Moana (2016)
Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker. (PG)
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis
Independent minded Polynesian girl Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) hankers for a life outside of her island community and feels born to sail the seven seas. But her father (Temuera Morrison) forbids her and anyone else from leaving the barrier reef around their land. When a plague threatens their home, Moana breaks his commandment and sets out to find the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), who can help her return a jewel to the heart of their female God, thus restoring balance to the world and saving her people.
Review by Jason Day
If any studio knows how to spin a sure-fire box office champion, it's Disney and their latest animated effort shows their artists continue to make gains for the genre in terms of intelligence, technical wizardry and imagination.
Its interesting to think, given how very technically superb these films are, if they might be shooting themselves in the foot, long-term. If things continue as they are, animation and live-action may become indistinguishable. Where next for the cartoon kings?
But that's a little way off so, until then, wallow in this vibrant and funny blue-green Pacific Islands fantasy, starring the former 'Rock' himself (Johnson), the only man big enough in real-life to fill the fictional body of the mammoth Polynesian semi-deity of legend.
He's actually bested by Cravalho in the title role, who is high on trills and charm in a film that will thoroughly entertain all ages.
For more on how this 'turned' a committed animation-phobe, read the full review: http://bit.ly/MoanaFilm
