‘Moana 2’ review: Disney’s wishy-washy sequel has sprung a leak

nypost.com:

Wish.” “Moana 2,” the sequel to the 2016 animated film about an oceanic adventurer, is 20,000 leagues better than Disney’s congealed Thanksgiving leftovers from last year.But that’s a low, low bar.

The studio’s latest likable musical is nicely animated, has nice characters and a few nice songs. At risk of repeating myself: It’s nice.So nice, in fact, that the quick movie can grate at times, like a 90-minute “It’s A Small World After All.” But I’m 34 — not six.

More so than any Disney animated film of the last several years, “Moana 2” is aimed squarely at very young kids. And its menagerie of cute creatures making funny faces — Heihei the terrified rooster, multiple cuddly pigs, little Minion-like warriors who don coconut shells — will tickle little ones.A word of caution, however: In this case, “for all ages” does not mean “appealing to all,” but rather “offensive to none.” The familiar story is smooth sailing from start to finish.For Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho), now a seasoned wayfinder who’s adored by her village after her brave deeds in the original, the world is much too small.Still staring longingly at her “friend” the water, whom she high-fives, she’s devoted to finding the lost island of Motufetu — a mythical place that connects the seven channels of the ocean and its far-flung peoples.During a ritual ceremony, Moana is struck by lightning and has a scary vision of the future.

She hazily views her home abandoned and desolate because her tribe has been wiped out by isolation. Moana learns that if she takes her boat and follows a fire in the sky, she’ll eventually reach Motufetu, reunite the separated humans and spare her village its vague, child-friendly demise.