Moana

Score: 9/10

Recommendation: Full Price Ticket

Summary: A technical masterpiece strengthened by strong music and characters create a unique movie going experience for all ages.

Review:

Moana is a joy to watch. There are very few computer animated films, if any, that look prettier than Moana does. Let's get into it.

Moana follows the daughter of the island chief on an island that refuses to sail into the ocean. Moana has a special connection to the ocean that pulls her towards the adventure of looking for new islands. Long ago, her people were explorers until Maui (demigod of the Earth and Sea) stole the heart of Tafiti (the God of plants or something) and the ocean became dangerous and the islands began to die. Moana must leave her island, find Maui, and return the heart of Tafiti.

The story of Moana is fun coming of age story. It may not have the incredible depth of Disney's other film this year (Zootopia) but it is entertaining regardless. Add the great banter between Moana and Maui to the music and the visuals, and the story is told as well as it possibly could be.

Now allow me to rave about the technical prowess of Moana. I felt like there were scenes where the hair team was just showing off. Yes, there is a hair team. People dedicated to animating and simulating hair on all the characters. (Click here to check out some bloopers from hair simulation on Tangled). There is a lot of hair to simulate especially because hair acts differently when it's dry, wet, in a poly tail (all the characters do both). The lighting was super cool too. Look at the colors during the films darker moments, like when Moana feels completely alone and compare it to when Moana is determined.

Lin Manuel Miranda is most famous for composing the musical Hamilton which has taken over Broadway by storm. If you are familiar with the Hamilton soundtrack you will recognize his voice in almost half the songs