BY ISABELLA BEELER

The second movie to the “Moana” franchise came out in November. It was pretty good. I liked the songs, Moana’s little sister, and the funny moments with the new characters. There were also some touching moments that I liked, too. I do enjoy the first one more, though.

The first “Moana” is about Moana always wanting to be on the water. At first she wasn’t allowed to. Her father thought it wasn’t safe based on a previous experience. That makes her upset, but then she finds out her ancestors are wave finders. Later, her grandma tells her about the heart of Tafiti. She also finds out the ocean chose her to restore it. Then she goes on a quest to restore the heart of Tafiti. Maui, a demigod, stole the heart to make people proud and like him. That ended up starting to kill Moana’s island. Before she goes on the quest, she needs to find him to help her. He helps her and they run into obstacles, but they accomplish the quest and become friends. Moana becomes a wave finder.

Now we go into “Moana 2”. At the start of the movie we see Moana is on a short quest as a wave finder. She is trying to find more people from other islands. Then she comes back to her island and we meet her little sister Simea. I think it is cool that she has a little sister now. It can be a resemblance of new life. In the first movie the island was dying and now the island is full of life, like a new baby. She is also the first princess with an age gap sister. I saw a lot of people on TikTok relating to it. Moana and Simea’s relationship is really cute. 

Besides Simea, there are other new characters. Loto, Moni, and Kele are a part of Moana’s crew. Loto builds ships and believes there’s no such thing as perfect. She thinks she always needs to be fixing things. She starts to relax and have fun during and after the quest. Moni is a storyteller and knows a lot about the island’s history. He also really wants to be friends with Maui. Kele is a grumpy farmer, but starts to relax. He says he can’t swim, but goes in the water to save Maui. They were chosen to be a part of the crew because of their talents. Along with them, Hei Hei and Pua are a part of the crew as well. Pua is one of my favorite Disney sidekicks. I was sad that he didn’t go on the quest last time, only Hei Hei went. Now both of the sidekicks went. I like all the new characters.

The meaningful moments are when she sees her Grandma. Her Grandma died in the first movie, but she can still see her occasionally. She came back as a sting ray. Her Grandma says “Together still just a little different” and that is an emotional line. It is comforting. Also at the end when Moana touches the island, she almost dies. Maui holds her and her Grandma plus all her ancestors appear. Then she survives. That is a touching moment. Not only does she survive, but she becomes a demigod. She got tattoos on one of her arms. I don’t like that a lot. I don’t think she needs powers. On the other hand, she has saved her island a lot. It is kind of cool that she has powers.

My favorite song in this movie is “Beyond”. I like the sound of the song. I also like “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?”. Maui is trying to encourage Moana and it is catchy. Those songs are both similar to “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” from the first movie. Those are my favorite from the first movie as well. I like “What Could Be Better Than This”, too. Just parts of the music video and when people dance in the village are a little cringy.

Overall, I thought the movie was good. It has good songs, meaningful moments, and great new characters. It was a little cringy, though. I like the first movie a lot. I like this movie.

7/10