Disney is known for its beloved animated blockbuster movies, including golden era titles like Beauty and The Beast and The Lion King. But there's also been some great modern classics in recent years, including Frozen, Encanto, and Moana (all of which are streaming with a Disney+ subscription). The latter's sequel just arrived in theaters, and while I enjoyed Moana 2, losing Lin-Manuel Miranda's music really hurt the blockbuster.
What we know about Moana 2 was limited ahead of its release, but now it's finally arrived, and expected to make a ton of money over Thanksgiving weekend. I got to see an early screening of the movie (see CinemaBlend's Moana 2 review here) and had a good time. Unfortunately, the original music ended up being one of the weaker parts of the animated sequel.
The 2018 original Moana movie featured music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also worked on the music for Encanto). In addition to the movie's anthem "How Far I'll Go" there were also a number of other bangers in the soundtrack like "Where You Are" and Maui's song "You're Welcome." Unfortunately, the music for the sequel is far weaker.
While Auli'i Cravalho's gets to belt out her new song "Beyond", that's really the only song of quality in Moana 2. The songwriters of the new movie were worried Dwayne Johnson hated his new song, and I ultimately have to agree with that assessment. “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?" simply doesn't have as catchy of a melody as "You're Welcome". The latter was a song that really had staying power since the OG Moana hit theaters back in 2018, so the pressure was on for the sequel to deliver. Unfortunately it failed to do that in my opinion.
Obviously Lin-Manuel Miranda is a very busy person, and Disney has been keeping him busy over the years by writing the music to Moana, Encanto, and adding new material to for the live-action The Little Mermaid. He can't be expected to be everywhere at once, but Miranda's musical sensibilities were a big reason why audiences connected so much with the OG Moana film. Unfortunately, he was too busy writing music for the Mufasa prequel movie to return to the animated franchise.
Overall I enjoyed Moana 2 and was glad to see it on the big screen, where the aquatic action sequences could have their full power. But I think a big reason why fans might be disappointed when compared to the original is the lack of bangers on the soundtrack. Indeed, I left my screening humming songs from the original movie, mostly because there was a distinct lack of earworms in the sequel.
Moana 2 is in theaters now. Check the 2025 movie release dates to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
