Featured Image Credit: Disney
Topics: Disney, TV And Film
Kya Buller
After the wait of a lifetime, Moana 2 is almost ready to hit UK cinemas - landing on the silver screen tomorrow (29 November).
Moana, released in 2016, was an unprecedented success, smashing the box office and being adored by viewers around the globe.
The first film boasted huge names including Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Auli'i Cravalho, Jemaine Clement and Nicole Scherzinger.
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An animated musical fantasy adventure film, Moana was set on the Polynesian island of Motunui, and chronicled the lives of inhabitants of the island with one shared passion - worshipping the goddess of nature Te Fiti.
The living island brought life to the ocean using a pounamu stone as her heart and power source, but chaos began to unfold when Maui, the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea and master of wayfinding, took Te Fiti's heart to bestow the power of creation upon humanity.
Moana 2 takes place three years after the events of the first film, a now-older Moana travels around new islands, hoping to discover people who are connected to the ocean.
A powerful vision from her ancestor, Tautai Vasa, informs Moana that as a result of an evil storm god Nalo wanting power over mortals, nobody is connected to the ocean anymore.
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Moana enlists the help of her chosen crew to put things right.
One of the major differences between both of the films is that Hamilton's Lin Manuel Miranda, who wrote the songs fro Moana, was replaced by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear in Moana 2.
Now that critics and US audiences have had the opportunity to experience Moana 2, the reviews are pouring in - and there's a common theme among the complaints.
Ultimately, many people have been left feeling as though the sequel doesn't quite impress as much as the first film.
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Owen Gleiberman wrote for Variety: "The songs in Moana 2, by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, are perky and appealing, with that electrified island drum bounce, but most of them sound like the imitation-Lin-Manual knockoffs they are."
Elsewhere, critic Peter Bradshaw noted in the Guardian: "It is all inoffensive enough, but weirdly lacking in anything genuinely passionate or heartfelt, all managed with frictionless smoothness and algorithmic efficiency."
For the Hollywood Reporter, Lovia Gyarkye wrote: "While the highly anticipated follow-up features stunning animation, it lacks the cohesive narrative and emotional intimacy that made its predecessor special.”
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It's definitely worth making up your own mind, though, as some viewers absolutely loved the animation.
Over on X, one person wrote: "#Moana2 is a beautiful & triumphant sequel… that starts a bit slow but slowly grows into an epic adventure that truly won me over by the end.
"The third act I found quite amazing in terms of scale & emotion!"