MOVIE REVIEW: MOANA 2

 

Moana journeys to the far seas of Oceania after receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors.

Director: Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand, David Derrick Jr.

Cast: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Alan Tudyk, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Hualālai Chung, Awhimai Fraser, Gerald Ramsey

Release Date: November 27, 2024

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical

Rated PG for action/peril.

Runtime: 1h 40m

Review:

Moana 2 delivers vibrant animation and an earnest central performance from Auliʻi Cravalho but it never manages to hit the heights of the original.  Directors Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand and David Derrick Jr. recreate the world and characters of the first while attempting to expand the cast of characters.  There's a solid sense of familiarity throughout as you are left waiting for it to finally take off with a rousing song or action set piece and finally forge its own path.  There's a slightly more mature theme in this entry as we watch Moana grow into a leader but the script never really takes advantage of the opportunity before moving on.  The new characters that join her on this voyage are little more than clichéd types who don't really add much to the story with a mute coconut warrior leaving the largest impression in the long run.  Awhimai Fraser's Matangi is initially poised as an intriguing villainess who's holding Maui captive, but her storyline is quickly resolved before the film can take full advantage of the character.  The story fumbles moments like this across the board as it holds the reunion between Cravalho's Moana and Johnson's Maui until the final act.  The film pops a bit once the central duo are back on screen together but never does anything new or interesting with them, instead being content to provide remixed versions of similar moments or songs.  The songs themselves aren't as memorable or catchy as those from the original, with the film sorely missing Lin-Manuel Miranda's talents.  Moana 2 is a solid enough family film, it was originally destined for Disney +, but it is missing that special spark of the original to make it memorable.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: MEAN GIRLS

 

New student Cady Heron gets welcomed into the top of the social food chain by an elite group of popular girls called the Plastics, ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina's ex-boyfriend, she soon finds herself caught in their crosshairs.

Director: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr.

Cast: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows

Release Date: January 12, 2024

Genre: Comedy, Musical

Rated PG-13 for sexual material, strong language, and teen drinking.

Runtime: 1h 52m

Mean Girls, The film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the original film, is a strange concoction of musical numbers paired with a slavish devotion to the original material that never lets it find its own footing. Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directorial debut is solid but noticeably listless for large portions of time, particularly when they are recreating scenes verbatim from the original film.  The  musical numbers fare far better, injecting a solid sense of energy into the film with well choregraphed sequences that are fun even if they aren't terribly memorable except for "World Burn" and "I'd Rather Be Me" being the best of the bunch.  The main cast lead by Angourie Rice are all solid with a few stand outs leaving a lasting impression.  Rice is adequately mousy to start before she starts her rise through the Plastics. Reneé Rapp, who played the role on Broadway, brings a different sort of energy to Regina than Rachel McAdams did in the original role which makes it one of the more interesting performances since it brings something new to the production.  Avantika and  Bebe Wood take over the Karen Shetty, who's even dumber than Karen Smith in the original which is a strange choice, and Gretchen Wieners roles and fare worse than Rapp.  Their performances are little more than hollow impressions of the originals with Wood's even emulating Lacey Chabert's vocal inflections multiple times.  Auliʻi Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey take over the Janis and Damian with both doing strong work even if Cravalho doesn't quiet have the edge that Lizzy Caplan brought to the role while Spivey steals every scene he's in.  Tina Fey and Tim Meadows return from the original film but both are surprisingly flat through with both just going through the motions which only reminds you of the fact that there's already a pretty solid version of the film elsewhere.  Most properties that go from screen to stage and back do their best to find their own voice while capturing the spirit, Hairspray comes to mind, but Mean Girls does the exact opposite which doesn't do this version any favors.

 

C