When Disney announced Moana 2, I was pretty excited as I enjoyed the first movie quite a bit. It had a cool soundtrack, a great story for everyone to follow along and enjoy, and characters that everyone liked and were fun and easy to root for. However, after watching the sequel, it just didn’t live up to the original’s greatness.

There are many problems with the sequel, one of them being the story. It felt all over the place and didn’t have the same heart as the first one. In the original, Moana’s journey to save her island and find herself was so inspiring. In the sequel, her adventure didn’t feel as important or memorable. Instead of growing as a character, Moana stayed the same, which made the whole movie feel like it wasn’t anything new or exciting.

Another letdown was the characters. Moana is still great, but the movie didn’t include one of the biggest reasons Moana did so well in office sales: Maui. Maui was  a big part of the first movie and he didn’t have that much time or lines in the new movie. He brought so much humor and energy, and it’s obvious the sequel needed more of that spark. They added some new characters, but they didn’t stand out. To be honest, it felt like they were just there as filler and not really important for the movie.

The soundtrack was also pretty disappointing. The songs in the first Moana added so much emotion and energy to the movie, even if you weren’t the type to listen to them on their own. In Moana 2, the songs just didn’t hit the same way. They didn’t feel as special or magically, and it felt like they were trying to recreate something that could just not be made again and ended up falling flat.

On the other hand, the animation was truly jaw dropping and crystal clear. The ocean and islands looked incredible, and Disney definitely outdid themselves from a animation standpoint, but everything else just kind of fell off and wasn’t great. Visuals can only take you so far when the story and characters aren’t as strong or engaging as before.

Overall, Moana 2 felt like a missed opportunity. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t have the same magic as the first movie. If you loved the original, you will probably think this one is garbage. Sometimes, it’s better to leave a great movie as it is rather than trying to make a sequel that can’t live up to it, and we have seen this multiple times throughout the history of film making. If you’re curious, maybe check it out, but don’t expect it to be as good as the first one. I wouldn’t waste my time and money on this movie when you can watch something better.

Rating: 4/10