Giving back

Rating: Null/10 (4 December 2016)

From the minds of 'The princess & the frog', 'Aladdin' & 'Hercules', among others, this is quite an experience for an animated movie that sadly fell apart on reflection.
Make no mistake, this is pure entertainment for all ages, especially the beginning part with little Moana, her namesake supporter, & her grandma, but all of that only lasts for the duration of the movie. Works best if you do not look for reasons to various occurrences in the events that transpire over its runtime.
'You're welcome' was a royal hoot, and I did enjoy both renderings of the song.
Wasn't very fond of the cliché-ridden plot line though, & there are plenty of examples where I thought the movie could have used fresh ideas, especially during the writing stage/phase of the flick. Disney sure dropped the ball, imho, on this one.
The 3D rendering is gorgeous, and a Real D 3D viewing experience is a must (if not IMAX 3D).
Surprisingly, Dwayne Johnson's voice is not a distraction at all, and his voice-casting is as apt as Jermaine Clement's voice-casting as the middle-person crab.
The characters playing the lead's sidekicks (2) should have had more runtime, imho, along with the segment with the younger version of the lead. Not enough at all. Quite possibly few of the best sequences occur with them in tow.
Along with the sequences with the crab, the ones in the cave, and 1 on the island, but, imho, the movie peaked early, and underwhelms towards the end. This kind of a problem has afflicted other better movies, & I, for one, feel that these kind of problems need to be visualized at the scripting stage (I'm sure they were, just not sure about the extent to which it was done, or about the final sign-off from the execs) itself, considering the amount of time that is spent on these productions.
Another recent movie, 'Dear Zindagi', did not have a 'hook' compelling enough for someone like me to invest in the fate of the lead characters, & though this one does not falter as much as that one did, it sure comes close.
Worth 1 viewing. Decent, but way short of greatness, in spite of the potential it had to be another 'Frozen' or a 'Big Hero 6'.