This was such a fun movie!

Was it different than the original? Not really, but it was nice to see Polynesian people performing on-screen. Also, seeing a new actress portray Moana was lovely.

There were a couple extra scenes which I liked that we got. One around the middle and another essentially at the end.

One thing I know people have talked about is how The Rock looks as Maui. At first it did seem off. I was wondering why they didn’t just find an actor who looked close to Maui’s look in animation. But I also remembered that Maui’s character design was basically inspired by The Rock’s late grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia. So, I was content with Dwayne portraying Maui. He also just seemed like he was having a lot of fun in the role.

Catherine Laga’aia was great in the role of Moana. She brought the same energy as Auli’i Cravalho did in the animation. She was expressive as an actor and, of course, a fantastic singer.

The visuals were wonderful as well. I loved seeing familiar places in a more realized way. There was one sequence near the early part of the movie that had really great visual effects mixed with the actors and it made me feel like I was watching something like Space Jam in that the animation and people worked together on screen so well that it seemed seamless.

The music was another start of the movie as it was before. I think there was one new song but it was during the credits. The other songs were the same, but sounded just as good. The song in the beginning of the credits was of the trio of Auli’i, Dwayne and Catherine singing and it was beautiful. It was released a couple weeks ago, so I’d heard a couple seconds of it. I didn’t want to listen to the whole thing till the movie.

The couple extra scenes were with the villagers. I liked the additions.

Generally, I had a great time with this movie in the same way that I had a great time watching the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movoe from a few months ago. It brought me back to a decade ago watching Moana for the first time. The emotional moments hit as strongly as they did originally. If you’re expecting something vastly different, then just watch the original again. If you want to revel in the new faces and voices, go for it! It was a joy.

–

–

Mid-credit scene: Nope

End-credit scene: Nope