This past Wednesday I finally got to see Moana! The new Disney 'princess' film that I've been waiting for, for a long time. Ever sine it was announce with the concept art, I was really excited for Moana to come out, another different type of princess for us to see! Especially when I found out Lin Manuel-Miranda was a part of the music I was completely excited for it. I'm a bit of a Lin fangirl ever since my friend introduced me to Hamilton over a year ago now (which I love a bit too much). Also if you have not seen Moana and do not want any sort of spoilers please don't read on as I will be discussing plot points in this review.
So, now for the review, firstly I'll talk about the music! Disney songs are what I listen to often because I just love them, I'm a massive fan of Musicals in general (which I think Disney made me after a childhood full of West End worthy songs in animated films) so I just love any songs that take part in the narrative of a story. One of the best songs I feel in recent years to come out of a Disney film has got to be 'How Far I'll go' it is a classic 'want' song just like 'Part of that world', 'Reflection', 'Go the Distance' which are all also amazing songs. I love 'How Far I'll go' and I'm slightly obsessed with it, Auli'i Cravaiho has an absolutely wonderful voice, shes an amazing talent at only 15 (14 when the film was made) I'm so glad Disney chose her to play Moana as I think she is perfect. Another of my favourite songs from the soundtrack is 'You're Welcome' I mean, whats better than the rock singing and rapping? I also love 'I Am Moana (song of the ancestors) because it is highly emotive and is one of my favourite parts of the whole movie, where Moana realises her worth with the help of her grandmother.
Overall I really enjoyed the narrative of the film, It was easy enough to follow and quite a classic one in terms of Disney Princess', they long for more than they have and have to face adversity from others (in this case Moana's father the chief of the tribe) before they can achieve their dreams. I loved learning more about Polynesian culture, from what I understand Disney did a lot of work to ensure they really captured Polynesian culture in a respective way for this film. I love that we go an insight into Moana's Island and the people that live there as well as the animals that dwell there. One of my only downsides about the film was the fact Pua, the adorable little pig, wasn't in the film a lot however I understand it would've been more difficult to have him in it a lot especially as he seemingly became scared of going out to sea when he and Moana crashed in their canoe. Hei Hei however pleasantly surprised me as I ended up loving him a lot more than I thought I would, he was very loveable and a great comedy character who bought comedy to places you didn't think he could, but also ended up helping in the end. Alan Tudyk really brings Hei Hei to life and is basically a Disney legend at this point! Lending his voice acting talents to Hei Hei, King Candy (Wreck It Ralph), Duke of Wessleton (Frozen), Alistair Krei (Big Hero Six), Duke Weasleton (Zootopia/Zootropolis) and he's also starring in the newest addition to the Star Wars universe 'Rogue One - A Star Wars Story) as droid K-2SO.
Auli'i Cravaiho really steals the show for me as Moana as I think she is just a perfect fit to play the princess..sorry...daughter of the chief. She has great comedic timing in her acting and I just love how much emotion you can hear her lend to the character she is voicing. I think she is a real talent and will go on to be very successful. Obviously, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was a great addition to the film as Maui the demi God, I really loved that this film was more of a comedy than anything else because I feel like we all needed a film that was funny (although tear jerking all the while) after all thats happened this year. Maui was really bought to life by Johnson and was just as main a part of the film as the title character. I like that we get to see Maui move from being closed off in the beginning and disbelieving of Moana to putting his faith in her right in the end.
The animation within this film is absolutely stunning, It is crazy how amazing animation has become with almost photo realistic water and Moana's hair is AMAZING, properly. It is so seemless and beautiful sometimes you forgot you're watching an animated film.
One last thing I'll mention about this film is the fact that Moana is a strong female character, which is obvious for me to mention, but she for me is a fantastic role model. She follows her heart, what she believes in and the fact she can be a female and doesn't have to marry 'to become chief' is so refreshing to see.
So, there we have it, my review of Moana. I know, I'm really not the best at writing and I should really have structured this a lot more but I just wrote my feelings as I remembered certain things about the film. Thank you for reading my review of Moana and if you haven't seen it yet I highly suggest seeing it as soon as possible, It definitely continues the fantastic run of amazing Disney films that have arrived in recent years and is sure to go down as a classic. I can't wait for it to be released on Blu-ray so I can watch it over and over again.
TTFN
Lauren
Auli'i Cravaiho really steals the show for me as Moana as I think she is just a perfect fit to play the princess..sorry...daughter of the chief. She has great comedic timing in her acting and I just love how much emotion you can hear her lend to the character she is voicing. I think she is a real talent and will go on to be very successful. Obviously, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was a great addition to the film as Maui the demi God, I really loved that this film was more of a comedy than anything else because I feel like we all needed a film that was funny (although tear jerking all the while) after all thats happened this year. Maui was really bought to life by Johnson and was just as main a part of the film as the title character. I like that we get to see Maui move from being closed off in the beginning and disbelieving of Moana to putting his faith in her right in the end.
The animation within this film is absolutely stunning, It is crazy how amazing animation has become with almost photo realistic water and Moana's hair is AMAZING, properly. It is so seemless and beautiful sometimes you forgot you're watching an animated film.
One last thing I'll mention about this film is the fact that Moana is a strong female character, which is obvious for me to mention, but she for me is a fantastic role model. She follows her heart, what she believes in and the fact she can be a female and doesn't have to marry 'to become chief' is so refreshing to see.
So, there we have it, my review of Moana. I know, I'm really not the best at writing and I should really have structured this a lot more but I just wrote my feelings as I remembered certain things about the film. Thank you for reading my review of Moana and if you haven't seen it yet I highly suggest seeing it as soon as possible, It definitely continues the fantastic run of amazing Disney films that have arrived in recent years and is sure to go down as a classic. I can't wait for it to be released on Blu-ray so I can watch it over and over again.
TTFN
Lauren
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