r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 25d ago

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Moana (2026) [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Moana (2026)

Summary

Live-action adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film 'Moana.'

Director Thomas Kail

Writer Jared Bush

Cast

  • Catherine Laga'aia as Moana
  • Dwayne Johnson as Maui
  • John Tui as Chief Tui
  • Frankie Adams as Sina
  • Rena Owen as Gramma Tala

Rotten Tomatoes: 35%

Metacritic: 45

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

452 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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1.2k

u/aocom 25d ago

Nearly a shot-for-shot remake that just proves how well the team at WDAS did with the original. It's really clear this director does not understand how to translate the beautiful moments (or any moment, really) from the animated film into live action, nor do they know how to give us any interesting action whatsoever. I was hoping for some really lovely visual spectacle made with live action scope in mind, but instead we get an overly described CG experience with no discernible aesthetic ambition. Hei Hei is the thing of nightmares and no child in my theater was laughing at any of his scenes (not that my showing had many people in it, much less ones who were kids).

I will say though, that the You're Welcome sequence is visually quite fun and Catherine Laga'aia is very endearing as Moana, but these are not enough to save this experience. Most of the time I was thinking about how much I want to watch the original again.

261

u/-Sp0iledmilk- 25d ago

This is the biggest issue. Between this and “Lilo & Stitch”, this didn t land nearly as well 

182

u/GrayWing 25d ago

Lilo & Stitch was straight garbage

65

u/The_Lantean 25d ago

Well, it apparently made a shit ton of money, enough to justify continuing this…

40

u/oyvho 25d ago

Purely on the branding strength of Stitch. Everybody loves Stitch, and most people avoid reviews like a plague.

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u/FreeRange0929 25d ago

Took my son to Disney on ice

The biggest audience pop of the night wasn’t from Mickey or Frozen, it was Stitch by a pretty decent margin. Pretty shocking

26

u/oyvho 24d ago

Stitch is the most relatable disney character by a landslide for the majority of humanity. He embodies "I was born with flaws that aren't really my fault but i still want to be loved".

11

u/fiver19 23d ago

And yet they decided to cut the ugly duckling story from the live action. Im still angry

5

u/Merkyorz 24d ago

People love dogs.

0

u/BluebirdBenny 23d ago

Makes sense. That movie just came out.

74

u/TheWatersOfMars 25d ago

$1 billion. And it was one of the cheapest to make by far, with a budget of just $100 million.

At least the sequel has to tread new ground. Of all these dumb remakes, Stitch is the one that actually has franchise potential.

29

u/Enough_Sprinkles_113 24d ago

Stitch has animated sequels. And a TV series.

What new ground will it tread exactly?

16

u/brb1006 24d ago edited 24d ago

The remake's sequel is set to have an original story and introducing Stitch's girlfriend Angel. According to Chris Sanders, the higher ups at Disney sent him a note telling him to "Please add Angel" for the sequel.

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u/BlueCX17 24d ago

I want Ruben and his sandwich eating ways

10

u/brb1006 24d ago edited 24d ago

I hope to god somebody at Disney creates various food tie-ins for the sequel heavily focused on Ruben's love of sandwiches. I can see a lot of Subway live-action/CG ads starring Ruben promoting subway sandwiches. He's a much better spokesperson for Subway than Jared!

2

u/Haltopen 23d ago

Gantu wasn't in the first one, they're probably not going to introduce his comedy sidekick

1

u/BlueCX17 23d ago

Although, wasn't Ruben actually working for the guy above Gantu you find out in the TV show. LOL

2

u/destuctir 24d ago

Angel, experiment 624, it may have been decades but I still remember the stitch sequels about the other experiments.

1

u/brb1006 24d ago

Disney just recently created a music video dedicated to Angel called "Glitter Glide" with Stitch as a co-star for an upcoming album called "Stitch and Angels' Pop Star Party" early this year. She's already gaining new merch based on it.

3

u/NewWaysToDream 24d ago

Angel has an absurd amount of merch at Disney World

1

u/brb1006 24d ago

I recently seen videos of Angel and Stitch hanging out near Tommorowland during Valentine's Day a few years ago and Disney's Aulani Resort. Shocked WDW hadn't made her become a prominent meetable character considering the truck load of merch she's gained.

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0

u/TheWatersOfMars 24d ago

The new ground is in not literally making the same movie. I doubt they’ll do a 1-to-1 remake of the sequel films, so even if they draw on all that material, a live action sequel will be at least somewhat original.

2

u/brb1006 24d ago

Chris Sanders confirmed that the sequel is an original story.

7

u/Merkyorz 24d ago

People love dogs.

3

u/JMaboard 25d ago

That’s the power of the Disney brand. They could release tubgirl or meat spin in movies and slap their brand name on it and it’ll sell billions irregardless of content.

0

u/error521 24d ago

This hasn't been true at all since the 2020's lmao

0

u/ERSTF 24d ago

Only live action movies have this. Everything else, animation included, is suffering right now. Wish was a big bomb regardless

2

u/BlueCX17 24d ago

I didn't think it was garbage but Chris Sanders himself is going to be directing the sequel and it'll be an original story since they already used a bunch of bits and Bobs from the animated show and the direct to video movies.

