When Disney originally released Moana (2016), starring Auli’i Cravalho as Moana and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, fans of all ages went crazy over it. Over the course of its theatrical debut, it made $684,357,500 worldwide.
Its success is easy to point to. It felt like an original idea with colorful, lovable characters and a top-notch soundtrack to boot. The jokes landed with both kids and adults while also pulling on the heartstrings with the perfect amount of tension. There was no damsel in distress princess pining after a useless prince, and the topics of family, self-discovery, and the environment tied together well. Simply put, it was (and remains) a really good movie.
Despite the love for the animated film, fans were not overjoyed to hear it would be the latest to receive a live-action reboot from Disney.
Much of the early backlash came from feeling like this reboot was happening too soon. After all, Moana (2026) was being released only ten years after the original version. Though it certainly is a well-loved film, the live-action was also coming less than two years after an animated sequel in Moana 2 (2024), which also received mixed reviews from viewers. As Disney ought to well-learn, you can have too much of a good thing, and they do it all the time.
In my list of most anticipated summer movies of 2026, I intentionally left this title off for the same reasons fans were skeptical. It was unnecessary, which you could argue that most movies are, but the point of giving a Disney film a live-action reboot should be to bring new life into an old film. It’s why live actions for The Jungle Book (2017) and Alice in Wonderland (2010) are such strong reboots. They brought new life into films that had originally released decades ago that younger fans had no connection to, and they did not lean away from what that new reality would look like.
The Jungle Book (2017) has scenes that actually feel scary, as it should if a real tiger is attacking you. Leaning into the realism, rather than replacing modern 3D animation with modern CGI, is, at least in part, what made those films work. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp!
At this point, after favorably reviewing Disney Dreamlight Valley and many of the recent films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it’s hard to deny allegations that I’m a ‘Disney Adult.’ Yet, even still, I’m not a Disney devotee, and I’m more than comfortable critiquing the company when it needs it. It’s similar to my feelings toward Nintendo: I’m critical because I’m a fan.
Even so, I went in with low expectations to see Moana (2026), directed by Thomas Kail and starring Catherine Laga’aia as Moana and The Rock once again as Maui.
So let’s start with some positives.
The island gives us what we need
The visuals on the island of Motunui are great. For most of the island scenes, it feels like they literally pulled the buildings, the foliage, and the boats right out of the animated film. The costumes feel tastefully done, though The Rock perhaps looks a bit disproportional. Even Maui’s hook and Moana’s oar look like great props.
Yet, much of the rest of the movie feels like an overly done CGI-fest, and the vibrant color we loved from the animated film feels too diluted in its live-action version.
One little spark
There are glimpses of a good movie here, which I hate to say.
At times, the visuals look good, but the quality isn’t consistent across the entire film. Personally, I absolutely hated what they did with the sequence when Maui performs “You’re Welcome.”
Similarly, you see small moments of strong acting from the cast, which are fleeting. Instead, it feels like they were simply told to deliver a line as close to the original as they could in almost every instance, which leads to moments that feel forced and performances that come off lifeless. It really feels like the director or talking heads at Disney had this movie in a creative chokehold rather than allowing it to be its own thing.
There’s a song titled “Know Who You Are” in the original film. Disney should have given that some thought for this one. Did you want an identity or did you want to cash a check? The answer feels pretty clear.
Sing me a song
The music is still good, though with slight variations to make it feel different. However, I was a tad surprised not to see an original song that stands out like “Evermore” in Beauty and the Beast (2017), “Speechless” in Aladdin (2019), or “Wild Uncharted Waters” in The Little Mermaid (2023).
Technically, the film does introduce the new song “Along The Way,” which includes the voices of both the live-action and animated Moana, but it doesn’t even appear during the film itself and is instead played during the credits.
As is the case with most corporations, Disney feels like it’s losing its grip on why fans love the films to begin with. Dare I say, it’s losing the magic?
At the end of the day, Moana (2026) is a true, nearly frame-for-frame rendition of its source material. But that’s what fans should have expected from it all along. Ultimately, for kids, it’s a great film and a fun time at the theater. If you go into the movies remembering that, you’ll enjoy it just fine.
For me, I love the original animated film. It’s one of my go-to comfort movies, in fact, and I remember going to the theater to see it with my family and walking out amazed by it. Trying to compete with a film like that was always going to be an impossible task for Disney. It’s one they didn’t need to take on, and hopefully for fans, it’s one they certainly learn from as production begins on the live-action Tangled.
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