Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) returns to the big screen with the theatrical release of “Moana 2”. With her newfound freedom to explore the vast ocean surrounding her island, Moana searches for her people’s future on the water.

“Moana 2” starts off by showing us how much has changed. Moana sails across the ocean, her wayfinding skills now clearly second nature to her, and she uses it to search for other people in the world. After finding evidence of life on another island in the form of broken pottery left behind by its previous inhabitants, she returns home and shows us that Motunui has also changed, as her island home is now bustling with watercraft of various sizes and function. Even Moana’s father, Tui (Temuera Morrison), races to her in his own canoe.

Moana presents her findings to her father and the tribe, and after being struck by lightning during a later ceremony, Moana receives a vision of Tautai Vasa (Gerald Faitala Ramsey), her ancestor who led her people as a wayfinder in earlier visions. He reveals to her that the storm god Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea’i) sank the island of Motufetu as a way to separate all mortals and that he has failed to reach the island, which is now in the middle of a great storm sit. there at Nalo. With that, Moana dares to complete this mission, with the help of a few new faces.

Moana enlists the help of three members of her tribe: Moni (Hualalai Chung), Loto (Rose Matafeo) and Kele (David Fane). Moni is a strong man with knowledge of history, but especially a fascination with meeting Maui (Dwayne Johnson) in person. Loto is a hyper-fixated shipbuilder who is overzealous in constantly improving Moana’s watercraft. Keke is an old farmer, grumpy when he does something from his wheelhouse. After the crew sets out and makes their way to find their rhythm, they encounter another unlikely ally, a Kakamora, whose coconut-veiled kin are also eager to see the island of Motufetu rise.

They all come across the lair of Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), a mysterious, seemingly divine person, with the ability to fly and a connection to bats. Here Moana is reunited with Maui, as he has been held captive here for some time, also searching for Motufetu. Matangi reveals herself to be a reluctant ally of Nalo, but ensures Moana, Maui and crew are on the right path to Motufetu to defeat Nalo.

After being magically transported to the waters off Motufetu, the crew struggles to take on the creatures around them, leaving them to lick their wounds on a small island. Maui gives a short pep talk (or rather a pep talk song), and the crew decides to move on. After an incredibly tense back-and-forth battle with the living storm that surrounds the island, the crew barely manages to retrieve the island from the depths of the ocean, ensuring the future for Moana’s people.

“Moana 2” is another visually stunning animated adventure. The new monsters and the gigantic living storm are impressive to see. However, the film’s greatest strength lies in its titular character, as Moana is once again a very compelling character. Not only is it visually entertaining to watch her overcome the mythical obstacles in her path, but we also see her struggle with emotional obstacles. She has a new sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), to bring into her life, more responsibilities than before, and even the relationship she has to maintain with her new crew is interesting. It is in that growth that “Moana 2” touches your heart.

The score is one of the first problems I noticed. While each song individually is its own successful bop, some felt a little out of place. Mainly the impressive song ‘Get Lost’, sung by Matangi. Again, the song itself was great, it just felt like it deviated a little too much from the more consistent island/tribal undertones of the other musical numbers.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it feels like filler. Now there’s the main storyline that ultimately drives the film and is resolved at the end, but everything else just plays out as it’s set up. The new characters that Moana has to commit to have such fast-paced, small personal stories that they barely do anything to drive the main story. They were clearly designed when the film was intended as a Disney+ series and remained unchanged.

There’s also Matangi, who really just hints at her backstory and motivations which, while intriguing, only serve to set up her appearance in the post-credits scene and possible sequels, which is also the only time we see the film’s main antagonist to see.

Very young viewers may find the tense moments frightening or disturbing. The elementary school-age kids with us said that while there were “some jump scares,” it wasn’t too scary.

Ultimately, as a cinematic experience, “Moana 2” was indeed another fun and enjoyable addition to what feels like it is clearly intended to continue as a larger series. I would give “Moana 2” 5 out of 7 giant slimy green blobs.

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Katie Francis