Moana

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2016)

I heard about this latest computer animated offering from Walt Disney Studios a few times, long before its release, I was unsure what to make of it at first, but trailer and highly positive critic reviews convinced me to go with it. Basically teenager Moana Waialiki (Auli'i Cravalho) is the only daughter of Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison) on the small Polynesian island of Motunui, as a young girl she was chosen by the ocean to receive the heart of island goddess Te Fiti, a small pounamu stone. For years Moana has been fascinated by the sea and longs to escape her island to discover new things, her over protective father Tui and mother Sina (Nicole Scherzinger) insist the island has everything they ever need, including fish, coconuts and vegetation. However fish become scarce, the coconut growth is spoiled, and vegetables are dying, Moana proposes that the people go beyond the island reef to find new resources, Tui angrily rejects her request, sailing beyond the reef is forbidden, Sina explains that Tui fears the ocean because he lost his best friend who attempted to sail beyond the reef. Moana's grandmother Gramma Tala (Rachel House) has told Moana the story of goddess Te Fiti, in the last millennium her heart was stolen by the demigod Maui (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who was planning to give it to humanity as a gift, but lava demon Te Kā confronted him, the heart was lost to the ocean, found by Moana a century later, and Maui disappeared. Moana makes a failed attempt, going against her father, to sail away from the reef, then she finds Tala has fallen ill, in her dying breath she tells Moana to set sail, she departs and is on a mission to find Maui, so that he can restore the heart back to Te Fiti, dumb pet rooster Heihei (A Knight's Tale's Alan Tudyk) is her stowaway companion, while a manta ray, implied to be Tala's reincarnation, follows Moana. Moana follows a constellation that looks like Maui's fishhook, but she is knocked unconscious by a typhoon, she wakes next morning on a small island, inhabited by Maui, he is not interested in returning to Motunui, he distracts her boasting about his exploits, trapping her in a cave and stealing her sailboat, but she escapes and returns to him. Moana tries to convince Maui to help her restore her island to its former glory, but he fears that other dark creatures will be attracted by its power, but following an attack by pygmy pirates called Kakamora, he agrees to bring the heart back, but he needs his powerful hook in order to do so. They travel to the Realm of Monsters, Maui believes the hook is being held in the treasure cave of the giant coconut crab named Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement), they manage to retrieve the hook by tricking Tamatoa into singing of his glamour. Back on the sailboat, Maui teaches Moana how to sail and navigate using the stars, and with Moana's encouragement Maui reacquaints with the power of his hook, including transformation into animals, she learns that he is not a god, he was a human raised by gods after being abandoned by his parents. They arrive at Te Fiti, where Te Kā appears and tries to destroy them, the monster is too strong, Moana ignores Maui's instruction to turn back, believing she can use Te Kā's aversion to water to their advantage, but the island is damaged and Maui's hook is severely damaged, angered and fearing his hook will be destroyed Maui abandons Moana, before he leaves he tells her the ocean chose the wrong person to save her people. Moana is distraught by her failure and begs the ocean to take the heart and choose someone else to return it, the spirit of Tala encourages her not to give up and find strength within herself, Moana's hope is restored, she swims down to retrieve the heart and starts to sail back. Moana is able to pass Te Kā, and Maui returns, having had a change of heart, his hook is destroyed in battle with the monster, but Moana realises that Te Kā is in fact Te Fiti, angered and without her heart, the ocean parts so she can approach her. Moana restores the heart, and Te Fiti returns, the island blossoms and resources are restored, and in gratitude Moana receives a new canoe and Maui a new hook, before slumbering in peace. Moana and Maui bid a fond farewell, Moana returns to her parents and the people, and the villagers are encouraged to set sail in search of new islands, Maui accompanies them in his hawk form. Cravalho has a beautiful singing voice and voices the title character very well, Johnson is splendid as the wise-cracking legendary shape-shifting demigod, and surprisingly good at singing as well. The animation is fantastic, it is good to have another female leading character (like Brave and Frozen), especially one not looking for or finding love, it a sweet and charming tale with themes of tribal tradition and culture, with exciting, funny and heart-warming scenes, and terrific songs, especially "You're Welcome" and "How Far I'll Go", a highly entertaining animated musical fantasy adventure. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year and Best Original Song for "How Far I'll Go" (also nominated for the Golden Globe), it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature Film, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Animated. Very good!