MovieChat Forums > Moana (2016) Discussion > My problems with Moana

My problems with Moana

posted 8 years ago by Steven2168
19 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong. I really like Moana, I'd give the movie an 8 or 8.5/10. Ultimately, I felt that Zootopia was a better film (my 2nd favourite film of 2016 by the way). I understand that many feel that Moana is the best animated film of 2016 (I have not seen Kubo), but I just want to politely share the reasons I personally disagree.

1. Weak/Uninteresting Characterizations: Apparently, the movie's release was moved up because Disney was so confident that this would be another Frozen phenomenon, or maybe because they wanted to keep the Disney princess talk going. And boy does it show. I felt that the first act was quite rushed. I never felt that connected to the island nor did I feel that Moana was connected to her home. I never felt that she cared enough about her home and her people. I also felt that her character arc wasn't very clear and developed. It wasn't until I watched the interviews when I understood what they were going for. I would even go far as to say that the characters in Moana weren't as interesting as other Disney characters, even if they are acted very well. How many times have seen the strict father who is also a leader, or the selfish sidekick who just wants to be famous?

2. Lack of Anything New: I think most of us can agree that Moana isn't the most original thing ever in terms of its story. Hell, it even shares similarities with other Disney films. As a result, I felt that the movie was partly predictable. The final nail in the coffin for me was when Maui decided to leave Moana because his hook didn't work. Really? Firstly, that is not a good enough reason leave someone in the middle of conflict. Also, we know he's going to come back. We've seen this obligatory trope done before and better in other films. Zootopia even did it better. Nick had a legitimate reason to leave Judy. Nick also doesn't just suddenly come back just in time to help Judy, Judy convinces him to come back. This is one example of how another movie does an overdone trope better than Moana. Like Frozen, Moana does make fun of past tropes, but Frozen arguably did it better (and more often). I don't feel as if the movie is offering anything new we haven't seen before; aside from the Polynesian setting and themes.

3. Lack of anything Grand: This problem is the most important. I never felt that the it was epic or grand. Maybe this is in on purpose? I don't know. I was never truly invested in what was going on. I never felt that there were real stakes. I get that the boat scenes serve as a way to develop the characters. However, they often went on for too long, so you're just waiting for something else interesting to happen, especially when these characters aren't particularly interesting. The movie didn't make me care enough about what was going on to be invested. Even the music, it was really good but nowhere near as grand or as memorable as the ones in Frozen (although it isn't as annoyingly memorable), The Little Mermaid, heck even Pocahontas and Tangled. It also doesn't help that the movie is also predictable and uninteresting compared to other Disney films.

Overall, I don't think Moana is amazing as many others say it is, but that's just me. To be honest, I think the realm of monsters sequence is the most interesting thing about the movie, even if it is out-of-place. I still very much enjoyed it. Feel free to make rebuttals and arguments. Any further comments I have will posted as replies.

[–] stellarroxy 8 years ago

Sorry, I didn't see the original quote of this so I'm replying out of turn.

___________________________________
I challenge anyone to describe on the top of their head the character of Moana without using the words "nice" or "strong and independent".
___________________________________

"Nice" is not a word I would ever use to describe Moana. She isn't nice. She repeatedly defies her father, argues with him in front of the council and in front of his people, she isn't nice to Maui (and to be fair, she shouldn't be since he left her on an island to die at their first meeting and tries to leave her to drown multiple times), she never really shows one "nice" characteristic. I think she's caring; she obviously loves her parents despite her disagreements with them, she has a close relationship with her grandma, and she is protective of her animals. There are a lot of words I would use to describe her but "nice" would never be on that list.

[–] runefaurholtbjerrehansen 8 years ago

I agree with most of it, some great observation :) I found Moana (or Vaiana as its called here) just okay, best thing for me was the soundtrack and songs, but because of the late screen date here I allready heard it a lot on spotify.

Still enjoyed it and I think its better then Frozen, wreck it ralph and Big Hero 6 but it can´t hold a candle to Zootopia - now that is a hell of good movie.
But a lot more animation movies then Zootopia and Maona came out in 2016, most better then Maona if you ask me. Trolls and Storks where both a great suprise, not same level as disney/pixar but a lot of fun. Also Finding Dory came out, which I though was quite boring and unimpressive, but everybody els seemed to loved it. Boy and the Beast and Your Name, both amazing movies that shows us that 2D animation is very much alive and better then ever. Same goes for The Long Way North, very diffrent then what I have seen in a long time and very beautiful. Stop motion animation was also quite good in 2016, with Kubo and My Life as a Zucchini.

Gess my point is Maona is great but not amazing imo and watch some of the better animation that is out there that don't have the marketing budget of Disney.

[–] greyhelm-91337 8 years ago

Very valid criticisms, and similar to how I felt. The grandma is the only semi-develeoped character besides Maui and maoana, and she's barely in it.
Pretty weak storytelling and songs all around. Some great Polynesian music, bad musical numbers by overrated Lin Manuel miranda 5/10

[–] Zaphenzo 8 years ago

bad musical numbers by overrated Lin Manuel miranda

Do you have a personal vendetta against the guy or something? Every post you've made has been a diss on him...

[–] LeiaOfLothlorien (1980) 8 years ago

1. The characterization wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst, in my opinion. Some characters were more developed than others.

2. Yeah, I noticed a lot of recycled ideas, too. However, I think his hook being cracked was a good reason for him to want to stop. That hook was his everything, and he just recently got it back.

3. The songs weren't great, although the stakes were high.

In sum, I agree that is wasn't the best movie, but I did like it to some extent.