MICHAEL LOMAX: Disney’s ‘Moana’ dazzling and inspiring
FILM REVIEW: ‘Moana’ succeeds on multiple levels
By Michael Lomax
Anytime I find myself growing disillusioned with Hollywood and the big name studios, there always seems to be a handful of films that not only brightens my mood but restores my faith (if just a little bit) in show business. Disney’s latest picture “Moana” is exactly that movie.
A thousand years ago, the Polynesian demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) attempted to steal a magical stone from the island goddess Te Fiti. For this Maui was banished to a lonely island and a curse was sent out into the world.
Years later Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) hears the legend of Maui as a young girl and takes the story to heart. But as she grows older Moana, the daughter of the chief and the next chief herself, is increasingly bored with her island life and wishes to venture beyond the reef into the open ocean.
When the curse of Te Fiti reaches her island, Moana gets her wish and sets out to find Maui and lift the curse he caused.
Unlike many of Disney’s films (including all the ones my generation and the generations before grew up with), Moana is not a beautiful, dainty princess looking for her soulmate. She is a headstrong, stubborn chieftain-in-waiting and cares only about protecting her family and her people while figuring out who she is deep down inside.
This is a refreshing take on what has otherwise been pretty standard storytelling from Disney over the years, and it’s movies like this that are increasingly necessary as the social climate of our world continues to grow and change.
But well beyond the timely messages, what Disney has crafted here is nothing short of a great standalone movie that would garner praise no matter when it was released.
Featuring a soundtrack by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and boasting computer-animated visuals as inspiring as they are breathtaking, “Moana” is a treat for the senses. Backed by a script that easily combines comedy with heart, finding negatives in this movie is tough sailing.
So if you’re trying to find a clean family film this holiday season, it might just be worth it to invest in “Moana.” Especially if you have daughters.
Michael Lomax is a writer-filmmaker currently at work on a film script to be set and shot in Albany.
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