Moana

2016 princess movie

Rating: 15/20 (Jen: 17/20; Abbey: 15/20; Buster: 20/20)

Plot: A new Disney princess has to sail away to find a wrestler-turned-action-hero-turned-demigod in order to get rid of a curse put on her island. There's a chicken.

Wait, is this a princess movie? I don't have time to do any research or anything to find out for sure. A better blogger--like, one who somebody out there would have any interest in reading--would probably be more confident in labeling Disney cartoons princess movies or not. I am not that blogger.

Disney's on a bit of an animated role here with this, Zootopia, Big Hero Six, Tangled, Frozen, and Wreck-It Ralph even though I didn't care all that much for a couple of those. I was most excited to see this one because of The Rock, a demigod and a force to be reckoned with. I wouldn't say that I have a crush on Dwayne Johnson, but I wouldn't exactly not say that either.

I liked the movie more than expected. I thought the treatment of the Polynesian culture/mythology was respectful, and the story, though peppered with a few cliches and stock characters including an annoying pig sidekick, is unique. The animation looks great with all this cool water and fierce-looking lava god things. The playfulness and animated action reminded me a little of The Emperor's New Groove. I cant't remember too many of the songs, probably a good thing in this case since a couple from Frozen grated on my nerves for months afterward. Or maybe that's not a good thing.

I really liked the lava villain and was floored by all that animated smoke and piercing eye brightness, but my favorite bad character is probably the crab (Tamatoa, voiced wonderfully by Jermaine Clement) and the psychedelic goodness of the ten or so minutes of film that he's in. Disney's not been that trippy in a while.

I also enjoyed the clever, jazzy short called "Inner Workings" that preceded this.