Moana 2

I was undecided about whether or not I wanted to see Moana 2 in theaters. I knew it would be visually fun to watch. But Dad wanted to go. He likes the original Moana, as do I. And he loves the fact that Maui's tattoos move. My dad, believe it or not, is half covered in tattoos. And Maui's tattoos are more entertaining than the ones in The Illustrated Man (another tale of moving tattoos, but more dangerous than Maui's).

It was fun to revisit old friends. And get to know some of the Motunui people better. I kinda wish it had a more interesting name than just "Moana 2" though. 

Spoilers. I need to create some kind of icon to put with my "spoiler warnings."

I didn't like Maui in the first movie. I've complained about it so much to other people, but I don't think I ever explained it here. Basically, I really love most of the first Moana. But the whole middle section annoyed the heck out of me. Mostly because of Maui. He literally tries to kill Moana, and never even apologizes, or acknowledges it. He locks her in a cave with no food or water, and it's mostly by dumb luck that she gets out. All I can say is that I eventually became accustomed to Maui.

Then the Jungle Cruise movie came out. I wasn't super excited about it, though it grew on me more after I went to the Amazon myself. Maui's actor plays the main guy in Jungle Cruise. I liked him in it. And because actors can make me like characters more, I think that may have gotten me to warm up to Maui slightly.

Moana 2 made me like Maui more. I wrote about this a really really long time ago, but there's a topic in film (and other media) that always hits me hard in the gut. It's when the tough, unflappable characters are brought low. That happened in Moana 2, when the crew rescued the drowning Maui. To be fair,  Maui got his @$$ handed to him in the first Moana, clobbered by a giant crab. And while it is hard to watch, I didn't like Maui in the first movie, so didn't really feel it. 

 

Funny story interlude. Some people at Fanime have awesome character costumes. A few years ago, I saw a guy dressed as Maui. I asked to take a picture of him, so I could show my dad. Maui posed and let me take the shot. 

"Thank you," I said. 

"You're welcome." 

Oh man, I'd stepped right into that one. I was kinda infuriated, but also very impressed. He got me good.

 

It's nice that they gave the coconuts (kakamora) more depth. 

The music didn't sound same like the same song-writer from the first movie. And indeed it wasn't the same person. It sounds like Lin Manual Miranda just had too much on his plate. Though the songs were pretty good. I won't be able to judge until I get to know the new ones better though.

It was pretty to watch. But it left me asking "why" over and over.  

Why did Maui lose his tattoos? Was it supposed to represent that he lost his powers, or something? It seemed like the only reason to do that. But it also didn't really mean anything. He was only without his powers for a couple minutes, and I don't think they would have been any help during that two minutes. He'd already lost his hook.

What's with the thunder god and bat goddess? We don't really hear anything about how they got to where they are, and what happened to them. Are they trying to imply that a Moana 3 is on the way? And why were they going so far out of their way to make the bat lady seem evil? She would have been really cool if she made more sense. 

I think this is unfair, but I almost feel like Moana's sister was just put there for motivation factors. 

Also, something about the way the animate the faces is different. It's strange, which my just be because I'm used to the first movie. 

Did they really need to pull the "On no, Moana's dead!" card? They already did that with Elsa and Olaf. I didn't buy it then either. We know you're not going to kill off the princess, Disney. (Moana says she's not a princess, but she's a "Disney Princess"). The only thing I liked about that scene is that it was good seeing Maui's vulnerable side. All the rest of it, I was just going, "really?"

And what were they trying to imply with her tattoos? Is she supposed to be a demigod now, like Maui? 

Ah well. As far as sequels go, this one was pretty good.