Live-Action “Moana” Delivers the Same Familiar Story That Families Can Still Enjoy

It’s no secret that the live action Disney remakes have been getting mixed results lately. Overall audience reactions to the live-action remakes have shifted from initial curiosity and massive success to severe fatigue and outright rejection (“Snow White”). While earlier remakes have received praise, as of late, modern viewers view the remake trend as uninspired cash grabs. Now, while a “Moana” remake wasn’t nearly necessary since the original is barely a decade old, it does have some fun moments that children and the rest of the family could enjoy.

In Disney’s live-action reimagining of the beloved animated adventure, Moana answers the Ocean’s call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with the infamous demigod Maui on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people.

The latest Disney live-action remake “Moana” delivers a very faithful rendition of the acclaimed animated story (since it’s pretty much a carbon copy of the 2016 film), yet it can still be a fun watch for families and probably anyone who liked the first movie. While a shot-for-shot remake can be fun to watch (like last year’s “How To Train Your Dragon”), it doesn’t mean it will exactly work all the time. 

The absolute stand out aspect for this new movie is definitely newcomer Catherine Laga’aia’s performance as Moana. She brings a lot of bright energy and expressiveness to this live-action counterpart of the iconic role and her singing is absolutely incredible.

 Her rendition of “How Far I’ll Go” is definitely an emotional high point and the young actress did a great job bringing this animated character to life. Now while Dwayne Johnson reprises his role of Maui from the animated movies and absolutely brought all of his energy voicing the character in the previous movies, it almost seemed like he lost a bit of that energy in this movie. 

Another great aspect of the movie is that this live-action remake allows for a deeper display of the real world Pacific Island culture. In this iteration of the story, we see some very intricately detailed costume designs that do look incredible and bringing in some Polynesian heritage elements to the story is a great touch.

While a lot of the stand out/memorable moments from the 2016 animated movie are pretty much the same in this one, this new iteration actually made a few moments even better, such as the expanded opening and deeper backstory of Maui, Te Fiti and the lava demon, the scene-stealing Tamatoa (the character even stole the show in the animated original) and this version brings more profound emotional growth to the Gramma Tia character and her moments with Moana are easily my favorite moments.

Now, the new “Moana” can be a bit of fun for the family and they’ll probably have a great time with the movie. But, I think a live action remake being released a decade after the first movie and almost two years after the record-breaking animated sequel is too soon to really evoke any nostalgia like some of the other remakes. Another thing I am sort of mixed about is how some of the visuals didn’t really look the absolute best. Some of the scenes that were shot on one of the Hawaiian islands are beautiful to see yet you can easily tell when the production team used green screen and CGI backgrounds.

Disney’s live action “Moana” has been met with a highly polarized response. While it strongly resonates with general audiences who appreciate its faithfulness to the original, it has faced severe backlash from critics who label it as an unnecessary remake.

Now, even though yes I think it was too soon for a live action adaptation of “Moana” and would rather see the 2016 movie, this is still a movie that I’m sure families will still enjoy checking out and have a good time seeing!

Cast: Catherine Laga’aia (Moana); Dwayne Johnson (Maui); John Tui (Chief Tui); Frankie Adams (Sina); Rena Owen (Gramma Tia); Jermaine Clement (Tamatoa)

Writer/director: Jared Bush (writer) (Zootopia 2; Moana 2; Encanto; Moana); Dana Ledoux Miller (writer) (Moana 2); Thomas Kail (director) (Disney’s Hamilton)

MPA: Rated PG for action/peril, some scary images, rude humor and brief thematic elements   (runtime 115 minutes)

Make sure to check my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook to see what else I will be checking out for upcoming review slates! 

https://youtu.be/n7f6hlKsxxo?si=VYDDkRuhX-tLMkYT

• Auli'i Cravalho voiced Moana in the animated films. She declined to reprise the role in live-action film because she wanted to pave the way for another Pacific Islander to take on the part. Cravalho still received credit as executive producer.

• Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui from Moana (2016) and Moana 2 (2024), marking the fifth time an actor from a Disney animated film physically portrays that same character in a live-action remake. Four other actors have reprised voice roles in remakes/reimaginings:

  • Jim Cummings as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger - Christopher Robin (2018)

  • Frank Welker as Cave of Wonders - Aladdin (2019)

  • James Earl Jones as Mufasa - The Lion King (2019)

  • Chris Sanders as Stitch - Lilo & Stitch (2025)

• Jemaine Clement reprises his role as the voice of Tamatoa making one of the only two actors who were in the animated film. The other one is Dwayne Johnson.

• Moana (2026) was released 3516 days (9 years, 4 months, and 13 days) after Moana (2016), making it the shortest gap between a Disney animated feature and its live-action counterpart.

• This is Catherine Laga'aia's film debut.

• The first trailer received 161 million online views within the first 24 hours.

• Dwayne Johnson's sixth Disney movie, after The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Moana (2016), Jungle Cruise (2021) and Moana 2 (2024).