Exploring the Depths of Moana 2

Aaliyah Garcia
Staff Writer
Spoilers Ahead
  Moana 2 was directed by Dana Ledoux Miller, David Derrick Jr., and Jason Hand; it was released on November 27, 2024. The main characters of Moana consist of Auliʻi Cravalho (Moana) and Dwayne Johnson (Maui), who are the same actors from the first movie. While Moana and her crew are fighting the storm monster, Maui comments, “I’m starting to miss the fire monster,” in which he references Te Fiti, the evil, fire-throwing monster from the first movie. Moana is trying to defeat the new monster, and she dies while doing it. During the movie, Moana lies lifeless in front of her ancestors, and they use their spiritual powers to bring Moana back to life. Moana's grandmother, whose spirit was reborn as a stingray, made a special appearance to help revive her granddaughter. The cruel coconut monsters, known as Kakamoras, make an appearance in the film as well. Instead of being an evil tribe trying to stop Moana, this time they explain their story of their lost land that belonged to them. Redeeming themselves, the coconut monsters eventually team up with Moana and help her defeat the monster and fix the curse by touching their land. Moana 2 is an excellent film for people of all ages, especially those who were little when the original film was released This film shows the viewers Moana as an older sister who is growing and showing her little sister her ways. I truly enjoyed watching it and the different references it made to the first one. The storyline was around the same, although this time the different points of view of the Kakamoras made sense as to why they were so angry in the first one and really showed their side of the story. Although the film was not entirely original, it helped provide a new perspective on the original.