Review By J1 Reporter Jolie Hefflinger

Moana fans, including me, have been waiting to see the long-awaited “Moana 2”, ever since the sequel was announced. I went to see “Moana 2” on the opening night, Nov. 27. This is the sequel to “Moana,” an animated movie released in 2016, both rated PG. The director of “Moana” was John Musker and Ron Clements, although “Moana 2” was directed by David Derrick Jr. and Dana LeDoux Miller, with the head of animation being Amy Smeed accompanied by Kevin Webb and character art director, Daniel Arriga.

I went to see both Moana movies in theaters, so I got to have the full experience. I saw “Moana 2” at Marcus Village Pointe Cinema, where the whole theatre was practically full, indicating everyone’s excitement for this new movie. The theatre enhanced all the amazing features of the movie, from the bright colors, to the impeccable sound effects. It made me feel like I could almost be there, on the quest with Moana and Maui.

“Moana 2” was set three years after the first Moana movie, taking the audience on an adventure with the main character, Moana of Motunui and demigod, Maui, working to find a crew to raise the island of Montufetu, which was sunk by Nalo, and to break the curse, yet again. Moana journeys on the far seas of Oceania after having a vision from Tautai Vasa, one of her ancestors. Moana is always a character to help out her family, no matter the circumstance, which makes the audience more interested and wanting to watch what she might do next.

Moana, the main character, was voiced by Auli’i Cravalho and Maui was voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Other side characters added that were not in the first movie were Simea, Moana’s little sister, voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Moni, a town story teller, voiced by Hualālai Chung, Loto, the crew’s architect, voiced by Rose Matafeo, and Kele, an elder of Motunui, voiced by David Fane.

I really enjoyed this movie, although I thought the soundtrack could’ve been better, considering how amazing the soundtrack was for the first movie. I would rate this movie an 8/10, because of this.

“Moana 2” is rated 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a pretty good ranking despite it being recently released, to consider that fully rated. I thought the plot of the whole movie and the characters were well thought out and executed. One of my favorite characters from the first Moana movie, Hei Hei, Moana’s rooster, was continued in “Moana 2”, which was perfect. Hei Hei, though not a speaking or overly-shown character, is crucial to a movie like this, to add in tiny bits of feel-good jokes, whether he is doing something like pecking his beak at the boat, completely missing his food, or falling off the boat completely. The directors do a really good job of incorporating these smaller characters and making their appearances memorable, which can be hard to do.

This movie is good to watch with your friends, family, or honestly, anyone, and is a good watch for people of all ages. I hope this movie is put on streaming devices such as Disney+ and Netflix in the next months to a year, though right now it can just be viewed in theatres. I would absolutely recommend this movie to anyone looking for an adventure filled scene with hilarious characters, catchy music, and a good time.