With only a decade between the animated version and this new live-action take on Moana, the humour remains cheeky and the story topical. A number of the voice actors from the first version also return, and a new actor plays the title character. Australian thespian Catherine Laga’aia repeatedly beat out 30,000 other actors to land the role, and she is indeed charming.
Dwayne Johnson AKA the Rock, returns as the demigod Maui, and this time he arrives with a head full of luxurious locks! He and Catherine have an easy and very modern rapport, and their riffing off each other provides the film’s backbone of humour. Jemaine Clement continues to inhabit the visage of the giant monster coconut crab, Tamatoa, and the look is bedazzled and spectacularly over-the-top.
Even though this work is considered live action, the majority of the scenery is computer-generated, and it looks spectacular, as do the sea creatures. The Kakamora, those pint-sized, savage pirates, are more cute than threatening and remind one of the Ewoks from the Star Wars world. The monsters of the deep are mostly absent, and the most serious opposition comes from Te Kā, a fiery monster with a softer side.
There is no real departure from the storyline from the first film and fans of that work will feel right at home. The breaking out of the occasional song is less obtrusive than most and does little to dilute the film’s forward momentum. Sitting next to the little one was a lot of fun, and seeing her look of wonderment at the spectacle that was on screen was the highlight of the evening for me.
Rob Hudson
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