Moana 2 reviews call Disney sequel a pale imitation of first film

Moana 2 is soaring into cinemas this Christmas, and critics have given their verdict on the film ahead of time calling the sequel a satisfying if overly familiar return to the Disney franchise.

The movie finds Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) going on another adventure to help save the island of Motufetu from the god Nalo's wrath, the island once connected everyone and is where her wayfinding ancestors first began. So, off Moana goes alongside trusty deity friend Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and new companions like Loto (Rose Matafeo) and Moni (Hualālai Chung).

Critics had a mixed response to the film, with some arguing that it felt episodic which was a result of its origins as a Disney+ series before it was turned into a film, and that the songs weren't as catchy as Lin-Manuel Miranda's score for the first film. There were also those that loved the film wholeheartedly regardless of the issues some found with it.

Variety's Owen Gleiberman said that the sequel felt "engineered to strike very familiar beats" and that the issue was that Moana, as a character, doesn't have much growing left to do after the events of the first film.

"Moana has already grown up into a heroine who found her faith, believes in herself, and all that other good stuff. She doesn’t have much inner journey left," the critic wrote. "So Moana 2, far more than the first film, becomes a non-interior animated action fairy tale."

Read more:

Everything we know about Moana 2

Wicked has sparked a big debate over cinema etiquette

The highest-grossing animated movies of all time

While the film is "a standard impressive technical flair", the critic added that most of the music sounds "like the imitation-Lin-Manual knockoffs they are".

The critic added: “Moana 2 is an okay movie, an above-average kiddie roller-coaster, and a piece of pure product in a way that the first Moana, at its best, transcended. The new movie wears you down to win you over; it’s a just efficient enough delivery system for follow-your-dreams inspiration to be a major holiday hit."

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw was not taken with the movie either, writing that "it’s a vacuum-packed slice of digital IP content, a perky ChatGPT iteration of love, laughter and belonging". Bradshaw succinctly, and rather bluntly, put it: "It is all inoffensive enough, but weirdly lacking in anything genuinely passionate or heartfelt, all managed with frictionless smoothness and algorithmic efficiency."

While Deadline's Dessi Gomez kept things simple by writing: "Between the universal theme of connection at its heart and humor for the whole family, Moana 2 makes a satisfying splash as a sequel."

The Telegraph's Tim Robey was more positive in his praise of the film, comparing it to Wicked and arguing that the Disney movie was better than the Wizard of Oz prequel musical and put it "to shame in every way" thanks to its music.

Robey wrote: "Moana 2 exhilarates with its tunefulness, and absolutely romps along from the moment the heroine gets off the island, bound for another adventure on her trusty outrigger canoe."

Evening Standard's India Block was also quite taken with the movie, giving it five stars and writing: "The plot whips along at a rate of knots, packing in action sequences and heart-soaring songs. Moana 2 was reportedly originally planned as an animated series for Disney+, and while the narrative is somewhat episodic in nature it still hangs together as a single epic odyssey."

Block argued that the music is just as good as the original, and said: "It’s hard for Beyond and Can I Get A Chee Hoo? to immediately over-write How Far I’ll Go and You’re Welcome when you’ve had almost a decade of re-listens. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear prove adept and emotional songwriters that can channel Lin-Manuel Miranda’s (who did not return as a lyricist for the sequel) style to keep continuity without veering into pastiche."

Moana 2 premieres in UK cinemas on Friday, 29 November.