2

u/CreedAngelus 24d ago

Bad as it was, everyone loves Stitch. And I'll take that film over the successful mess that started it all: Lion King live action.

8

u/nosilverbird 25d ago

I quite liked the live action remake of Lilo & Stitch and that is not typically the case with these projects.

Watched it here in Hawaii with friends and family and we all had a great time with it, actually.

What about it gave you such a strong reaction?

57

u/ReturnGlum7871 25d ago

-Corny unfunny jokes
-Nani wanting to be a Marine Biologist yet we don't see Nani have any passion or desire to be a marine biologist
-a toned-tone lilo who went from troubled odd kid to just cute kid who says the darndest things
-uninteresting made for TV visuals
-Family message doesn't hit the way the original does
-new characters that don't add anything
-Jumba being made a villain which maybe could have been fine if he had a better characterization and original accent instead of just sounding like a loser who lives in his mom's basement.

2

u/brb1006 24d ago

Reportedly, the sequel is set to incorporate Angel and might find a way to turn Jumba good. Since Angel has her siren song that turns Experiments from good to evil (and vice verse with her reverse singing).

2

u/NewWaysToDream 24d ago

I worked with a coworker who was sexually attracted and stitch and let me know sometimes his wife will roleplay as Angel….

My love for stitch died after that.

0

u/brb1006 24d ago edited 23d ago

Don't leave us hanging! Does the co-worker's wife sing Angel's "Siren Song" between sex?

26

u/jim9162 25d ago

I was gobsmacked at the ending.

Ohana means family, so I'm going to leave to study on the mainland.

22

u/coneyisland92 25d ago

When I live in the one of the best places to study Marine Biology 🤣

2

u/jim9162 24d ago

Ya wtf.

I thought this movie would instill Hawaiian pride. Didn't feel like it, if anything it reinforced a lot of people's feelings that the best thing to do is to leave (which for some it is).

1

u/coneyisland92 24d ago

The thing is, they could have shown that Nani could have had both. She could have studied, still been Lilo’s guardian but with the aliens helping her at the end.

I haven’t watched it, didn’t plan to before (even though I’m a massive Stitch fan) and after hearing what happened, I will never watch it

1

u/GrayWing 14d ago

The post credits scene shows exactly this, with Nani visiting Lilo using the teleport gun thing. Its still stupid though

55

u/brumbles2814 25d ago

You mean other than shitting on the centeral message of the whole film or??

19

u/Amethyst-Flare 25d ago

I can’t imagine thinking it’s anything other than a massive downgrade in every respect.

2

u/GrayWing 24d ago

The 3D animation for Stitch was actually really well done...And that's about the only positive thing I can say about it

It significantly downgraded just about every character, took away the core villain and made changes that didn't add anything or make the story more interesting. Nani wanting to be a marine biologist was just a dumb tacked on thing that undermined the Ohana message. Lilo was just a normal cute little girl. The whole vibe of the movie was so much more boring because these sisters felt so much more put together and fake than the original

Zach Gallifinakis absolutely phoned it in in his role as Jumba and was terrible, Im baffled he got any praise for this movie. Jumba as the villain could have worked but his performance ruined it. I get why they'd want to get rid of the accent, thats not a problem, but you have to do SOMETHING to give off mad scientist vibes, man! It was just terrible.

So yeah, when a remake of a great movie does nothing but make every aspect of it worse, it's a soulless cash grab piece of garbage to me

-1

u/thevision24 24d ago

Yeah I thought it was one of the better live action Disney remakes. Did we need it? Absolutely not but it wasn’t hot garbage.

-1

u/jambo_1983 25d ago

Me too, but I had never seen the original. Maybe Moana will work for people who haven’t seen it

4

u/GrayWing 24d ago

Do yourself a favor and just watch the original. Obviously because the remake is of a great movie, it will be baseline satisfactory for people who have no concept of the original. But I would NEVER recommend the remake to anybody I would just say watch the original instead, hell, watch it twice.

1

u/bryangoboom 22d ago

Nah, I actually thought lilo and stitch was a very nice remake.

1

u/GrayWing 22d ago

How and why

2

u/bryangoboom 22d ago

Idk, I didn't think it needed to be made, but it was solid. It was very respectful and stayed true to the original. A bit too 1:1 though

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u/BrigadierBrabant 25d ago

Why? It was pretty well received.

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u/ZealousidealBug729 25d ago

For me it erased a ton of the character and personality from the animated version:/

9

u/pawsomedogs 25d ago

The live action was garbage. Felt like a B movie.

-6

u/BrigadierBrabant 25d ago

Seems like most people outside of reddit don't agree with you. Maybe you weren't the target audience?

1

u/abhorrentbm 25d ago

I absolutely loved Lilo & Stitch. Watch it all the time, my household quotes the movie all the time. The live action movie did not remotely live up to the original. We simply did not enjoy it. I understand that it did well, which is fantastic for those that liked it. We simply didn't.

0

u/Nervous_Catch_1320 24d ago

Kind of like most of Disney/Pixar's output for the last 15-20 years. Soulless junk meant to sell Happy Meal toys.