The Live-Action Moana Is Stuck Between The Rock and a Hard Place: Review

There is one sequence in the remake of Moana that feels like it was worth all the time, effort, and money necessary to translate a very good animated movie into live-action. The only special effect it requires is Dwayne Johnson’s charisma. Otherwise, this new interpretation falls prey to the issue that continues to plague this subgenre: A struggle to justify its existence, beyond Disney making new money off old ideas.

Those familiar with the 2016 original (a shockingly large number, one assumes, especially considering how many parents there are in the world) won’t be surprised by any plot twists or turns here. The story begins with a quick recap of a myth in which the demigod Maui (Johnson) stole and lost the heart of a goddess, leading to the spread of evil throughout the world. Then, we meet young islander Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), who reveals a magical connection with the ocean that follows her into young adulthood.

About to come of age, our heroine is being prepared for future chiefdom by her parents (John Tui, Frankie Adams) when the island’s food supplies become unsustainable — inspired by her beloved grandmother (Rena Owen), Moana sets out beyond the reefs of her island to find Maui and get him to fix what he broke.

From there, it’s all tiny coconut pirates and shiny crabs and shapeshifting fun; you know all the songs, and they still largely rule. Like all live-action remakes, this Moana is longer than the animated version, though in this case it’s only a matter of eight minutes, speaking to a little extra padding in some of the early scenes. It’s nowhere near as bad as the How to Train Your Dragon remake adding an extra 27 minutes somehow.

Director Thomas Kail (Hamilton), without question a brilliant theater mind who also did some nice work on the FX limited series Fosse/Verdon, feels totally anonymous here. But considering the framework of the project, there’s minimal opportunity for Kail to demonstrate any sort of unique take. There are a few moments in the vocal performances where the singing isn’t quite perfect, tiny deviations that add a bit of a human touch. Still, this thing’s on rails, at the end of the day. So many of the creative choices were pre-made for him.

Moana does lean on fresh talent for all of the human roles, and Catherine Laga’aia is an able heir to Auliʻi Cravalho’s spirit. Beyond the aforementioned Johnson’s return as Maui, Jemaine Clement reprises his role as Tamatoa, a one-scene performance that’s still fun if rote, since his live-action CGI shininess doesn’t differ too much from his animated CGI shininess. Meanwhile, for some reason Alan Tudyk was not asked to return as Heihei — a damn shame, considering his commitment to his craft.

As hinted at above, the best sequence of the movie ends up being Johnson performing Maui’s hit number “You’re Welcome” live. Okay, it’s largely against a digitally animated background, and I’m pretty sure he’s singing to playback, but he at least feels like he was physically present when the scene was being shot. The staging is not terribly different from the original, yet it’s perhaps the first time in Johnson’s career he’s been pushed into full song-and-dance mode on screen, and a shocking burst of fun.

Johnson’s not a classically trained dancer or singer to the best of my knowledge, but from the WWE to action movies he’s always been a physically gifted performer, and he really goes for it here. Animation is an incredible medium, but it cannot match the full force of that aforementioned charisma hamming it up to just the right degree.

However, as hard as that charisma is working, it can’t overcome the cognitive dissonance that comes from Johnson’s muscle suit and long flowing locks. Initially, the hair felt like the toughest element to overcome as a viewer, simply because we’re not used to seeing Johnson’s actual face surrounded by it. (The animated Maui’s face does have similar characteristics, but it’s not a copy of the actor.) Then I saw another writer last night mention the body suit’s lack of nipples. This is now knowledge that haunts you and me as one.

Beyond the nipples and some instances of CGI that let the cracks in reality seep in, watching this was not a terribly unpleasant experience. If nothing else, Heihei the chicken may now be rendered in a more realistic CGI style, but the simple slapstick pleasures of a very stupid bird remain transcendent.

Still, it’s hard not to get frustrated by watching something so determined to be the same, just slightly different. This issue might be enhanced in this case because other Disney live-action remakes have all enjoyed more temporal distance from their parent films; at 10 years between projects, this is the shortest amount of time yet from the original to the remake’s production. Twenty years feels like it should be the bare minimum — long enough for one generation’s memories to fade and make way for the next wave.

Something that made the 2025 live-action Lilo & Stitch controversial was a pretty significant change to the ending — it’s not necessary to explain what that change was, it’s just important to know that a change was made, one that showed some ambition and thought about how the story would play in a slightly different time. Moana avoids that — which is a shame if only because its ecological themes have increased dramatically in importance just in the last ten years; a Moana that dove harder into its climate change allegory would be that much more relevant to today.

Instead, it feels like every sentence of this review contains some version of “like the original.” This is because the two Moanas are so damn close to each other that it’s impossible to detangle them in the mind; 2016’s flaws live on in the 2026 version, as the 2026 version doesn’t aspire to improve on what came before.

Yet, Maui’s nipples aside, Moana contains no nightmare fuel on the level of 2025’s Snow White — which ends up being high praise for adaptations like these. At this point, it feels like too much of a stretch to hope for better from these remakes. The most we can aspire to is different. If only to avoid the feeling of watching a rerun.

Moana sails into theaters on Friday, June 10th. Check out the latest trailer below.