Moana 2

The tunes don't pop quite as hard, but this energetic sequel carries the mythology of its world, and especially its strong female protagonist, significantly forward.

You see a lot of sequels that don’t really have a reason for existing, other than to give the people who liked the first movie more of what they want. These usually end up being barely concealed rehashes, meant to scrape up dollars from gullible ticket buyers.

“Moana 2” isn’t as good as its predecessor, but it’s good enough. And it’s the rare sequel that actually manages to carry forward the mythology of its world, and in this case the character development of its strong female protagonist.

In the last movie, Polynesian teenager Moana (voice of Auliʻi Cravalho) saved her home island by teaming up with the mischievous demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to restore the heart of the ocean to its rightful place, and also rediscovered her people’s birthright of seafaring exploration.

This time around, set about three years later, the story is about connection and self-exploration. Moana is challenged to discover the sunken island of Motufetu, which was sent to the bottom of the ocean 1,000 years ago by the jealous god Nalo, who wanted to splinter the island tribes to establish his dominance.

Of course, a certain rapping, trash-talking dude who looks like a tattooed WWE wrestler and carries around a giant magic fish hook will turn up to join the fun.

There’s also another mysterious deity, Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), a sort of bat-themed sorceress who seems to have a longstanding grudge with Maui, and manages to put him in his place before Moana her crew show up to save up.

That’s right, Moana is now a captain, not just a lonely wayfinder with only chicken and pig sidekicks for company. For her new venture she builds an extra-large catamaran vessel, and recruits some humans to help her out.

This includes Moni (Hualālai Chung), the tribal historian and also a huuuge Maui fanboy; Loto (Rose Matafeo), a master shipbuilder whose brilliance includes on the spectrum behavior; and Kele (David Fane), an elder farmer as the resident naysayer and curmudgeon.

Early on Moana struggles to unite them into a cohesive team, proving that just because you’re an expert sailor doesn’t mean you’re a natural born leader.

Directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller replace veteran Disney hands John Musker and Ron Clements from the original. Screenwriter Jared Bush returns, sharing the script credit with Miller. Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi are back for the musical score and some songs, with newcomers Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear writing some more of the tunes.

I will say the songs in this movie aren’t up to par with the first. There’s not really a memorable one that will leave you humming on your way out the door. Johnson’s solo number — in the classic talk-singing style of non-vocally gifted actors cast in musicals — is probably the best of the bunch, “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?”, based on his signature non-verbal war cry.

(Personally I think Lin-Manuel Miranda is overrated, at least as far as his movie work, but his songs for “Moana” were among his best stuff.)

The animation is just wondrous, and if you think the water work and special effects were eye-catching for the original eight years ago, the Disney team has stepped up their game even further. A battle on the ocean filled with a furious fey storm is a high point, a maelstrom of shadows and lightning.

Sure, there’s some obvious fan-servicing going on to treat lovers of the first movie, such as the return of animal friends Pua the pig and Heihei the chicken for another dangerous journey in which they really have nothing to do but get nearly killed about 500 times.

The Kakamora, those strange little pygmy pirates in coconut outfits, are back again, and we get to explore their backstory a little more.

Overall “Moana 2” is a satisfying second cruise. They weren’t content to just spin up another version of the same story, but charted a new and interesting course that leads to some bright new destinations.

Do stick around for the end credits, which strongly hints at another excursion for Moana and Maui. I’m ready to book my ticket.