Moana 2016 Film Review

Believe it or not Disney is still in the habit of remaking films that don't really need remaking in the first place. With there latest live action remake actually coming out this week and well as I really love the film that it's remaking and loath it's very recently released second film it really only made sense that I talk about the original film as a tie in review for the remaking and so then join me as I talk about the film that has alot of truly breathtaking images in it with the film in question being called simply just "Moana" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when her Island is threatened by a blight that is killing everything on the island the daughter of the chief has to go and get a demi-god to return an artifact that will not only save her home but the world as well. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The films plot is quite frankly a really refreshing plot as instead of the main character going on an adventure for something that they want here we have someone that is doing to actively help people and help those that she loves. In all fairness when people say that this films plot does take a while to get going they really do mean as it does take a good chunk of this films running time for the plot to really get going but again in all fairness it takes that long as the film is setting up alot of things that do pay off later on in the film with plot of this film being one that is quite fun to watch and while it's not as good as the plot of say Toy Story for example it's easily alot more better then any of the plots of the more modern Disney animated films as there is quite alot of thought and effort put into making this films plot work as unlike what the remake will have to do the makers of this film had to go the extra mile to make it work and it is something that does pay off in the end with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana , Dwayne Johnson as Maui , Rachel House as Tala and The Book Of Boba Fett star Temuera Morrison as Tui. Also starring in this film is Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa , singer Nicole Scherzinger as Sina , Firefly and Zootopia star Alan Tudyk as Heihei and Villager No. 3 , Oscar Kightley as a fisherman , Troy Polamalu as Villager No. 1 and Puanani Cravalho  as Villager No. 2.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. It really doesn't need to be said just how good the actors are in this film as yeah alot of them are really good and while there are some that aren't that good like for example Nicole Scherzinger this is something that does make sense as she isn't a trained actor she's a singer and therefor of course she won't be that good in this film but those that are good in this film are great as you can tell that all of this films actors really did give it there best shot. With the best actor in this film being Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana as she is just simply the perfect fit for this character so much so that it is hard to picture anyone else really voicing the character as she does bring alot of charm to the role that does go along way in making what might have been seen as being a really unlikable character seem all the more likable with it being helped by the fact that she and Dwayne Johnson do have some great chemistry together and heck Auli*i even gets not only some of the best songs in the film but alot of the films best jokes and she pulls them just so naturally with it feeling like that she put alot of her own personality into the character of Moana which is something that really does shine through in her performance. With the acting that's in this film really being helped by the fact that this films acting is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is the legenda and the greats that are currently over at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To say that thus films animation is not only really good but also holds up really well even all of these later is a huge understatement as both of them are true with the films animation being so good that you would be forgiven for thinking that this film came out last year with it holding up really well even tho by all rights it should have started to show its age by this point in time. With the thing that really stood out to me on this most recent viewing of the film being the colors as the film has these vibrant colors that just pop out of the screen with there being a good mixture of greens and blues just in the backgrounds alone and yet they all feel natural to the world of this film and heck there's even alot of color in the sea itself and this is something that does tell us the audience that the makers of this film did put alot of thought and attention in this films animation with it feeling like that they went out of there way almost to make the film look as visually stunning as they could have done, heck even the characters have alot of really nice movements to them which yes granted can be seen as being over the top and zany alot of the time but at the same time tho there movements do look really good with the more zany animation helping to sell you on the films comedy and to be fair to this film it only really uses the more zany animation when its telling a joke as the characters have almost realistic movements during the rest of the film.

There is one aspect of the film that till ten years later still stands out as being the most beautiful aspect of the film. That being the scene where a young Moana is allowed to walk into the middle of the ocean with there being this really beautiful piece of music playing in the background this one scene for some odd reason has stuck with me all of these years due to how stunning that it is and heck the film even used it as its teaser trailer as that's how good that this one very quick scene is as it does show from a very early age that Moana is a kind and caring person that cares more about the safety of animals then she does herself with it being this aspect of her character that might have been what caused the ocean to choose her to help to restore the heart of Te Fiti. While she did of course over the decade since that one scene believe it to be nothing more then a dream we do still see that her and the ocean do still share this bond that she can't really explain even to those that she cares about the most and the fact that the ocean even all of these later never really chose anyone else to take her place does show that she was always going to be this kind hearted person and heck we even see her risk her life for animals twice more when she's older as she rescues her pet pig Pua when he falls off her boat during her first attempt to sail away from her home and again when she and Maui are attacked by the Kakamora where she risks her life to save Heihei, no matter how stunning the rest of the film is both from a visual standpoint and from a storytelling standpoint nothing will ever be able to top that one scene with Young Moana walking out into the middle of the ocean as that's where we get to see just how truly magical that a film like this well and truly is with it even giving us a good look at just how vast and possibly dangerous that the ocean itself is and while we do get to see the oceans more playful side with both Moana and Maui and to a lesser extent Heihei it's only here in this ne scene that we also get to see just how dangerous that it could be as we do see animals that could very easily Moana if they really wanted to.

