Moana

The world is in a confusing, worrying state at the moment but on The Plus Side we’re reviewing Disney movies - and that’s a plus at least. I’m Rob, my sister’s Jess and you can be our plus one as we delve into a world of magical musicals, offensive classics and modern masterpieces whilst maintaining a six feet distance from the National Geographic section.

To choose the movies we’re going to be watching, Mum, Dad, Jess and I all wrote down our choices and we’ve been picking them randomly, a bit like Disney when it’s time for a remake. However, our first decision was unanimous, we were all shore, and so we set sail for Motunui.

Moana

Moana is a great film, and for me is up there with Zootopia as as one of the best Walt Disney Animations of the century (non-Pixar of course). It follows the story of a young girl, Moana, played by Auli'i Cravalho, who is chosen by the ocean and sets off on a journey to find the demi-god Maui, played by Dwayne “the rock” Johnson. The songs, the best ones being written by Lin Manuel Miranda, are great (and have been added to my playlist). The storyline, mix of action and humour, and varying accents all add to create an enjoyable, family night in which I definitely recommend you organise.

My mark out of 10? 8.5

Jess: Mum and dad hadn’t seen Moana before, but Rob and I had. It’s very telling that we were both eager to watch it again! The film tells the story of Moana, a girl from Polynesia, entasked with returning the heart of the goddess Te Fitti to her island. Filled with ridiculously catchy songs, gorgeous landscapes, and possibly the most idiotic (and loveable) chicken to ever exist, this film was perfect for all the family.

Moana seems to encapsulate everything we love about Disney: brilliant, vibrant, and detailed animation, a heart-warming story, and a balance between humour, drama, and empowerment. It was refreshing to watch a film about a different culture to our own, and I liked the fact that the film was free from a love interest (which can become oh-so repetitive).

I would recommend Moana to anyone, regardless of their age. The songs, story, and animation are all great, and we all really enjoyed watching it. This was definitely a good first pick.

My mark out of 10? 8.5

We wanted our whole family to contribute to these reviews, but understandably Rob and I seem to have the most time on our hands. Mum’s job has become extremely busy over the past few weeks, but she’s graciously agreed to give us a one-line (or in this case three-word) summary of her opinions.

Mum's three words of wisdom:

Very enjoyable indeed.

Rob: You heard it here folks, Moana is “very enjoyable”. Our dad also watches the films with us and whilst he’s a man of few words I feel that it is our duty to articulate each family member’s experience of the movie. For that reason we’ve decided to note if Dad fell asleep or not during the screening (spoiler: he usually does).

The snooze news:

Did Dad fall asleep during Moana? Of course he did!

If you liked this review, check out the one I did for Zootropolis here.

That’s all we’ve got today on The Plus Side, but we would love for you to share your reviews with us! If you email us at blogontheplusside@gmail.com, we can publish them - regardless of whether we’ve written about them before. We really hope to hear from you and read your thoughts. Have a safe day everybody!