I was a skeptic for Moana. When I saw the trailer for the first time (can't remember when I was watching what movie), it did not appeal to me: the humor fell flat, the visual was nothing special, the characters were uurgh.. My friend watched it a few days ago and he said it was great. He shared the song which did not impress me.
Having said all the above, I still watched it. I guess the holiday mood starts to set in so let's be merry and give this a try. I am glad I did. Moana turns out to be very hilarious and very entertaining. The whole cinema was laughing! It is pretty unbelievable that perhaps half of the joke is revolving around the chicken called heihei. Moana's grandma, who dubs herself as the crazy woman of the island, seems to be the designated comic relief character as every time she appears, she never fails to make us laugh, sometimes with her bad ass-ery like when Moana is worried if she is going to be reported to the father for trying to get out to the see and the grandma simply replied: I'm his mother. Why should I report to him? Haha..
Sadly, the story is just ordinary and provides nothing special. It goes straight just like any other go save the world adventure story. The main characters, Moana and Maui, also follows general template of go save the world adventure story personalities: a willing and positive heroine with no superpower and a powerful but unwilling hero. It does not help that both of them offer nothing unique to make them likeable. The music are kinda hit and miss. The songs which are sung by humans in English are kinda horrible. But those background music and songs to illustrate the voyaging history of the tribe are wonderful. The traditional Polynesian tune really sounds amazing, powerful, and has the sea-faring adventure elements. The visual for the nature is stunning too! If only real life beaches, islands, and nature are as colourful and vibrant as in this movie.
Anyway, humor alone can only propel the movie thus far. I think Moana is going to end up as one of 'forgettable' Disney movies as it does not have anything unique in terms of story, characters, or songs. The preceeding Disney movies which lack Princess' charm such as Zootopia, Big Hero 6, and Inside Out are unique and memorable as they explore new themes. Frozen (which most people has gotten sick of) may not be that fantastic in the story but the characters shine, despite them following the usual Disney personalities, and noone can deny that even a few years later, we still cannot let go its Let It Go.
Sadly, the story is just ordinary and provides nothing special. It goes straight just like any other go save the world adventure story. The main characters, Moana and Maui, also follows general template of go save the world adventure story personalities: a willing and positive heroine with no superpower and a powerful but unwilling hero. It does not help that both of them offer nothing unique to make them likeable. The music are kinda hit and miss. The songs which are sung by humans in English are kinda horrible. But those background music and songs to illustrate the voyaging history of the tribe are wonderful. The traditional Polynesian tune really sounds amazing, powerful, and has the sea-faring adventure elements. The visual for the nature is stunning too! If only real life beaches, islands, and nature are as colourful and vibrant as in this movie.
Anyway, humor alone can only propel the movie thus far. I think Moana is going to end up as one of 'forgettable' Disney movies as it does not have anything unique in terms of story, characters, or songs. The preceeding Disney movies which lack Princess' charm such as Zootopia, Big Hero 6, and Inside Out are unique and memorable as they explore new themes. Frozen (which most people has gotten sick of) may not be that fantastic in the story but the characters shine, despite them following the usual Disney personalities, and noone can deny that even a few years later, we still cannot let go its Let It Go.
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