A sequel to the beloved Disney movie centering around Polynesian culture and a chief’s daughter with a heart for the sea, Moana 2 took to the theaters on November 26th, with many-a-moviegoer excited to see what this sequel had to offer. 

The story picks up soon after the first film left off, with Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) now a wavefinder and a confident leader of her people on the island of Motunui. Her people are just now starting to discover what is beyond the reef, an area they have just gained the privilege to explore, and are seeking signs of people from different tribes on other islands. 

Soon enough, Moana receives an unexpected call from her ancestors to go seek the lost island of Motufetu and break a curse set by a god. Moana is conflicted on whether she should go on this voyage or not, she now has a little sister named Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) who she cares for a lot, and this journey would require her to go beyond what she or anyone from her island has ever explored and came back alive. She is also thriving as the leader of Motunui and does not want to leave her people. She ultimately decides that she must go on the journey for the wellbeing of her island. She forms a crew to come along with her, and they set off on a journey with many unexpected twists and heavy emotions.

On the whole, Moana 2 is a good movie, but, unfortunately, the soundtrack, composed mainly by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, falls flat for me. The soundtrack of the original Moana movie, written by the award-winning composer Lin Manuel Miranda, is beloved by many and helped make the original Moana a great film. The soundtrack for Moana 2 is missing Miranda, and it's the worse for it. While many of the songs contained more vocally impressive moments from the voice actors, the song writing can not compare to Miranda and is missing the elements he adds to the first soundtrack. 

A major difference between this soundtrack and the original is that the original soundtrack is full of good songs and can be enjoyed as a cohesive album. The new soundtrack, on the other hand, has only two or three memorable songs, while the rest are pretty bad or lacking in quality. It's very black and white, overall. Each song is either good or bad with little middle ground. One of the bad ones is Maui’s (Dwayne Johnson) song, “Can I Get a Chee-Hoo?” which is horrible and can not compare to Maui’s song in the first film, “You’re Welcome.”

Although the soundtrack has many misses, there are still enjoyable moments. I really like the song “Beyond,” performed by Auili’i Cravalho, and a rendition of “We Know the Way” from the first film, this time performed by Cravalho and sung in a higher key. I mainly enjoy these songs because of the vocals and because of the way they are performed, not necessarily the songwriting. Cravalho truly outdoes herself in this film and her performance really stands out. 

Despite the disappointments in the music department, I do like the film's storyline, as it has many more deep and emotional components than the first film. There are elements of this film that put more on the line for the characters, giving them something to lose, which adds to the suspense and emotion felt by both the audience and the characters. The film includes a lot of plot twists and moments meant to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, though too rushed at some points. Additionally, the film makes a point of portraying a lot of Polynesian culture above and beyond the first film, something the actors have spoken about prioritizing. 

Just like the original, Moana 2 filled with beautiful animation that makes it visually appealing to watch and is a great movie for any family. It's just not quite as good. 

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