Moana 2Review: Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson Set Sail with New Friends in Gorgeous Sequel

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Disney

Disney

Eight years after Disney thrilled audiences and families withMoana,Auli’i CravalhoandDwayne Johnsontake their beloved animated characters back to the oceans of Polynesia.

Heihei the chicken — a bug-eyed, clumsy creature with a penchant for choking on food at inopportune moments — joins for another seafaring adventure, and this time Pua the pig is brought aboard too.

Moana, who soon reunites with the demigod Maui (Johnson, 52) on her way to save her island again struggles between her keen sense of adventure and duty to her family and island with a fear that she may not return to her little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), who is shown among other children on the island who have come to idolize Moana as a hero.

Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) in Moana 2.Disney

Audiences may notice a change in songwriting direction. Tony- and Grammy-winning songwriterLin Manuel-Mirandawrote songs for the original movie, including its most popular tracks “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome,” but Disney brought aboard Grammy winnersAbigail Barlow and Emily Bear, known best for their 2021 award-winningUnofficial Bridgerton Musicalalbum, for the sequel.

Some of the new movie’s numbers miss the unique pizazz Miranda, 44, brings to his songs, but Barlow and Bear’s website identifies the duo as the first female songwriting duo and the youngest to compose for a Disney feature film.

It’s an achievement worthy of a theatrical release, considering that Disneyinitially conceivedMoana 2as a television seriesand reworked it into a feature film at CEO Bob Iger’s request.

Moana 2.Disney

Moana 2is in theaters Nov. 27.

source: people.com