When the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon was released last year, they were not trying to recreate the animated film scene by scene. They were addressing a more mature audience, and certain nuances were included in that movie. It provided an experience that was beyond a mere revisit of the same story. When it comes to the live-action version of Moana, one question that comes to your mind immediately is whether it’s old enough to go for a live-action version? Initially, this movie was planned for a June 2025 release, and despite being pushed back by a year, it still felt like a hurried move. When it comes to the movie, it is not bad, since the story is very much the same. But the vibrancy of an animated film was essential for a story like this, and this Moana felt like a pointless expense for both the studio and the audience.
So, as you may all know, the story is about Moana of Motunui. Her father won’t let her go to the sea beyond the reef because of safety concerns. After many years, a blight hits the island. And Moana’s grandmother tells her to go beyond the reef and find a demigod named Maui to solve this issue, which determines the fate of the people on her island. What we see in the movie is Moana’s dangerous expedition to find Maui.
The visual grandeur that an animated movie and a live-action movie offer is completely different. Some movies will make us feel; it would have been great to see a grounded version of this story. Moana, in my opinion, is not such a movie. The Te Fiti we see in the animated movie itself is quite beautiful. In fact, converting such a movie into a live-action version is actually diminishing the charm. There is a scene where Moana’s grandmother takes her to the beach at night, and the sea sort of shows her that she is the chosen one. The scale of that scene is somewhat minimal in the new version. And even the physical dynamics of character movements had a role in making the 2016 version a fun watch. That is missing here.
Dwayne Johnson, who gave voice to Maui in the animated version, is the one playing that character in this movie, and it seems they have tried to add a body suit to make him close to the gigantic figure we saw in the 2016 movie. Johnson’s performance kind of gives you an idea how voice acting and acting with the same modulation have a different impact. While Maui had a very likeable charm in his animated form, this real version lacked that aura largely because it was way too obvious that it was a body suit and the hair was a wig. And there are these additional counter dialogues and stuff which felt unnecessary. Catherine Laga’aia plays the role of Moana, and she has the emotional range to make the journey of that character look believable on screen. Rena Owen as Moana’s grandmother did a neat job. Jemaine Clement reprised his voice acting role as Tamatoa in this version as well.
Thomas Kail, in his feature film debut, effectively maintains the humor quotient throughout the movie. But as I said, the vibrancy is an important thing in the case of this film. While there are no major quality issues in the visual effects part of it, there is an obvious change in how the visuals have an impact on us. Even the size difference between Maui and Moana is different in this version. The script isn’t trying to change anything significantly to make this version more nuanced or character-driven. Hence, you just can’t resist the constant comparison happening in your head.
If you are someone who has no idea about what Moana is, this movie will be delightful for you. But the original movie was released only 10 years ago, and the chances of nobody knowing about a movie like Moana are very slim. So ultimately, when it comes to giving a verdict, it becomes an exercise of choosing the same food cooked in two different ways. And if given a choice, I will always prefer the animated version. This Moana is not a bad movie. It is just an insignificant movie because of its timing.
