MOANA

(director: Thomas Kail; screenwriters: Jared Bush, Dana Ledooux Miller; cinematographer: Óscar Faura; editor: Melanie Oliver; music: Mark Mancina, Lin-Manuel Miranda; cast: Catherine Laga’aia (Moana), Dwayne Johnson (Maui), Rena Owen (Gramma Tala), John Tui (Chief Tui), Frankie Adams (Sina), Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa-voice), Amaya Masoli (Moana at 8); Runtime: 115; MPAA Rating: PG; producers: Dwayne Johnson, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Lin-Manuel Miranda; Walt Disney Pictures; 2026)

“A Disney-live action remake.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
A Disney-live action remake, coming ten years after the popular original animated film. It’s directed by Thomas Kail (“Hamilton”) and written by Jared Bush, and Dana Ledooux Miller. It tells a classic hero’s tale that has the same music as the original. There’s no reason for the remake, since it tells the same story as the original.

The story is set in ancient times. The Princess Moana (Amaya Masoli at 8, Catherine Laga’aia as a teen), a Polynesian, leaves her Pacific island of Motunui as a teenager to find the rogue shape-shifting demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson (Maui) who stole a valuable stone from her island that protects them from the ocean. She’s helped in her venture by her feisty Gramma Tala (Rena Owen), her father the Chief (John Tui), her mother Sina (Frankie Adams), and the coconaut crab voiced by Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement). She also brings along her playful pet rooster, Heihei. Moana’s mission is to return to her island with the stolen heart of a goddess, the Te Fiti, who embodies an island, and thereby will save her people from their fear of the ocean.

The cartoonish film blends together the music, language, myths and history from several Pacific Island nations. The songs are not too memorable. They are written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (played Alexander Hamilton in the Broadway show).

It’s a technically sound and a well-acted production, but has no heart, no soul and no surprises.

REVIEWED ON 7/17/2026  GRADE: C+
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