By Ayrton-Lewis AVERY

The movie “Moana 2” is nothing compared to the first one … but it is still Disney.“Moana 2” lacks the elements of plot that made the first so engaging and original. Instead, the filmmakers focused on animating water, waves and the sky. This gives viewers many spectacular moments of lightning, storms and winds, all with perfect lighting and top-notch cinematography.

The songs, though, are quite emotional and focus on retrospection and interior emotions. New songwriters (Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear) have done a good job following in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s footsteps, providing many enjoyable moments. The lyrics are clever and the music provides a nice contrast with the film’s often hectic and crowded scenes.

An intimate look is given into the mind of Moana (played by Auliʻi Cravalho), now a young leader of her people, and the audience is forced to consider her aspirations, her mistakes and her goals as she leads a search for a lost island. Co-star, the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), has also grown in passion and wisdom since the first movie as he assists Moana in finding the island. With any luck, they hope that finding the island would break an ancient curse and reunite the people of the sea.

If I were to choose a favorite moment, the first 30 moments are the best in the entire movie. They are full of symbolism and focus on the inner turmoil of the characters and their society against the backdrop of the shoreline. The TikTok-esque dancing on the transition between the land and the sea serves to emphasize the transition in Moana’s own life. As for the rest, the audience is supposed to lie back and watch a film about the ocean, almost documentary style, with such stunning shots of sea animals and turbulent waters.

“Moana 2,” in very classic Disney franchise style, has embellished a great deal upon the mythology of the first movie. At times this is enjoyable, as the audience gets a deeper look at Moana’s universe and culture. However, it is mostly just extra storylines and a meaningless mass of information that fails to give the audience a deeper emotional connection to one of Disney’s most charismatic heroines.

Overall, I recommend “Moana 2” because like most of Disney’s other expeditions it is engaging and entertaining. This, however, is no homage to the first “Moana.” It does not have the simplistic beauty of the original, but instead it is full of distractions, lights and fanfare, which is pleasant but does not make for very deep or insightful viewing.

Rating: 2.5/5