'Moana 2' suffers major blow hours after worldwide release

Moana 2 has received a major blow just hours after its release, with critics making a shocking claim about its plotline.

The sequel to animated Disney musical Moana, which had its world premiere at the Lanikuhonua Cultural Institute in Kapolei, Hawaii on November 21, was released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the United States on November 27, 2024.

According to critics, the film has garnered mix reviews as some described it as a ‘good watch’ while others thought it failed to live up to the 2016 original.

Several media outlets rated the film, including Telegraph, Empire, and The Guardian.

Telegraph awarded four stars to the sequel, referring to it as a "giddily animated triumph.”

However, Empire wasn’t very generous with the film’s impact either as it stated that it was "a touch less fresh than the original", but is "still bursting with energy, emotion, warmth and imagination.”

Meanwhile, The Guardian barely gave the film a total of two stars, saying that "this frictionless sequel lacks genuine passion.”

Speaking of the original story of an adventurous Polynesian girl, who sets on a mission to save her people, newspaper critic Peter Bradshaw said it was a processed AI version of “love, laughter, and belonging.”

He wrote in the column, "It is all inoffensive enough, but weirdly lacking in anything genuinely passionate or heartfelt, all managed with frictionless smoothness and algorithmic efficiency.”

Moana 2 stars Dwayne Johnson, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk, Temuera Morrison, and Rose Matafeo among others.