“Frankly, she deserves a little more respect than that” The sequel to this cult Disney film released in theaters this week receives bad reviews

News culture “Frankly, she deserves a little more respect than that” The sequel to this cult Disney film released in theaters this week receives bad reviews

Vaiana 2, a series transformed into a film

Since 2016, Disney film aficionados have been waiting for a stellar sequel to Moana that would surpass the adventures produced by the talented duo formed by Ron Clements and John Musker, directors of The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first feature film recorded a very good average of 96% on the press side and 89% on the spectator side. The box office scores are just as flamboyant with $687 million earned internationally. And it's David G. Derrick Jr., author of Five Legends in 2012, who had the difficult task of taking up the torch alongside Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller. The screenplay is written by Jared Bush, director of Zootopia, and Ledoux Miller. The team had to undertake a rather delicate job, since Disney had, originally, completely different plans for the sequel to Moana which was first to take the form of a series for Disney+, before finally favoring sales cinema tickets. The company's CEO, Bob Iger, says executives were so impressed by the first images that “we saw it and knew it deserved a theatrical release.” But given the feedback on the feature film, it was perhaps not the best path to take.

67% sur Rotten Tomatoes

On Rotten Tomatoes, Vaiana 2 records a sad average of 66% on the press side, which agrees that “carried by a wave of breathtaking animations even if the story goes adrift, Vaiana 2 is not as inspired as the original but remains a colorful adventure“. An opinion that we also share in our dedicated review. For its part, Slate believes that the film “resembles more of a consumer product, in a subtle but undeniable way, than the first film” when Paste Magazine complains: “She’s Moana! And, frankly, she deserves a little more respect than that.” The Washington Post summed up the experience this way: “It's not the songs that are the problem. It's rather the tangled story, which takes far too long to give Moana its mission.” Similar opinions in France, Ecran Large writing these words: “We hoped to happily take on a second wave of epic and sublime adventure , but the Disney boat overturned.”

Fortunately, the public seems more seduced, as evidenced by the audience score of 88% on Rottent Tomatoes. Available in theaters since this week, Moana 2 sets its scene three years after the first epics of Moana and Maui the demi-god. During one of her visions, the adventurer meets the legendary explorer Tautai Vasa, who tells her about the lost islet of Motufetu, which she will persist in finding.