Moana (2016)

Another!

Moana (2016)
 Dir. Ron Clements, Don Hall
 Writ. Jared Bush, Ron Clements
 Stars: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson
 Rated PG
 103 mins.
 Animation, Comedy, Family
 IMDB 8.4

This was my third kids movie of the year, and it was a very lovely one!

Moana tells the story of a girl named Moana (shocker) who is the daughter of the Chief of her Island who always was drawn to the ocean. The water called for her all her life, and one day, her attachment to the ocean proves to be her calling to save her people. The legends say that long ago, the demi-god Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, the goddess who created life itself, and it brought on a darkness that crossed the oceans and the lands. When the crops start to die and the fish go away, Moana, drawn to the call of the ocean, suggests that they fish outside the lagoon of their island.

After an attempt at just that fails, Moana accepts that her father is right, that going beyond the reef is dangerous. However, when her grandmother takes her to a hidden cave and reveals that they were from a long history of voyagers, Moana decides to go seek Maui and force him to return the heart of Te Fiti.

I have to say that this was a very beautiful movie. The story was nice, but the animation was stunningly beautiful! Moana’s face alone was absolutely incredible. She is easily the most beautiful Disney character ever. The water was so alive and the beautiful trees were so wonderful.

This movie was beautiful, but most of all, it was hilarious. I swear to you, I think even without anything else, Hei Hei the stupid chicken would’ve been funny enough to carry the whole film. Maui, though. Oh God, Maui was amazing. I loved his tattoo’s sass as well. Also, Moana’s grandmother was amazing. “I’m the village crazy lady!” was soooo funny. This was easily the funniest kids movie I saw out of the three I saw this year, that’s for sure. I loved the pissed off coconut pirates, I loved the giant crab monster, I loved basically every moment of humor in this movie. It was sooooo funny and I freaking loved it.

However, I wouldn’t give it the praise my siblings did. Grayson, 15, says it’s “The best movie ever!” Dallas, 13, says “It’s the best movie of the year!”, and Remington, also 15, says, “It was great.”

I’m more in Remy’s camp, in that it was an amazing movie, but it still wasn’t even the best kids movie of the year (that’s still Finding Dory for me). Though I’ve seen so much praise for the songs, I just can’t remember a single one, they were so unmemorable. It isn’t even that I’m not humming them now, I can’t because I simply don’t remember a single song, they were so unremarkable. That isn’t to say they were BAD! I thoroughly enjoyed the songs, every one was nice! It just was not one with distinctly memorable songs. That said, it was moving, and beautiful, and I loved it.

My Rating: 7/10