‘Moana 2’ reviews: Critics say Disney sequel looks pretty, but misses Lin-Manuel Miranda

Reviews are out for Disney’s “Moana 2,” the studio’s sequel to its 2016 hit, and critics’ opinions are primarily ranging from mixed to negative, with a few positive notices thrown in. Reviewers like the visuals, but think the plot is substandard and miss “Moana” composer Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs. And even critics who praise the sequel find it inferior to the original. 

“Moana 2” was originally conceived of as a streaming series before being rejiggered into a movie relatively late in the process, and critics can tell. “Moana 2,” directed by Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller and David G. Derrick Jr. from a screenplay by Jared Bush and Ledoux Miller, might have worked better as a longer series,” writes The Hollywood Reporter’s Lovia Gyarkae. “While the highly anticipated follow-up features stunning animation, it lacks the cohesive narrative and emotional intimacy that made its predecessor special.” The narrative is “scattered and shallow compared to the first film,” with its attention spread thin across many characters, Gyarkae writes. 

TheWrap’s William Bibbiani categorizes “Moana 2” as an unwelcome throwback to a time when sequels were a cash-in afterthought. “It’s tempting to say that the story of “Moana 2” is so perfunctory that it plays like a straight-to-video release, but even Disney’s old cast-offs had more oomph than this,” he writes. “It’s more accurate to describe “Moana 2” like an episode of a mediocre “Moana” television series (which is what the sequel was originally supposed to be), where the characters remain relatively static and merely respond to whatever crisis emerges each week. All that matters is that they get out of the house, not what they actually do.” 

On the other end of the spectrum, IndieWire’s Kate Erbland liked the plot. “Much of the storytelling and world-building in ‘Moana 2’ is indeed clever, the rare sequel that expands on its original bent in ways that genuinely make sense,” she writes. “The first film followed Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) as she sought to free her people from an ancient curse that kept them from their seafaring birthright, and ‘Moana 2’ essentially applies the ‘yes, and?’ formula to that concept: yes, Moana has freed her people, and what about other people?” Music-wise, Erbland writes “that while ‘Moana 2’ might not be rife with all the instant hits of the first film, there are plenty of bangers on offer here, including the Cravalho-voiced showstopper ‘Beyond,’ the fun and frisky ‘What Could Be Better Than This?,’ and Dwayne Johnson’s silly ‘Can I Get a Chee Ho?’” 

Jacob Oller of The A.V. Club has a differing opinion. He finds that Moana’s motivation that drives the plot is unclear, with a few different ideas incoherently muddled together. “These are half-hearted ideas, embedded in Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear’s forgettable songs, ranging from truly terrible shipwrecks to embarrassing Lin-Manuel Miranda tribute band tracks. Losing Miranda is a terrible blow for the film, though his presence still haunts the dialogue. Every other line is about knowing the way, telling our stories, and how far we’ll go. It’s like how celebrities tend to repeat the same branding-appropriate phrases after the humanity has been coached out of them. It reinforces the sense that the sequel isn’t confident enough to strike out on its own.” Oller does have to hand it to the animation, however: “‘Moana 2’ cruises smoothly through some of the most vivid animated water put to film,” he writes. “The film benefits greatly from the constant visual propulsion of the ocean; everything—the boats, the people on them, the rigging and oars, the giant monster clam in the distance—always feels like it’s moving.” 

For Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, everything about “Moana 2” is a bit lesser than the original. “‘Moana 2’ is an okay movie, an above-average kiddie roller-coaster, and a piece of pure product in a way that the first ‘Moana,’ at its best, transcended,” he writes. “The new movie wears you down to win you over; it’s a just efficient enough delivery system for follow-your-dreams inspiration to be a major holiday hit.”

“Moana 2” opens in theaters on Wednesday, Nov. 27.