Review: Moana 2

Moana 2 (2024)
PG ‧ Family/Adventure ‧ 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Story by: Jared Bush; Dana Ledoux Miller; Bek Smith Screenplay by  Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux MillerDirected by  Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand, David Derrick Jr.

THE CAST

Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, and Alan Tudyk, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Hualālai Chung, Awhimai Fraser, and Gerald Ramsey.

THE STORY

(In their own words).  Three years after the first film’s events, Moana receives an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors and forms her own crew, reuniting with her friend, the demigod Maui. As they journey to the far seas of Oceania to break the god Nalo’s curse on the hidden island of Motufetu, which once connected the people of the ocean, they confront old and new foes, including the Kakamora and underworld goddess Matangi.

THE BEST

The BEST things about the film

1. It’s a funny and fun film.

2.Animation is absolutely incredible.

3. Quick runtime. 

THE WORST

The WORST things about the film

  1. Uninspiring, Unnecessary, and adds nothing. 
  2. Songs are not memorable. One is downright bad. 
  3. Dwayne Johnson seemed to be phoning in the movie.
  4. Big bad doesn’t work. 

THE COMMENTS

It’s been a while since I felt so disappointed by Disney. This film was a sequel I have been looking forward to, and while I can’t say I had a bad time, this has to be the most memorable and uninspiring Disney animated film I’ve seen. 

In one song by Dwayne Johnson, he just spoke the whole song. It seemed to me like he was talking during the parts that were supposed to be sung and then just “talked fast” when he was supposed to be rapping. It felt like Mr Johnson just didn’t care. And maybe he didn’t when presented with such poor music to perform. Lin Manuel Miranda’s absence in the film is very noticeable. I could tell from the first song that it wouldn’t be as good as the first one. 

Sequels are hard; I get that. Origin stories are just naturally more interesting, but it felt like they did have good things to mine here, but the execution was just not great. I think it’s also a sign of potential trouble whenever you see more than one director for a film.

What the film does well is bring laughter. I brought my 8-year-old daughter to the film, and she laughed throughout the film, or at least when it wasn’t too scary. Yes, the film was fun to watch and funny, and it was nice to revisit the characters from the past. It’s a quick film, and it’s pretty to watch. Aside from Dwayne Johnson’s song, they all have lovely voices to listen to. 

THE LESSON

People need to stay connected. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes. You probably have to rewatch it to remember the film. 

THE FINAL WORD

Moana 2 reunites familiar characters in a visually stunning, funny, and fast-paced adventure, but it falls flat in originality and impact. The songs are unmemorable, with one awkward performance by Dwayne Johnson standing out for the wrong reasons. While the film delivers laughs and moments of fun, it feels uninspired and lacks the original’s magic, especially without Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical touch. It’s worth a watch for kids and fans of the first film, but don’t expect it to leave a lasting impression.

THE VERDICT

My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

I’ll give it a soft “like it.”

THE TRAILER

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)
PG ‧ Animated Action/Comedy ‧ 1 Hour 40 Minutes

Written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Jeff Rowe and Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit

Story by Brendan O’Brien and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Jeff Rowe

Directed by Jeff Rowe Co-Directed by Kyler Spears

THE CAST

Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, Nicolas Cantu, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Brady Noon, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph.

THE STORY

(In their own words). After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them. 

THE BEST

The BEST things about the film

  1. The humor/comedy – It’s a hilarious film. I caught a couple of callbacks to previous films, I’m not an expert in TMNT, and I’m sure there were a lot more, but I’m sure there is a lot more that I didn’t catch.
  2. The writing – Quick, witty…dialogue flows seamlessly. 
  3. The updates – One thing that always scares me about bringing back long-time characters into the modern world is how they decide to update it. They flawlessly updated it to modern times. They reference pop culture as if they are just normal teen high school kids. April, the Turtles’ sole female ally,  is modernized to be a young black/biracial budding journalist from previous iterations. 
  4. The Story – This was a tremendous first TMNT film for someone like me because it is an origin story that thankfully only wades a little bit into how they got to where they are, just enough to get the idea and feel like I completely understood the backstory. Most of the story involves the deciding to “go public” and let people know they exist. They set up the protagonists well with clear motivations for revenge over humanity, which is understandable and diabolical. 
  5. The Acting – The voice acting is top-notch. 

THE WORST

The only thing I didn’t like about the film I would ruin a significant plot point by telling you. So, if you want, message me, and I will tell you after you’ve seen it. 

THE COMMENTS

I confess I am not a huge animation fanboy. I usually have trouble connecting emotionally with animated films (aside from UP, I’m not a monster). But I found myself really getting into this film, which especially surprised me because it is full of gnarly-looking mutant creatures that are the foils of the Ninja Turtles. They don’t look believable as living creatures, and that kind of thing really takes me out of this type of film. 

THE LESSON

Sometimes you gotta trust a stranger.

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes, I see kids especially replaying this a lot. 

THE FINAL WORD

The popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in animated form in a film that offers a fresh, fun adventure that is sure to be the start of a new series of adventures. This action comedy film centers around a  brief origin story of the quartet and a journey of discovering who they want to be after being raised by a fearful, human-hating father figure. Excellent voice-over acting draws the audience into the film, almost making you forget you are watching animated turtles with all these emotions. A good family film with lots of action and minimal scares serves up a solid introduction to the Ninja Turtle universe. 

