"Now I know, how far I'll go."
One Line: Classic Disney, but that's not a bad thing.
Moana must disobey her father's wishes and cross the sea to bring peace to the world.
Disney have come back hard with another all singing, all dancing movie, taking a real-life myth from Maori history and bringing it to animated life.
It is a great skill to make us fall in love with a character within the first few minutes, and Disney manages to do it almost every time. We share a connection with Moana. All this little girl wants to do is experience the deep water and travel the ocean; even if it is only for a bit. But this is something we have all experienced. Being confound by parents, who are too scared to let us go out and play.
Not only do we fall in love with Moana and her dream. A chicken and a pig. Again, something that can only be done by Disney. A pig and a chicken. Two creatures who can't talk, and we only ever want the best for the animals; one of which we only see how five minutes at the start and the end. The chicken was the one I was rooting for the whole way. The comedy 100% came from it. Whoever acted that chicken must have done hours of training to prepare for the role. An Oscar certainly is on it's way.
This film had a feeling of Hercules meets Sinbad (if you haven't seen the cartoon version of Sinbad, I urge you to right away).One character must force another into something they initially are not willing to do, helping to change that character for the better. This is one of the major aspects that makes it a classic Disney film.
The songs are memorable as well, fantastically catchy that shared through the whole cast. You do just think, how long can Disney keep coming up with these stay-in-your-head songs. I can think of plenty of music artists who will be wanting to know their secret.
Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock as you may know him, is compelling in his voice acting as Maui. You go from hating, to loving, to hating, back to loving his character. Obviously, this is hugely down to the script and movie makers, but the acting behind Maui easily plays a part, which is a massive challenge only over vocals. His song was done quite well too, not sung particularly beautifully, but it is perfect in keeping with the tone of his character.
Auli'i Cravalho, who plays Moana, was beautiful with her singing and voice acting. As said earlier, you are really drawn into her character, but her singing was fantastic. Her main song, How Far I'll Go, was superb, really setting the tone for the rest of the film. That's the song that helps you to relate to Moana and grabs your attention, and Auli'i Cravalho did it more than justice.
Moana? Well worth seeing. Classic Disney, so if that's not your thing, maybe you should give it a miss. Good storyline. Great songs.Interesting characters.
4/5.
Check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI