Glaring issue left Moana audiences feeling ‘ripped off’, but one thing saved the film

Review: Disney’s live-action Moana, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Aussie star Catherine Laga’aia, promised audiences a musical adventure that would transform the beloved animated film into a live-action spectacular.

While the soundtrack was on point and Laga’aia’s debut performance was phenomenal, one thought kept popping up in my head as I was watching it.

Aussie actress Catherine Laga’aia made her Hollywood debut as Moana alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Don Arnold/WireImage

“This feels like an animated movie.”

The issue with turning Moana into a live-action movie is that the original relies so heavily on different animation techniques that it is quite literally impossible to recreate it without the same amount of animation, if not more.

While we were promised live-action, we were served an insane amount of CGI and even some 2D-animated sequences. Honestly, I felt a little bit ripped off.

Many production companies have had success with live-action films before, with one stand-out being the How To Train Your Dragon remake.

However, the crucial difference between the original How to Train Your Dragon and Moana films is that the latter heavily relied on different animation techniques to tell the story.

In the original, an animated water blob helps Moana along the way. Maui’s tattoos are animated and move, while his song during You’re Welcome included both 2D and 3D animation.

These elements of the original were animations inside the animation – so how do you possibly translate that into live-action without using… animation?

Despite feeling slightly let down by the live-action elements, the film definitely had saving graces.

For a live-action movie, the sheer amount of CGI and animation felt overwhelming at times. Disney

In the original, Maui’s tattoos are animated, and there’s no way around that in the live-action. Youtube/Disney

The soundtrack is incredible. Broadway director Thomas Kail, in collaboration with Pacific Musicians, brought the original score to life in this remake.

The all-important main character songs, like How Far I’ll Go, also sounded fresh and new, and that’s coming from someone who has listened to the original soundtrack an insane amount of times.

There was also a different depth that came with the physical choreography this time around. You could literally see the amount of work that went into certain scenes.

I also thought the film was much more emotionally charged in a live-action format.

Laga’aia’s debut performance as Moana was phenomenal. Disney

There were emotional moments, especially between Moana and her grandmother, that hit much deeper this time around, so much so that I shed a few tears.

The absolute standout of this film, however, was the incredible representation of the Pacific peoples.

Scenes of the village during Where You Are and the shots of the voyagers on their ships in We Know The Way were brilliantly brought to life in this live-action film.

Johnson explained it perfectly in a sit-down interview with nine.com.au last week.

Scenes of the village during Where You Are paid homage to the Pacific Islander peoples. Disney

“There’s a vibrancy, and there’s a beauty and a power in our culture that you can feel in the animated version, but you live it in the real life version,” he said.

Director Kail also defended the film, saying there’s “inherent reason” in bringing something to life in a new form.

“One of the things that happens when you put this on its feet with real flesh and blood, you have a different reaction to it,” he told nine.com.au.

“By changing the form and making it live action, and having two characters look at each other eye to eye, there’s something else that it stirs up in us.”

Despite the brutal reviews this movie has been receiving, and the slight let-down audiences may feel from the overly-animated scenes, it’s still a fun, family-friendly watch that encapsulates perfectly the heart of the original film.

Johnson became emotional when he saw himself as Maui for the first time. Disney

And hey, who doesn’t want to look at a shirtless Johnson for two hours straight?