Eight years after the originalMoanawas a massive hit with all audiences,Moana 2has earned a significantly lower score on Rotten Tomatoes. The sequel to Disney’s 2016 animated movie was highly anticipated once the Mouse House announced that aplannedMoanaTV show was reworkedinto a feature film. This was done with a mostly new creative team, althoughMoana 2’s voice castbrings back stars Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. Since the firstMoanais highly regarded as one of the best modern animated movies, the pressure was on the sequel to deliver a similarly praised adventure.
Disney held the review embargo forMoana 2until hours before the first preview showings to kick off its theatrical release, and the initial critical consensus is good - but not great.Moana 2has a 67% score on the Tomatometerbased on the aggregator counting over 100 critic reviews. This means that the sequel’s score is still in the “Fresh” territory on Rotten Tomatoes, which is good. However, the nearly 30 percent drop fromMoana’s 95% Rotten Tomatoes score is notable. There are valid reasons for the lower score.
What Critics Are Saying About Moana 2 In Reviews
The Main Story Is Great - But The Villain Is Not
Looking throughMoana 2’s reviews, there are a few commonalities that bring the film to its current Rotten Tomatoes score.The film’s strengths are its animation and how it develops Moana’s storywith thoughtful and emotional relationships.Mae Abdulbaki’s review forScreen Rantnoted the latter point by saying,"[Moana’s] got new dreams and fears to contend with that give her character development a lovely, thoughtful boost and the story its higher stakes.“Ross Bonaime’s review forColliderhighlighted the strength of Maui and Moana’s relationship, calling it"one of the most charming elements of this sequel.”
WhereMoana 2suffers according to most reviews is with its villain(s). The movie positions Matangi and Talo as the big threats, but its really only the latter who is a true antagonist - andthe movie doesn’t do enough to fully explore either villain.Tyler Taing’s review forDiscussing Filmsaid the lacking villain"renders all conflict completely inconsequential.“Going a step further,Alison Willmore’s review forVulturecriticized the film for a"lack of clear stakes, or meaningful drama, or antagonists with any personality.“There’s also the quality ofMoana 2’s soundtrack, which has divided critics.
Moana 2 Doesn’t Live Up To The Original’s Expectations
The First Moana Is One Of Disney’s Best
Part of the problem forMoana 2is the fact that it is a sequel toMoana. The 2016 animated movie was a breath of fresh air from Walt Disney Animation. Thanks to the powerful and emotional journey Moana goes on and the incredible soundtrack from Lin-Manuel Miranda, it became a huge sensation that still resonates with audiences today.Moanais an incredibly entertaining ride bolstered by its strong comedy, and the adventure that Moana and Maui go on is endlessly rewatchable. The movie is considered a"family-friendly adventure for the ages"per Rotten Tomatoes after all.
Moana 2 Ending Explained: What Happens To Moana & How It Sets Up Moana 3
Moana 2’s ending sets the stage for the franchise to grow even more expansive and gives the titular Wayfinder an unexpected new direction.
That’s a nearly impossible bar forMoana 2to meet, though. With its unusual development path and changes behind the scenes, the odds were always stacked against the sequel - but that does not lower expectations. Sequels are often meant to be bigger and better than their predecessors.Moana 2is undoubtedly bigger than the original film, but it is not better. The story feels more crowded thanks to Moana’s crew, but they and Matangi are underdeveloped. WhereasMoanawas able to focus solely on its titular character and Maui,Moana 2has more going on and suffers.
There’s also the nature of the film’s soundtrack. Lin-Manuel Miranda delivered one of the best Disney soundtracks in recent memory (if not of all-time).Moana 2had to deliver more songs, and it was up to Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear to recreate and evolve Moana’s sound. “We’re Back,” “Beyond,” and “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?” are some of the standout musical numbers in the film, butthe songs as a whole don’t quite live up to expectations- as multiple reviews note.
How Moana 2’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Compares To Modern Disney Animated Movies
Moana 2 Is Near The Bottom On Rotten Tomatoes
The story ofMoana 2’s Rotten Tomatoes score becomes a bit more complicated when looking at it in comparison to Walt Disney Animation Studios' other modern films. Looking back at the movies that the studio has made sinceMoana, the sequel hasDisney’s second-lowest Rotten Tomatoes score during the last eight years.Only last year’s movie,Wish, is lower thanMoana 2.Luckily, theMoanasequel has managed to at least stay “Fresh” after Walt Disney Animation’s first “Rotten” movie.
95%
88%
77%
Raya and the Last Dragon(2021)
93%
92%
72%
48%
Moana 2(2024)
67%
Moana 2is also notable for how it stacks up specifically against Disney animated sequels.Ralph Breaks The Internetscored one point higher thanWreck-It Ralph, butFrozen IIwas 12 percent lower than the original.Moana 2now has the biggest drop on Rotten Tomatoes among Disney’s modern animated sequels, and it’s the second consecutive one to do substantially worse with critics. That’s not ideal for Disney, considering three of their next confirmed animated movies are sequels.
What Moana 2’s Lower Rotten Tomatoes Score Means For Disney
Disney’s Animated Movies Are Still Struggling With Critics
Disney is in a precarious spot now based on theMoana 2Rotten Tomatoes score. Walt Disney Animation Studios has not had a movie that is Certified Fresh since 2021, whenRaya and the Last DragonandEncantoboth achieved this recognition.Moana 2was viewed as a movie that could help get the studio back on track with a strong outing critically and financially. There’s no doubt thatMoana 2’s box officewill be massive and help Disney in that regard, but the studio’s standing with critics continues to be uneven afterStrange WorldandWish.
The potential issue forDisney is that they are not shying away from making more sequels.Zootopia 2is up next in 2025, and the sequel is almost assured of scoring worse than the original film - which has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. There should be an original movie released in 2026, but then audiences and critics will getFrozen 3in 2027 - andFrozen 4sometime later. Whereas all of these films are built on great original movies, Disney’s animated studio is now becoming overly reliant on sequels. The quality needs to improve then.
Some issues should have been expected when condensing a multi-episode story into a single sub-two-hour narrative
However, the weight of the current critical state of Disney’s animated movies being onMoana 2is not entirely fair. This was never intended to be a movie project, but the TV show was reworked into a movie shortly after Disney sawWishstruggle at the box office and with critics.Moana 2did not have a normal production for a movie, so some issues should have been expected when condensing a multi-episode story into a single sub-two-hour narrative. Since Disney isn’t doing that with upcoming projects, the future animated movies could fare better with critics.
