REVIEW: ‘Moana (2026)’ Is A Gigantic “No Thank You”

Moana (2026) has no artistic reason to exist. Directed by Thomas Kail, the remake of the 2016 neo-classic is a pale comparison to a movie that was beautiful, original, and full of heart. The live-action version of Moana is desaturated, uncanny, and bloated with extra “boy stuff.”

Moana (Catherine Laga’aia) is the daughter of the village chief, torn between her duty to her people and her wish to sail past their island’s reefs—something her father forbids all his villagers. But the island is dying because a thousand years ago, the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) stole the Heart of Te Fiti. So Moana ventures off to find Maui, restore the Heart of Te Fiti, and save her people, all while finding herself along the way.

The only things that work about Moana (2026) prove how incredible the original is, that they can hold up even here.

Everything decent about Moana (2026) owes itself completely to how incredible the original movie is. Moana, as a character, is one of Disney’s very best. She’s self-confident and smart, but also fails and falls apart. She’s burdened with enormous expectations, but finds joy in the quest she’s on anyway. Only this Moana is failed by her director, who constantly encourages body language that infantilizes or dumbs Moana down.

She looks surprised at herself when she gets things right, even in the final climactic moments when she’s supposed to have already conquered those lessons. It happens regularly, whether in response to herself or to Maui, and it grows old quickly. And every time a song hits the moment that is supposed to be its climax, she just has a TV-movie quality to her physicality, rather than the abject triumph these songs have depicted over the past decade.

Maui is just as uncanny. The charm of his puckish, obnoxious ways is severely diminished by his body proportions, especially compared to Moana. The original Maui is fun, despite how rude he is at first, because of his inhuman proportions. He’s really more of a wide character than he is tall. The Rock is simply tall. So you’re just looking at a man over fifty with muscles that don’t completely fit his body anymore and a face that can hardly form full expressions. The age difference between Maui and Moana is just as uncanny as the size difference. They’re not at all fun to see on screen together.

The CGI is decent, but it makes every human feel that much more out of place.

The bigger shame about Maui is that he is reduced from a jerk who has to learn a hard lesson to a gross boy who has to learn one. Of all the jokes and dialogue changes in Moana (2026), the bulk of them seem to be opportunities to have Maui make a butt joke or do something manly-looking to, supposedly, help appeal to more boys. The jokes feel like they don’t belong in this movie, especially given that they are either not in the original at all or are so much harsher than anything else in the dialogue. A few do land, but most do not.

One of the only things in Moana (2026) that looks good is the traditionally animated portions of the “You’re Welcome” scene. Which isn’t surprising, given that it is the medium the movie was meant to be told in in the first place. This is the only time when there are any bright colors, and everything actually feels awake, let alone alive.

The CGI is actually somewhat decent in this movie—Te Kā looking quite good in particular—but it means that every time a real human looks like they aren’t supposed to be there. They’re all dimly costumed and just don’t look like how they are supposed to in your head. Plus, the complete lack of real sets makes the beach and ocean alike sit wrong when CGI models try blending with humans whose hair doesn’t look right, and costumes lack verve. 

This remake simply should not exist.

The dampening of the colors is exacerbated by the movie’s excessive editing. There are so many cuts that it leads to bad ADR moments, shots that have no depth, and usually only contain close-ups of Maui’s or Moana’s face. The only time things really zoom out is when the whole shot is CGI or during a few songs. But during “You’re Welcome,” it’s the animation that takes the lead. And during “Shiny,” the entire lair just doesn’t feel bright or colorful enough to match the song’s energy.

Moana is a great character, and the movie has great songs, but neither of those is a credit to the remake. Everything Moana (2026) adds of its own is cheap or annoying. The runtime padding is all either “boy jokes” with a 25 percent hit rate, or completely unnecessary flashes of what is happening back at home while Moana is off trying to save them. 

This remake simply should not exist. The original movie is so far superior in every possible way, while the live-action parts of the remake are its worst aspects. Moana (2026) feels utterly uncanny in every frame and pales so terribly in comparison to the incredible original. Remaking this movie in live-action was a mistake.

Moana (2026) is in theaters everywhere July 9th, 2026.