I admit, I just wanted to be hugged by the Rock in this picture….

Well here’s the latest Disney film with music and various magical situations which on first glance, is Disney’s latest attempt to try and further capitalise on Frozen’s success from all those centuries ago. Not only content with getting so much merchandise out the door, but ensuring that Let it Go was never let go by anyone, with various people happy to break into that song at a moment’s notice.

Now for anyone expecting something different like what we witnessed in the frankly superb Zootopia released this year, Moana sadly at first seems to fit a ton of the same tropes as you would expect to. Our new Princess / not-Princess Moana played by Auli’i Cravalho, constantly is fascinated with the water surrounding her island home as she grows up, especially when it seems the water is alive.

Again, no idea why the water is alive but who cares? It fits the theme of legend etc they are going for so I will roll with it.

Moana’s parents (the village leaders of course) are not happy with this and keep her from doing whatever she wants to. She’s banned from exploring the world via the water because water is bad and she should be happy where she is, being the leader of her village people (come on, I had to write that!) and all that jazz. Moana’s grandma though is pretending to be crazy and of course indulges Moana in doing whatever she wants to do. Moana has friends in the guise of a brain damaged chicken and a little pig who seems to act more like a dog! The chicken clearly needs to be fried or something as it really is one of the most useless characters in the entire film, but damn me if he’s not funny!

But soon enough, brown solids hit the oscillating device when everything on the island paradise starts to die, this emboldens our heroine after being shown ships big enough to escape to the sea with. The reason why she does go on a quest is to stop sh*t happening on an island due to a demi-god played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stealing the green heart thingy from a different island giving life to the world years before. Now the island is dead and a giant molten lava monster surrounds the place, and slowly but surely the world has been dying but it hadn’t been noticed until now.

Wait, you’re telling Trump got elected? You’re on your own Moana!

So in essence, the epic journey of discovery and chracter growth is set, as Moana finds Dwayne Demi-God Johnson stuck on a random rock, and promptly doesn’t get along with him. But I tell you what; Having the Rock sing “You’re Welcome” sold the film to me, as it was very much unexpected and was actually pretty catchy and funny. There are many excellents scenes in the film, from the two adventurers escaping a band of tiny cute / killer coconut pirates, to a surprise appearance and song by Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement (seriously, when he starts singing, you just find yourself thinking about the show, the tone is really from it) later to further the plot.

We also see different sides and growth with the major characters too, that as they progress on the journey, they are becoming more as a result of hanging around each other. This has become typical with Disney films of late and remarkably, not boring. The whole premise is simple enough yet entertaining, and honestly the first two thirds of the film will keep you going. It’s sadly the last third where it kind of goes off the rails a bit with a couple of plot points you see coming a mile off (due to the formula they like to stick to) and then the ending being a bit too vomit inducingly sweet.

But then again that’s kind of how these films go, so shouldn’t be entirely unexpected. The acting and writing is pretty good throughout, and the songs are catchy if not as memorable as Let it Go of course. But that’s a really hard act to follow and they do a good job here. Would I recommend this? For families, sure thing it’s right up there as something for all to enjoy, even if it’s a bit too formulaic for its own good. It’s bright, colourful and interesting to explore something else in terms of culture and story. All in all, a good film.

WARNING: You may also want a bag to be sick into for the ending, though that might be just me.