Moana (2026) review: treading in the footsteps of greatness

Moana (2026) has little reason to exist. That’s not really a knock on its quality, but speaks more to the excellence of its animated predecessor. The original Moana was a pure joy: a layered animated film with cohesive, gorgeous elements – from the chemistry of its leads, the spectacle of its adventure, to its meaningful representation of Polynesian culture.

For years now, Disney has sought to translate the magic of its animated films into the world of live action, double-dipping on clever, artful ideas and retelling them in a new fashion, to varying degrees. Moana is not a bad film, but it pales as a shade of the original story, and is made worse by its seeming redundancy.

This is the original story of Moana, told again, but with some of the magic brushed off.

If it had existed as a standalone film, or perhaps one that sought to elevate or reinterpret its source material, there would be a case for the awe of its storytelling and spectacle, as well as its strong narrative thread about independence and fighting for peace and prosperity.

As it stands, the original Moana remains the more artful, compelling version of this tale. The new film simply treads in its shoes.

The story of Moana is a familiar one

If you’ve seen the original film, you’ll know pretty much exactly what to expect here, although with some caveats to suit its live-action delivery.

As the film opens, we’re introduced to Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), daughter of the village chief, Tui (John Tui). She’s young and adventurous, and questions her father’s edict to remain within the walls of the village, even as the island she lives on begins to decay and the land refuses to bear fruit.

Driven by the stories of her sparkly-eyed grandmother (a very compelling, warm Rena Owen), Moana is inspired to leave the island in search of Maui (Dwayne Johnson), who may hold the secret to restoring the health and longevity of her people.

In this opening sequence, it must be noted that Moana does a lovely job representing the Pacific Island culture of the original story, and of its actor cohort. Here, you get into a glimpse into Polynesian everyday living, the cohesiveness of community, and resourceful, beautiful costuming. The film shouldn’t be discounted for its power in that regard.

With a nicely vivid colour palette – an unfortunate rarity in some blockbuster media recently – the beauty of the Pacific Ocean is also on show here. While eventually, it becomes obfuscated by some muddy CGI and green screen, the early glimpses of the real-life terrain are lush.

As Moana ventures from her home, buoyed by the powerful and gut-busting ballad How Far I’ll Go, the true heart of the film is revealed. It’s in Laga’aia’s headstrong portrayal of Moana that the film is hinged, and she does an admirable job of matching the notes of Auliʻi Cravalho.

Where the cracks in Moana begin to show is in the arrival of Maui, an unfortunately miscast Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson who does his best against a role that feels ill-suited, despite him being the original voice actor for the character.

Chemistry only just makes up for some ill-casting

Johnson’s desire to play Maui can be easily understood. He’s spoken openly about it during the press tour for the film: the character is an icon of Polynesian mythology (loosely reinterpreted here), and the character in the animated film was inspired by Johnson’s grandfather, professional wrestler and Samoan high chief, Peter Maivia.

Johnson, unfortunately, does not resemble the character – and rather than choosing to embrace a newer style or interpretation in his casting, the film instead puts him in a distracting wig and bodysuit in an effort to bridge the gap.

What results is an incongruous figure. Rather than being a demi god-like figure, Johnson simply looks like a man in a bad wig. A movie should invite you to lose yourself in its action. Here, audiences are invited to simply ignore or accept the odd casting, likely taking most out of the story instead.

Johnson’s natural charisma – he’s playing Maui as an extension of his famed run as The Rock in WWF/WWE – goes some of the way for making up for this strangeness. His chemistry with Laga’aia paves over some of the rest.

While Moana is, as the title suggests, the story of Moana’s journey of growth, her relationship with Maui is equally important. It’s the heart of the film, with both characters growing and changing as a result of the other. It’s to this film’s benefit that Laga’aia and Johnson have strong chemistry, bouncing off each other in light-hearted, bouncy dialogue.

In the presence of a scene-stealing actor like Johnson (not always a good thing), there’s a required confidence and stubbornness required of co-stars. Laga’aia, even as a newcomer, holds her own here, making Moana a likeable and confidently charming protagonist as a result.

For an audience of younger kids who may watch this version of Moana without having seen the original film, it feels likely she’ll be an aspirational, inspiring hero – and if that’s the only thing this version of Moana achieves, then perhaps its job will be done.

What’s lost in the live-action translation of Moana

Beyond this, it’s hard to justify the existence of its particular story. The original Moana, developed just ten years ago, remains a beautifully-animated, inspiring tale on its own.

In the translation to live action, there’s plenty lost. Some jokes replicated in live action don’t work as well. They don’t have the same dynamism and freedom of expression that’s possible in the animated world. In some sequences, particularly the first meeting of Moana and Maui, actions that are funny and endearing in the animated film are rendered somewhat awkward and disjointed in live action.

There’s a sense of tightness that doesn’t exist in the animated film.

It’s not all lost. Tamatoa, voiced by Jemaine Clement, is replicated well in live action, with his song, Shiny, still being a standout. The final battle between Moana, Maui, and Te Kã is grand and eye-opening (although perhaps too scary for younger kids). Maui’s animal transformations are also far less horrifying than they should rightfully be in live action, with some clever design choices and strong CGI overall.

But all of this is to justify a film that is flawed in its existence. Moana has already been made, and told very well, in animated form. This is an inferior version of that same story, complete with a bad wig, and bold action sequences that are largely animated anyway.

It’s more than likely that Disney will continue its slate of live action adaptations in future. But there is hope that Moana will serve as a lesson that some stories simply don’t need to be told again – at least, not without significant or clever changes.

Moana is now playing in Australian cinemas.

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