Charming and delightful

Rating: Null/10 (26 November 2016)

There are various things I could say about this film that make it sound like I didn't like it. For example, I could say that it's very formulaic in its narrative and character arcs. The themes are also very derivative of themes that other films have also examined. Nothing about the film is entirely surprising. However, it says something about the quality of the execution that despite how predictable it is, it's still able to work wonders. The animation is dazzling and beautiful and the characters are really written with a lot of care. Although the story itself is very derivative, having these types of characters (of Polynesian roots) in the forefront is definitely something original and I do hope that Disney, even when creating films that hit the same beats and follow the same formula, can still create characters that are different in that way.