It contains many great hits such as The Princess And The Frog, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Zootropolis.
Now, Disney are off to the Pacific Islands in search of a new hit. With the studio being on such a hot streak at the moment, I wanted to avoid any sort of clips or trailers in the build-up. They already has released Zootropolis earlier in the year, and it would take quite an achievement to top it. So I made sure to not go in with high expectations.
I've now seen it, and I think we need to add this to the slate of this current crops of modern Disney classics. I think if any hardcore Disney fan wants another great film, they expect great animation, strong characters, memorable songs and a story with profound themes and messages. I think they will all get what they want.
The animation is fantastic. The Pacific Island setting is put to good use and we see some breath-taking imagery. We are almost at the point where animation is becoming more like photo-realism. There's plenty of songs to sing-a-long to, and most of them were pretty good to listen to. They never over stay their welcome and they're catchy. I didn't feel a new 'Let It Go' in there. But the soundtrack will be a great one to listen to nonetheless.
There lots of cool action sequences that I think everyone will be entertained. They manage to be exciting, thrilling and even funny.
Our leading characters are great together. Voiced brilliantly by Auli'i Cravalho and 'The Rock' himself Dwayne Johnson, the chemistry really carries the film and keeps us engrossed in the story. I hope to see Cravalho get more mainstream work after this, rather than just being a one-off. As for Johnson, he just oozes charisma and it shows throughout this movie. He is a real superstar in the film business now and I hope to see him in more entertaining films such as this.
There are some good supporting characters, where some have their moment on screen and it is very memorable. As for the villains in this, they were not that strong as a whole. They had their scene-stealing moments. But for me, it was quickly forgotten. A good villain seems to be a lost art in most franchises these days. I can't think of any villain that is anywhere near as memorable as some previous Disney villains such as Scar, Ursula, Cruella De Vil, Gaston or Jafar.
I don't know if it's a lack of character development or back-story. But I think it is time for a memorable villain to rise up from all of this heap of forgotten hasbins.
The only negative thing I should say, is that I might not rank it as high as some of the studios best work. That is mainly due to it lacking of depth compared to some others, and when you break it down, the story is pretty formulaic.
But will give this the slight edge is that Disney has never done a film from this part of the world. It tells a little bit about their culture and their mythology, which definitely made me interested.
That being said, this is a really fun and extremely entertaining Disney animation that has a lot of what you expect and want from a great film from this studio. Great lead characters, good songs, strong themes, morals and messages. It is probably the first Disney animation that actually felt some of the classics from the 90's. From the story structure to the style and execution of songs, it does like it is like one of the greats that I was brought up with. It does help when the story-writers for this film also did The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules.
I must mention that like with most Disney or Pixar animations, there is a short before the film. It's not one of its strongest shorts. But it is fairly entertaining to get into the mood for the main feature.
There is also a post-credits scene that definitely surprised me both in its execution and comedic value. It's very funny and they decide to make fun of their previous work, which I did not expect. A very smart little treat at the end to enjoy.
Rating: 8/10
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