won the favor of the public and the animated feature film had not earned less than $687.2 million at the international box office. Impossible, therefore, not to see in this sequel a desire on the part of the Disney studios to take advantage of this success, the recent vintage of animated feature films not having had the financial results hoped for, the pandemic having accelerated the use family of digital platforms.

Now that the novelty effect has worn off, this Moana 2 stands out in several ways. The quality of the animation is dazzling, the textures (water, hair, sand, gelatinous animals, etc.) are admirably rendered and we spend a good part of the film marveling at the visuals ( without forgetting the sun and the palm trees). The story is more conventional. Three years after the events of Moanathe little girl (voiced in the original version by Auliʻi Cravalho and in the French version by Cerise Calixte as in the previous part) is now a teenager who even has an absolutely cute little sister. Contacted by her ancestors, Moana sets out in search of the island of Motufetu, under the yoke of the curse of the god Nalo, the island allowing all the peoples of the ocean to communicate.

If the narrative framework and the corresponding messages (value of cooperation and mutual aid, importance of family and others, etc.) are not very original, we nevertheless find with great pleasure the antics of the half -god Maui (dubbed in the original version by Dwayne Johnson and in the French version by Anthony Kavanagh), the Kakamora, these warlike imps with masks made of coconuts, as well as Heihei, the rooster hallucinated by the young girl.

Moana 2 being, like the first, a musical, the songs are integrated into the particularly rhythmic adventures of Moana and her friends. Unfortunately, the musical pieces, composed this time by the duo of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, do not live up to their predecessors and often give the impression of having been placed by default rather than out of interest.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Moana 2 will bring sunshine to cinema screens from November 27.