It’s been a decade since Disney’s Polynesian-myth-inspired, feminist-eco-cartoon, digital-animation-hit “Moana” debuted. Although it was as treacle-y as only Disney can be, the original worked pretty well—it’s for kids, after all.
The same can’t be said for this summer’s remake. That’s because this most unnecessary movie is an unimaginatively literal-minded, live-action remake.
Not only that, but the replacement of the cartoon cast with live actors—Polynesian Broadway musical number after Polynesian Broadway musical number—ramps up the folkloric kitsch component exponentially.
Live-action “Moana” is a hybrid of fake and real waves. Moana’s braincell-poor rooster-sidekick is still CGI, but now he has photo-realistic eyeball-and-skin texture. It’s a little bit unappetizing.
Story
Live-action “Moana” stays pedantically true to its animated origins, telling the story of the young heir-to-the-throne Moana (Catherine Lagaʻaia) who steps into her leadership early. She seeks answers to save her tribe from the island of Motunui’s diseased coconut trees and a surrounding sea that’s no longer full of fish.She heeds her wise and wily Gramma Tala’s encouraging words (Rena Owen from “Once Were Warriors,” who runs away with the entire movie) as well as the sentient ocean’s call. Like a young, teen, female Kon-Tiki crew of one, she resurrects her people’s long-lost voyager origins and sails beyond her island’s reef.
Hawaiian culture is strongly, if cartoonishly, and somewhat sluggishly represented. From the mini-killer-coconut chapter on, the film picks up momentum, but not much.
After beating out over 30,000 Monana-hopefuls for the title role, Laga'aia is a sweet and enthusiastic tween role-model. She and Johnson have a fun, razzing chemistry, although the animated Mini-me tat on Maui’s arm is a slightly better actor than the one whose body he inhabits. Dwayne looks like his mind is elsewhere—probably thinking about the hefty paycheck this knock-off will produce. His genial self-mockery is always fun though.
As mentioned, the powerful Rena Owen is the standout. She steals the show from the lead characters, and made me decide to watch 1995’s “Once Were Warriors” again.
