Moana 2! Now with more ’this was supposed to be a TV show'.

So basically, we have the introduction–oh how great was the first Moana?!–, the baby sister, the quest¹, collecting the party and heading out, a series of semi-connected adventures, the fake out failure, and the season finale.

Moana 2 was apparently supposed to be a TV show and… in a lot of ways, it shows? The film has the feel of a bunch of plot lines one after another, none particularly given room to breathe (or dopped entirely) and only a bit related. Which… is exactly how TV shows are structured.

Characterwise, we have (for reasons) a bunch of help along this time. It’s something that could have worked–the sequel showing that Moana does not have to do it all on her own (or with just Maui’s help). But here, I really do have to wonder why in the world are any of them here. The historian/art guy could have provided clues or backstory, but mostly just fawned over Maui. The old man provided food, but the journey just didn’t feel long enough to need it. And Loto? Could have been so fun, but mostly didn’t have time to evolve beyond chaos gremlin who randomly saves the day.

The songs (which were a huge part of Moana’s success) where… fine, I suppose? They lost Lin Manuel Miranda and it’s just not the same. I liked the second half of Get Lost well enough. It’s not a Shiny though…

Then the big bad battle set piece and people come from all over the ocean to come visit. More cultures! Sequel(sequel) bait. But… what about the Bat Lady? (Tune in next season to find out!)

Overall, it was fine. Which wouldn’t have been such a disappointment if the first Moana hadn’t been so good.