Moana

It is a pleasant film. Perfect for children. It is not exciting or sad or relatable, which makes it difficult to rave about it, but it is fun. That whole Pacific-islander tribe vibe, legends and culture is appealing but not nearly as much as Big Hero 6's Japanese theme. I felt a little like they were trying to recreate Frozen in that it is basically another November-released musical, but while none of the songs will ever be as beloved as the Frozen ones, I actually felt they were much better. The film is very colourful, and beautiful, and the CGI is second-to-none. The film is a wash of rich blues and greens, but unfortunately great cinematography is scarce - the ending has some lovely shots (Moana connecting with the volacano monster, Te Ka, in a parted sea). Very nice, but the remaining 95% is average CGI animation.

The humour is very child-friendly, and that's its main problem. There is one joke that just scratches the surface of decent delivery/humour (Maui peeing in the ocean), but the other jokes were either not memorable or not explored (for example, the little dancing baby gets a few seconds then you never see him again, same for the pirates). Also in the negative column; not the story per se, but the way the story is told. I love the mythical stuff, but from beginning to end it, looking back on it, it wasn't a difficult journey at all. It just never reaches anything close to being an adventure. It's all too easy and over very soon. Minor niggle, though.

Moana (which I was surprised to hear is pronounced Mo-ana, not Moan-a) is a true Disney beauty and follows a long tradition of beautiful Mouse House princesses (baby Moana is adorable too!). Maui is quite the character. Enjoyable verging on annoying, but voiced well by Dwayne Johnson. At first it was a little distracting because you know it's Dwayne, but eventually it becomes seamless. The grandmother was the best character in the film. Very fun. It was a shame the pig didn't accompany Moana on the voyage because I feel it would have been a better companion than that stupid rooster. The film has bouts of creativity, such as the volcano monster turning into Te Fiti and becoming an island, Maui's tattoos being a comical narrator etc. but it also has silly diversions such as the entire Tamatoa scene, and Moana's father.

Overall, Moana is a fun film but intended solely for children. It isn't clever enough to live up to Zootopia nor interesting enough to match Big Hero 6, but it is better than Frozen.

B-

I think you just changed your mind because you love the Angry Bird Movie so much and you're spiteful.

Sure.

Looks like it's Algren's turn to take over from Dr. Lecter as angry prick of the month. This isn't your first angry post in the last few days.

He's having his menstruation.