Cassandra Kurth

I genuinely enjoyed Moana 2 so much. I've never written a movie review before, but I want to point out all the good things I saw, especially since there has been an overwhelming negative response. My review may not be everyones flavor as I view movies through the lens of heavy symbolism analysis and how they tell stories all humans can relate to in some deeper sense. The theme from Moana to Moana 2 evolves from finding yourself to finding collective community. So while Moana re-established her identity and the identity of her people in the first movie, now it is time to find where her people fit within the larger context of the world around them. The only way to do this is to find other people. After finding an artifact while exploring, Moana must rally a crew to explore unknown seas and find the constellation that is not in her own sky. A detail that may have been missed is that Moana uses the constellation Orion in the beginning to find her way back home. Orion can be seen from both hemispheres. The constellation on the artifact she finds is Cassiopeia which is only visible in the Northern hemisphere. This gives a sense of distance she must travel to find other cultures. We quickly find out that Maui is also on this same quest to reunite the people of the ocean, but wants to do so alone as to not put Moana in danger. He is imprisoned by Matangi, a clear dark Goddess archetype who works in mysterious ways. Moana eventually has to embrace her own inner feminine qualities of relying on intuition and “getting lost” to ultimately find her way through the belly of whale (or rather innards of a giant clam?) This dark night of the soul is an integral part that happens in every story that uses The Hero's Journey as a template. Going back to Moana’s crew. Through the lens of symbolism, all characters represent the internal workings on the main character. Mini is the side of her that wants to rely on Maui and pure strength to complete the task. Loto is the logical, experimental side, and Kele is the stick to the traditional safe secure route. During their song on the boat is a show of how multiple aspects of her own psyche need to come together in unison and work together to complete the impossible task. This is done by engaging them in various activities to get them free from their usual modes of operation to experience the joy of Flowing with the ocean. My last big final point is that this is essentially a retelling of “The Tower of Babel” story. Angry God doesn't want people to be connected, so he takes away the island that makes connection possible. Instead of language, it is portrayed as the ocean currents that connect different peoples across the vast ocean. Moana literally achieves demigod status at the end with the spontaneous arrival of her tattoos and made it possible for people of various cultures to connect again. I know this was a lot to read and isn't super concise, but I could literally write an essay and compare nearly every element of Moana 2 to The Hero's Journey and multiple myths, stories, and legends across many cultures. In the end, it's about connecting with people who are outside your known world. Something we all could use some practice with, especially those who feel so harshly about this movie.