TL;DR – For better or worse, it is almost beat-for-beat the same film as 2016.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Moana Review Introduction

Well, here we are with a live-action remake of an animated film that was only released ten years ago. Disney’s track record with live-action remakes is not great, and that is before we even consider the ones they quietly dumped onto Disney+ like straight-to-DVD sequels. Which puts me in a kind of odd situation, as I am on record with how much I like the original Moana; indeed, it is still one of My Personal Top 10 Animated Films of All Time, and I even kind of liked the flawed sequel. However, last year’s How to Train Your Dragon showed that you can make that transition work, so I am here to see if You’re Welcome lands as well in 2026 as it did in 2016.  

So, to set the scene, deep in the Pacific Ocean, the demi-god Maui (Dwayne Johnson) attempted to harness the power of life from the goddess Te Fiti. He steals her heart, but instead of having the power over life, Maui is instantly defeated by the lava demon Te Kā and the heart and his magical fishing hook are flung into the ocean, separating Maui from his power and releasing death into the ocean. Or at least that’s the story that Tala (Rena Owen) tells to scare the children of the village, but it has been so many years since then, and surely these are just stories. But it is these stories that drive Moana (Catherine Laga’aia) to see what exists outside the reef that rings her island; however, her father Tui (John Tui), the chief, has banned people from leaving the island and the protection of the reef because of the dangers that lurk in the open ocean. But when death and disease come to her island, Moana will have to make a journey past what she knows and into the great abyss that surrounds every island.  

The Cast

Where Moana excels on this front is in its casting, with only Dwayne Johnson & Jemaine Clement returning from the original cast, There was a lot of heavy lifting required, and the cast more than delivered. Catherine Laga’aia entirely steals the show, which was not easy given who she is working across from. The hardest role to replace for me was going to be Gramma Tala, but Rena Owen knocked it out of the park. She makes an immediate impact and creates an emotional touchstone for the film. John Tui gives Chief Tui a slightly more rounded performance than in the first film, and it was nice having Frankie Adams’ presence there, as you know, to take anything on and win. Now, does Dwayne Johnson hit as hard in this film? No. Is that wig distracting? Of course. However, his performance still works, and the character is not nearly as bad as that first trailer made it out to be.

Déjà vu

There are many options that you can take when implementing a remake, and the option that Moana chose is to basically put together a beat-for-beat remake of the original film, but with a couple of small tweaks here and there to pump things up a little. Some of these work, such as Tui admitting he knows about the secret boats, and some of them don’t, looking at you awkward Maui mankind segue. The plus side of the direct remake is that you know you are working with metaphorical fire already, but then you also have to live up to the legacy that stands before you. This means that they hit every single plot point in the exact same order. There is no deviation other than taking a different spin on the famous ‘You’re Welcome’ sequence, and I think they made the Kakamora more Minion-like. They also wisely learned the lesson of Aladdin and decided to sneak their new original songs into the credits, rather than trying to force them inelegantly into the narrative somewhere.  

The Visuals

I will say that Moana’s greatest triumphs and biggest drawbacks come from its visual presentation and how it constructs its visual landscape. On the whole, this is a well-filmed movie. The presentation is fine; they do capture the world quite well, and even outdid the original film in some respects, most notably the lava construction of Te Kā. Indeed, watching a full Wayfinding convoy race through the seas was electric in real life and honestly made me a touch emotional in the moment. However, quite often, it was painfully obvious that they filmed a lot of this film in Georgia. There are some clear backdrop/volume/rear-projection moments that fundamentally undercut the vibe they are going for and make a clear distinction when they are using on-location elements. Also, I am concerned about the use of AI after watching through the credits and seeing some AI pipelines referenced.   

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Moana? Did you like the first film? If yes, then I think you will also have a good time here; if no, then there is nothing new to offer you here. I know I could be very cynical about this rushed live-action remake, as it is clearly a cash grab, probably to help support Disney’s Hawai’i hotels. However, I have to say that it was a joy to watch an all-Polynesian cast triumph on screen, and I won’t get cynical over that.     

Have you watched Moana? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Moana, we would recommend How to Train Your Dragon to you because it understands how to bring an animated film into live-action without losing what made it special in the first place.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Moana

Directed by – Thomas Kail
Screenplay by – Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller
Based on – Moana created by Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Chris Williams, Don Hall, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell, & Jordan Kandell
Music & Lyrics by – Mark Mancina, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Opetaia Foa’i
Cinematography by – Óscar Faura
Edited by – Melanie Oliver
Production/Distribution Companies – Seven Bucks Productions, Flynn Picture Co., 5000 Broadway Productions & Walt Disney Pictures
Starring – Catherine Laga’aia, Dwayne Johnson, Rena Owen, John Tui, Frankie Adams, Jemaine Clement, & Michael Alisa
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: 6; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: PG; United States: PG