Movie Review: Moana

 

Michael's Movie Grade: D+

Why does this exist?

What always comes to my mind with these live action remakes is does anyone actually rewatch them? I can't picture anyone buying the Blu-ray for this movie or even choosing to watch this on Disney+. The 2016 Moana still exists and why would anyone pick this over that wonderful animated treasure. This is a near shot for shot, line for line remake of the original. It is the same movie but without the charm and magic of the original. 

Despite being a "live action" remake, a good deal of this movie is CGI. All the non-human characters are CGI and most of the environments are as well. This CGI looks incredibly fake. When you see these live action actors sharing the screen with the CGI characters and environments, they do not mesh together at all. Because of this the film never quite feels real to us in the same way that the fully animated one did. The worst offenders are Hei-Hei the chicken and Pua the pig. The idea of cartoony animal comic reliefs works perfectly in an animated film but much less so in a live action one. It doesn't help Hei-Hei and Pua are given extremely cartoony designs here (again something that works in an animated film but not a live action one). These characters simply cannot believably inhabit the same space as the live action actors. Because of this, whenever one of these characters appeared on screen, I was completely taken out of the movie. 

Though Dwayne Johnson was perfectly cast as the voice of the animated Maui, he does not make a good live action one. The most obvious reason for this is not his fault. The wig and bodysuit he is wearing just simply looks silly on him. Like with the CGI characters, this just simply takes you out of the story. Also not helping is Maui's living tattoos. Every time they move, you have a close up of them and you don't get to see the rest of the character. In the animated version it is easy to believe this character has living tattoos. In this live action version, the cinematic trickery is so obvious that any sense of magic or fun is strikingly absent. Instead, we are just again taken out of the story every time one of these scenes appears. Meanwhile Dwayne Johnson’s performance simply feels phoned in most of the time. For much of the film, you feel like you are watching Dwayne Johnson instead of watching Maui. 

There is still some enjoyment to be found here. Afterall, the basic story is still good, the songs are still fun and Catherine Laga'aia is a great live action Moana. Still, this is not enough reason to watch a movie that is still simply just a weaker version of a great movie that already exists. 

This is just another lackluster remake. Come on Disney, you are so much better than this.