Johnson is stellar as Maui, he seems completely comfortable in a voice acting role and surprisingly has the chops to sing a tune. We are treated with some bioluminescent sequences with another catchy tune not far behind. The animation takes a nice little turn for the creative when the characters find themselves under the sea in a side villains lair. The vibrant colours of the green islands and the blue sea help propel the film above and beyond what some others films have to offer. The film itself might lack some of the intricacies of plot heavy films like Zootopia, but this journey story is entertaining and heartfelt. At first, I felt it was a little too on the nose with some of the lyrics, but eventually he won me over and I've been listening to the soundtrack ever since. The songs here remind me of the old-school Disney songs, easy to listen to, fun to play on repeat and important to the story.
He currently has a Pulitzer, Emmy, Tony and Grammy, among more. I can easily see any one of the songs in this piece going up for and winning Best Original Song, giving the man the O in the prestigious PEGOT award circle. It's not surprising that I found myself tapping my feet to the songs in this film because Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton, shares his talent with this film. Featuring new comer Auli'i Carvalho as Moana and the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, Dwayne 'The Rock" Johnson, as the demigod Maui. But who is this chosen one? It might be Moana, a Polynesian girl who is suppose to be taking over as chief of her tribe, but longs to sail beyond the reef. Now, the world is slowly dying and someone must find the heart and force Maui to put it back. The lava demon confronted him and both the heart and Maui were lost forever. Legend has it that demigod Maui stole a sacred stone, the heart of the goddess Te Fiti. It's no fluke that out of the four movies I just mentioned, 3 of them belong under the house of the mouse. With the likes of Zootopia, Finding Dory and Kubo & The Two Strings all vying for best animated picture of the year, it seems Moana deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as well. 2016 has been a particularly strong year for animated films.