Edit: I'm dumb. I said it was a masterpiece compared to this. That's hyperbole. The ending of Frozen sets the two slightly apart for me, but the difference is small.

It really boils down to this.

Moana = Two good songs (three if you include The Rock's, but I couldn't hum it to save my life right now)
Frozen = One good song and one great song.

Pretty much a wash, though Frozen has a slight edge because of the ending.

Both are going to be massively overrated.

I didn't see the twist with the lava monster being the island. I thought that was a good enough twist for the end of the movie. But whatever.

I'm not really debating which ending is better, just that Frozen's made that mostly bland story somewhat worthwhile.

Prepare for a lot more bland stories from Disney then.

Well again, it's what they do with it (how they dress it up). Pete's Dragon is really only a story about a boy and his dog (insert dragon). It's a movie we've seen before, yet I fucking loved that movie. It's still far and away my favorite film this year.

This

Beautifully rendered animation and an undeniable spirit in the tradition of the best Disney films, although the story is a bit more derivative than I had hoped. B+

I couldn't agree with this statement more. I saw it yesterday afternoon in 3D (which added nothing and was barely used) and I found it incredibly average. The animation was beautiful, the songs were mostly mediocre or even bad (how "Shiny" is even in the final product in mind boggling to me) and the middle section dragged a lot. It was cute and all but definitely not up to par with Disney's past efforts as of late.

B-

Disappointed in the reaction here. With a Metascore and RT average rating higher than Zootopia and Frozen I thought it would get at least an above average reception here, rather than cute to meh. I fail to see how it's not at least on par with Tangled and Frozen. It's songs are way better than Tangled songs.

It's because it's just pretty mediocre.

I know that's the consensus here. I'm just wondering how it got such good reviews if it's so mediocre.

These three things are derivative.

1. A father who is reigning his daughter in (Pocahontas)
2. A relative dies and the hero sees them in a vision (The Lion King)
3. It involves a Point A to Point B journey (countless movies)

Literally everything else in the movie is at least fresh if not completely original.

On Meta Critic there are plenty of reviews that are graded between 67 and 80, which is where most people's grades are. There are only a few crazies like you.

Honestly, the way you are talking in this thread, I would think Disney is paying you some big bucks to praise it so.

I enjoyed it more than Frozen or Tangled. I liked both of those films (B+), but Moana tops them for me. Clements and Musker have a signature touch that I'll always appreciate, whether its my all-time favorite film (The Little Mermaid) or the hugely underrated Treasure Planet, their films are among Disney's best.

1. Moana (A-)
2. Zootopia (A-)
3. Big Hero 6 (B+)
4. The Princess and the Frog (B+)
5. Tangled (B+)
6. Frozen (B+)
7. Wreck-It Ralph (B+)

Honestly, everything below Zootopia is mostly interchangeable. It's hard to rank them.

And Shiny isn't bad. It's an upbeat, silly, flamboyant song with a menacing undertone. Jemaine Clement also does excellent voice work. And choosing a coconut crab, named Tamatoa (either an anagram or play on its spiritual name in the Pacific), for the character is quite clever. Also, the end credits scene, did anyone here stay for it?

Loved the end scene. It's amazing how much people seem to hate Shiny. It wasn't my favorite song, but it was fine, and it was still a really exciting scene.

I'll re-watch it but this was definitely well below Frozen and Tangled for me. I loved the island scenes but once the voyage starts it becomes formulatic and stays there without a chance to mature the characters. There is also the fact that the lead friendship is left somewhere hanging in the middle (twice). The animation is gorgeous and voice cast is great here, specially Rock and Auli'i but its far from Disney's best. The songs were decent but nothing memorable aside from final song before the big battle, I found the instrumental work much better here.

7/10

I think Moana herself is one of the most fleshed out, and best animated characters... ever. Probably since Mr. Incredible at least.

I think the film truly shines once Moana sets out on her journey. The island stuff that Jack Sparrow cites is where it feels like Pocahontas.

Not really, though. There was hardly any village scenes in Pocahontas that didn't have to due with the conflict of John Smith and gang.

The Moana scenes on the island are all about her taking up the "chief" role and how they live.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH it's because they're both women of a darker skin tone! THAT'S why the comparison is being made!

Fucking pricks.

I don't think it's exactly like Pocahontas. Just a little bit. The stuff on the water is just where it almost entirely becomes its own thing with the exception of the dead relative coming back as a ghost to motivate our protagonist cliche.

But it's the setup. The journeys are essentially the same in all animation movies. This one does exactly the same goes from point A to point B. I don't understand how it becomes it's own thing in the sea. This is not life of pi, she learns sailing but in a quick succession, as I mentioned earlier the friendship is not explored enough to give any satisfying ending. It's just gorgeous animation executed nicely.

I thought the journey was plenty flavorful with the Kakamora, realm of monsters, Te Ka, etc. I also thought the Moana Maui relationship was very well done, refreshing that there was no romance. But that's just me I guess.

I'm also glad that it didn't turn into a romance but the friendship in itself is not explored enough. Maui doesn't really grow in the movie. Neither are his fears addressed enough to gain confidence again only to be broken...twice. Just these emotional touches in the movie are lacking.

I dug it, one of the better Disney films of late

1. Moana
2. Zootopia
3. Tangled
4. Frozen
5. Princess and the Frog
6. Wreck it Ralph
7. Big Hero 6