THE VERDICT 

My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem gets a Like It.

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

Review: DC League of Super-pets

DC League of Super-Pets (2022)
PG ‧ Animated Action Adventure ‧ 106 minutes


Written by John Whittington

Directed by ‎Jared Stern

THE CAST

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, and Keanu Reeves.

THE STORY

(In their own words) Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side by side in Metropolis. However, when the Man of Steel and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped, Krypto must convince a ragtag group of animals to master their own newfound powers for a rescue mission

THE BEST


The BEST things about the film

  1. Humor, lots of animated physical comedy. I watched it with two of my kids, one six and one four, and they both laughed a lot during it.  Especially in the first 20 minutes. 
  2. There are some touching moments such as when Krpyto (Dwayne Johnson) and Ace (Kevin Hart) connect over Ace’s traumatic moment that led to him being sent to a rescue.
  3. Really nice family friendly superhero story you can bring kids to so they can enjoy super-heroes in the theater.  
  4. Fun characters. 

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. As much as it’s being advertised as a buddy comedy between Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, We know since it is an animated film, we know that they record their voices separately. You aren’t going to feel this chemistry between them.  That is marketing. For some reason, this film more than others you don’t get a sense of chemistry between characters. And I’m honestly not sure why I get that feeling. 
  2. There’s not a lot memorable about the film.  
  3. I find animated films a bit hard to connect with overall, but this one truly didn’t spend the time in making a strong connection and relatability with the audience.

THE REVIEW

I wanted to like this. I really did. I’m a big DC fanboy. I like a lot of the films in the DC universe that most people don’t. It was lighthearted, but unmemorable. It had some fun characters like the evil bald guinea pig hellbent on world domination, but we really don’t care enough about them to emotionally invest. The main protagonist Krypto, played by the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, somehow wasn’t very likable. And I love Dwayne John. Too bad dogs can’t do the People’s Eyebrow. 

I did laugh out loud a few times with my kids. I will admit that. But 90% of my enjoyment of the film was based on their reaction. It’s a kid’s cartoon. Which is okay. I get a lot of enjoyment watching my kid’s enjoy movies. I hope this spurns a love of movies for them. 

THE LESSON

Love isn’t about spending every moment together, but rather what you would do for the person you love. 

THE FINAL WORD

A less than memorable animated film that may be better suited for a night out with kids. Yet, still better than Justice League. Maybe the grown up superhero films need more pets. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

I give this a Lose It for Adults but A Like It for children. 

THE TRAILER

Review – Turning Red

Review by Silas Lindenstein

Turning Red  (2022)
PG ‧ Animated Coming Of Age Comedy ‧ 1 hour 40 Minutes


Written by Julia Cho and Domee Shi 

Directed by ‎Domee Shi 

THE CAST

Voices of Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho and James Hong

THE STORY

(In their own words) Set in Toronto between 2002 and 2003, Turning Red centers around Meilin “Mei” Lee, a confident 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian who is torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. However, one morning, after she has a nightmare, she is horrified to discover that she has turned into a giant red panda, later learning that her ancestors have a shared history with the species. Whenever she gets too excited or stressed, she “poofs” into the red panda time and time again.

THE REVIEW

Let me say first of all that I did like the film. I actually think it’s a rather important film. It touches on changes teen girls have in real life that is addressed in a natural and non-ick factor way that a lot of other material treats it. That normalization is important for not just girls, but everyone. This is probably also the most diverse cast of any previous films.  It’s not even set in the USA. There’s a lot of cool stuff about this film.  My big problem is that I wish I liked it more. 

The film seems to do nearly everything right about a film. It has a compelling story, the voice acting is great, it’s funny, etc. but I feel like I didn’t relate to the character enough. Then I worry that that is just built in misogyny not enjoying something fully because it was a story that wasn’t about me. Or maybe my expectations for Pixar films are just too high? This film was originally supposed to be released in theaters, but the Pandemic has been used as the reason it is not and instead releasing it for free on Disney+. Disney is releasing other big films in theaters, so either Disney doesn’t trust parents will bring their kids to the theater or they simply don’t have faith in the film that it will draw. 

The film is fun. It’s a celebration of a girl ready to start her path toward adulthood. It’s about changes in a person that start to draw attention from your peers and how you deal with it in a healthy way.

It’s really hard not to enjoy a film about a girl suddenly becoming a Panda when she experiences too much emotion. It’s like a cute Incredible Hulk. And learning to control emotions is a recurring theme in a lot of art. The dangers of emotion can never be overexploited, but finally we are looking at it from a different point of view.

.

THE BEST
Three BEST things about the film

  1. Wonderful representation.
  2. Great original mythology.
  3. Very funny.

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. Unclear consequences, like how do they know it would be bad to stay the Panda. 
  2. Animosity between the grandma and mother seems unnecessary.

THE LESSON

  1. Don’t hold back for anyone. 
  1. We’ve all got a messy loud inner beast but we never let it out. 

THE FINAL WORD

A fun story about change that is refreshingly different and captured through the lens of a teenage girl. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

I give Turning Red a Like It. 

.

THE TRAILER

Available On Disney+ Streaming March 11th

ABOUT SILAS

When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.