A well animated adventure with good music and beautiful scenery

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2017)

This movie has gone under-appreciated because it's compared to other Disney pictures. It's a traditional princess adventure, yes, we've seen it a million times, but if I wished to introduce a child to Disney this might be the first movie I would show them. After this, 'Aladdin'. Well of course if the child in question was like 5 years old then maybe I'd start with 'Dumbo' or 'The Jungle Book' or something but 'Moana' is pretty much the quintessential teen/pre-teen animated adventure.
First of all, it's gorgeous. The Polynesian-like characters, the green tropical islands, the rafts and the clothes and the items, and above all the sea, the shining and flowing and glowing transparent water, all are utterly beautiful. It's the technically best-looking animated movie to date. (I added 'technically' because anime movies like 'The End of Evangelion' or 'The Tale of Princess Kaguya' achieve artistic imagery beyond anything any Disney adventure can offer.) Second, the songs are compelling. I've been listening to the soundtrack afterwards and every song has merit. 'Shiny' by Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords was unexpected and worked partly because of that, 'You're Welcome' is catchy and fun, and the others are emotional, full of bright-eyed wonder. Maybe when years go by I will grow sick and tired of 'How Far I'll Go' like everybody's grown sick and tired of 'Let It Go' but only time will tell. I don't think that will happen because 'How Far I'll Go' is shorter and it's reprised a couple of times so it's not such a perfect single, more like a piece of a musical than a self-contained hit.
The story - well the story is about finding your place, dealing with expectations, breaking traditions and such. It works but is nothing groundbreaking. The jokes often fell flat, especially the dumb Twitter joke, but the physical comedy involving Maui was pretty hilarious. It was refreshing seeing the designated Disney Princess treated like that.