Movie Review: Moana (2016)

Hello!

About two years ago, my little sister convinced me to watch Moana (2016). I was not eager to, because from the trailer I was pretty sure that I would not like it. I was correct. There were some good elements, but overall not the best. That is what I'm going to be talking about today.

I have now seen it three times, and it has taken that long (two years) to get all of my thoughts together. Well, here we go!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning.

Moana (2016):

A chieftain's young daughter longs to go out and explore the ocean, but her father has forbidden it.  The only one who seems to understand is her grandmother. With a mysterious darkness spreading, her grandmother tells her that the ocean chose her to get the demi-god Maui to return the heart of Te Fiti, the goddess of life. It is the only way that the darkness will stop. Moana has never sailed before, can she go so far from home?
"I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the ocean, and return the heart of Te Fiti."

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure.

Length: approx. 110 minutes.

Costumes: 6, native island garb, so a lot of people aren't wearing shirts. Nothing spectacular.

Script: 10. No bad words, I think!

Crew:

Directed by: Ron Clements, & John Musker.
Written by: Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Chris Williams, Don Hall, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell, & Jordan Kandell.

Starring the voices of:
Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana.

Dwayne Johnson as Maui.

See that hook? It is on every animal that he changes into.

Rachel House as Grandmother Tala.

Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa.
Temuera Morrison as Tui.
Christopher Jackson as Tui's singing voice.
Nicole Scherzinger as Sina.

Alan Tudyk as Heihei and a Villager.

Animation: 8, I'm not a fan of digital animation, but I have to say that they did a pretty good job with the ocean.

Music: 7. This has possibly some of the best Disney songs, but it also has (in my opinion) the worst two. Ugh, "You're Welcome" and "Shiny" are so terrible! But, I do love "How Far I'll Go" and "Moana/Ancestor Song".

Music by: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa'i & Mark Mancina.

Quotes: 8,
'"I am not a princess! I am the chieftain's daughter."
"Same difference."'

Oscars won: 2: Best Animated Feature, and Best Original Song ("How Far I'll Go").

Notes: There are several Easter eggs. One of which has to do with a chicken eating a "rock".

Storyline: 5. There is death, and several gross or crude things. Also, see below.

Good For: Anyone who is struggling with who they are.

Age Range: There are some scary scenes, but I would say that anyone over 6 years old would be fine. Maybe even younger, I mean, Disney does make these movies for everyone.

Overall Score: 7.

Bonus thoughts:
You might be wondering why the "Storyline" is rated so low. I really try not to be biased here, I try to just talk about my thoughts on the movie and not have them affect the actual score, but I couldn't ignore it here. There are several things that really bother me.
1. As a Catholic, I don't believe in "demi-gods" or other things like that. I know that this is fictional, but  it still is hard for me to watch.
2. The whole "magical tattoos" thing is really gross and freaks me out. As my sister repeatedly has told me, it is a part of their culture (actually, both of these things are), but it seemed unnecessary to emphasize it so much. There is one very small part, that many people probably haven't noticed, but it has kind of traumatized me. Moana is helping hold someone down while they get a tattoo. That definitely wasn't needed! Now, I am of the opinion that it is your body, you can do what you want with it, but I believe that God made us all in his image, why would we want to stain ourselves?
Now, I don't hate this movie. There are really good parts, too!

1. I love the character Moana. She is awesome.
2. Some of the songs are amazing!
3. The whole quest to find out who you are really resonates with me. I have been having a hard time with it recently, so it is good to hear that message.
4. The ending is beautiful.

There are bad things, there are good things. I just wish that the bad elements weren't there!


Oh, and I have a new header!! My wonderful header maker (my little sister) made this for me!

Ah, I just love it! Sorry to all of you who looked at my blog in the 24 hours that we were testing out different fonts. It was pretty bad. But, we finally figured out what to do. What do all of you think?


Thank you so much for reading! Please, I would love to chat with you about this movie, so tell me all of your thoughts!

MovieCritic