Last year, the sequel to the well-known and loved Disney movie, “Moana” arrived in theaters. Considering the popularity of the first movie, “Moana 2” had some pretty high expectations to meet. Did Disney break the “all sequels are bad” stereotype, and did they do justice to the first “Moana”? I went to watch the movie, so you do not have to. So, in the wise words of Maui, “You’re Welcome.” 

First and foremost, I think the animation department did a great job. The depictions of the traditional Polynesian patterns and the clothing of all the characters were clear and pleasant to view. Disney typically likes to keep the forever-young persona of their characters, so it was nice to see them let their characters age realistically. Disney gets an A+ for the animation from me. 

Alright, up next, the music. In the first movie, Lin-Manuel Miranda (American actor and songwriter) wrote the songs–which are loved and popular among Disney fans. Per expectations set by the first movie, one of the biggest fears among many fans when hearing about the sequel was how the music was going to be without Miranda as a composer.

The problem with “Moana 2” is the obvious change in songwriters from the first movie to the second, and I do not mean that in a good way. “Moana’s” songs in the first movie expressed the so-called “Disney magic” through the upbeat and lyrically creative music. However, in “Moana 2” we got a song where Disney decided to rhyme Moana with come-on-a, which shows how much less lyrically inclined these songs were. 

Now let us touch on the actual plot line of the movie. I will not spoil too much just in case you disregard my judgment and decide to see the movie anyway. At first glance, I thought the trailer looked almost identical to the first movie, but I was wrong. I do like the concept behind “Moana 2,” where Moana wants to find what lies beyond her island, and if there are more wayfinders like her, then she soon gets a call from her ancestors telling her a dark monster (Nalo) has disconnected the islands from each other. 

In theory, this works perfectly as the plot for the sequel, but Disney did not execute this well. The plot was extremely rushed. The first movie’s climax of Moana reaching Te Fiti and having her cute and meaningful moment was such a beautiful and heartwarming scene. But in this movie’s plot, the characters go through the same conflict where Maui gets hurt and Moana tries to save the day (and of course does).  I expected something a bit longer than five minutes, and maybe include some of the Disney magic that we saw expressed in the last film. Instead, we got a (SPOILER ALERT) Moana death scare and a confusing bat lady who at first, I thought was the villain (and honestly I am still not sure exactly what her role was).

I also have some mixed feelings about how Moana was portrayed in this movie. When “Moana” originally came out, she was about 16, so she was a new teenager trying to explore her identity and deliberately go against the one thing her parents (and the island for that matter) tell her not to do because, of course, that is what we teenagers are meant to do. But in “Moana 2,” she is about 19, so now as a young adult, Disney portrayed Moana as a more hesitant and relatable character during the sequel. Although Disney made a good attempt at a relatable character, while doing so, their special “magic” was lacking throughout the movie. But that honestly is just the past Disney nostalgia hitting me. 

Now that I have vented about Disney getting rid of the magic of my childhood days, let us get back to Moana. In “Moana,” she is portrayed as free-spirited, and even though no one else believed in her, she did, so it did not matter. However, in “Moana 2,” her character is portrayed in the opposite light where she is self-doubtful and fearful of her challenge. It was interesting to see Moana in this vulnerable light considering she was one of the few female leads (in a Disney movie) to not have to be saved by a prince charming or male figure.

Once again, I really did like the concept of the movie. It worked perfectly with Moana’s exploration as a wayfinder, and soon-to-be chief. The Easter eggs from the last movie (though it did kind of get excessive) were fun to watch. But, I did not have a problem with the concept of the film. My problem was with how it was executed. From the music, the rushed plot, and confusing characters (looking at you, Bat Lady), “Moana 2” just was not what I had hoped it would be. Honestly, the “real Disney” being long gone is Disney’s current reputation. I can not say I disagree considering with this movie, Disney was testing my limits and “How Far I’ll Go.”