Film Review: Disney’s Moana Makes Waves In Live Action Remake

★★★½

The sea is calling… or more accurately, Disney is calling audiences back to cinemas with its live-action remake of Moana.

Since its release in 2016, Moana has become Disney’s most-streamed film on Disney+. Between 2020 and 2025 alone, audiences streamed 37 billion minutes of the beloved adventure, cementing its place as one of the defining animated films of a generation. Now, Disney is hoping to turn that cash cow into its next billion-dollar blockbuster.

The challenge is that live-action Disney remakes aren’t the guaranteed money printer they used to be (cough cough Snow White). Timing also works against Moana. Disney released The Mandalorian feature film in May, Toy Story 5, and now Moana in the last three weeks.

For the average family of four, a trip to the movies can easily cost $100 on tickets alone, and that’s before factoring in popcorn, drinks, parking or fuel. Seeing all four major releases on the big screen could feel tough to justify during a cost-of-living crisis.

With the 2016 Moana available to stream, Disney faces a simple but significant question: what makes this version worth leaving the house for?

Moana follows a young wayfinder who joins forces with the demigod Maui to restore the heart of Te Fiti and save her island. At the centre of it all is Australia’s own Catherine Laga’aia. No stranger to the screen, her father, Jay Laga’aia, is a celebrated performer in his own right. Known for playing Captain Typho in the Star Wars prequel films (among many other roles), it’s clear that performing runs in the family.

A Newtown Performing Arts High School and NIDA Diploma graduate, Catherine Laga’aia fits the universe well and gives a confident and cheeky performance. Building on his voice performance from the original film, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson slips effortlessly back into the role of Maui, sharing an easy chemistry with Laga’aia. Maui and Moana’s relationship drives much of the story of the piece.

Rena Owen steals hearts as Gramma Tala, while Tamatoa the crab’s appearance is over way too soon, featuring the original voice of Flight of the Conchords alum Jemaine Clement.

Director Thomas Kail is an interesting choice to head this project. Previously working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on the 2020 Hamilton Live, Moana represents his first major live-action feature and a significant leap in both scale and budget.

Outside of Hamilton, his most notable screen credit is the Emmy-winning miniseries Fosse/Verdon, starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams. While his resume may seem unconventional for a Disney tentpole, his experience capturing music-driven narratives makes him a surprisingly natural fit for bringing Moana to life.

Moana encounters a few issues making the leap from animation to live action. The absence of a formidable villain leaves the adventure feeling lighter on tension than it perhaps should. The overall pacing may not keep very young audience members completely engaged for the whole two hours.

Also, curiously, not everything has been translated into the real world. Heihei, for example, isn’t portrayed as a realistic chicken but as an almost one-to-one CGI recreation of his animated counterpart.

The same approach extends to several other creatures, raising an interesting question: how “live action” is this adaptation when so much of what appears on screen has been digitally created?

Then again, perhaps that distinction no longer matters. With films such as James Cameron’s Avatar franchise relying heavily on CGI to create entire worlds, audiences have shown they’re willing to embrace digital filmmaking, provided the story, characters and spectacle deliver.

For all its visual grandeur, Moana never quite recaptures the magic that made the original so special. Yet Catherine Laga’aia proves herself in her feature debut, Dwayne Johnson remains entertaining, and the film’s sweeping tropical island landscapes are undeniably beautiful on the big screen.

It may not surpass the film that inspired it, but it reminds us why Moana’s story continues to resonate nearly a decade later.

Disney’s Moana sails into cinemas in Australia from 8 July 2026.

Website: https://www.disney.com.au/movies/moana-2026

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