This film is a musical film that does have songs written by Mark Mancina , Opetaia Foaʻi and Lin-Manuel Miranda with Mark even providing the score for the film itself. The songs themselves are just as good as any other song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and heck to be frank it is the one thing that makes the remake worth watching as he is doing the songs for that film as well, with all of the songs in this film being not only well written with alot of them perfectly capturing the Polynesian spirit and sound but alot of them are well sung as well as while we all know that they used alot of autotune for Dwayne Johnson they didn't use any for Auliʻi and it is somethin that really does show as Auliʻi does have the perfect singing voice for this character with her singing the ever loving heck out all of the songs that she is given to sing. While it would be so tempting to say that something like "How Far I'll Go" is the best song in this film which to be fair it is a good song "Where You Are" is easily one of the more fun songs in the film as well as being perhaps the films best song as it does serve as a good way to introduce us to Moana's father and what his character is like but it also sets up what Moana's character is like and the world that she lives all the while still being this fun and almost poppy type of song and while "You're Welcome" does also serve that same purpose that song is nothing more then a comic relief song which there is nothing wrong with that it's just that "Where Your Are" also served that same purpose with that sing also serving to advance the films plot in it's visuals with it being helped that the song is well sung by all involved and while "How I'll Go" is still a good song in it's own right heck i'll still sing that song whenever it comes on it felt like it was to obvious of a choice to claim that it was the best song in the film.

This film it could be argued does continue the more modern approach to Disney animated storytelling by having a surprise twist villain. As while we do know that Te Ka is in the film and that they are after the heart of Te Fiti what we don't know that is that Te Ka is Te Fiti itself which is a good twist to have in the film with Te Ka making for a pretty creepy villain with the makers of this film even getting away with having some shots in the film hat could be considered to scary to the films target audience which was something that does work for the film as villains should be scary and given the fact that for a large portion of the films running time we are not meant to be know that the two characters are one in the same giving the character this really creepy look and some shots that could have been ripped right out of an R rated horror film do oddly enough work in this films favor. As does the fact that technically Te Ka is the good guy of the film with Maui being the bad guy as it was due to him stealing her heart in the first place that turned Te Fiti into Te Ka with Te Ka just wanting to get her heart back and while she did become corrupted over the decades she was never intentionally evil as she had forgotten the fact that she was a good being at first whereas with Maui while he did have good intentions as he wanted to give the humans the power to create life itself the way that he did it was something that did cause the whole film to happen in the first place and while he does apologize to her Te Fiti at the end of the film it doesn't really take away from the fact that he was the one that started this whole mess in the first place, Te Ka tho is something that does make for a really cool villain as it have the power to throw fire at people whilst being bigger then Godzilla and heck a circuit based on Te Ka would make for a fun race on Disney Speedstorm.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty seven minuets and twelve seconds. Which to be fair to this film is a solid amount of running time for the film to have and while the film does yes take a while to really get going once it does get going not a second of screen time feels wasted that is minus the song "Shiny" with almost every single scene in the film being about advancing the plot forwards and yet at the same time you don't really notice that that's what the film is doing as the film is alot of fun to watch in the first place and while it would have helped the film out a little bit if the film was that tiny bit longer as then it would allow for breathing room in the plot the film works as well as it is due to how tight knit that the films plot to cover that amount of running time in the first place. Heck the film does even use its running time wisely as the film does add in things that do develop the films plot be it a throw away line from Tala near the start of the film where she wishes that she chose the right tattoo as she wants to come back as a certain animal only for that one line to turn into the most heartwarming moments later on in the film where it's discovered that she did exactly that bottom line being there are scenes all throughout this film that might seem like pointless scenes at first but then come back to effect the film in someway , shape or form and if the film was t tighten up it's beginning it's those scenes that would be the first to go as at first it does appear as if they add nothing major to he films plot. Heck even the films characters get alot of character development in this film like Tui learning to get over his fear of the water something which had been a deep routed fear of his and yet he does learn to over come it by the films end or with Maui learning to be less egotistical and be more humble or even Moana learning how to be hero when it matters the most and how to be wayfinder something which her people had forgotten how to do and yet its due to what she goes throw in this film that she learns all of those skills but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this films comedy at times being laugh out loud funny which is helped by the fact that its during this films more comedic moments that we do get that typical zippy and zany animation and yet it doesn't hurt the comedy rather it helps it as it does show us the audience that these characters can be goofy at times and t be fair to this film it does know when to stop telling jokes as it doesn't tell a single joke during the films third act rather it just lets those dramatic scenes sit with us. With the best joke in the whole entire film being whenever Maui throws Moana of her boat as we get to see the ocean get more and more frustrated by finding unique ways to put her back on the boat with Maui getting more and more frustrated that she keeps on coming which is a small thing but it is the small things that help to make this small running joke be all the more better as by all rights this running joke shouldn't have been that funny but due to the fact that the makers of this film don't over do it and only do it a small handful of times it does become a really cute and funny running joke throughout the early part of the film, heck you could even make the argument that due to when this joke mostly takes place it does help to form apart of Maui's character development as he is still trying to be this ego filled person who just thinks of himself and yet due to the fact that this girl does keep on coming back to him he is almost forced into changing his ways with the rest of the films jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall there is no point in Disney even trying to remake this film as the whole point of a remake is to do the original put better and you simply can't remake something that was perfect in the first place with this film still to this very day being something that people love so much so that it's just been announced that a third animated Moana film is in very early development as that's just how good that this film is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 10 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.