1 of 5 | Catherine Laga'aia stars as "Moana," in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Disney
LOS ANGELES, July 8 (UPI) -- The live-action Moana, in theaters Friday, is better than Moana 2 because it is still based on the original Moana's script. However, it renders that script in a degraded form.
Moana (Catherine Laga'aia) defies her father, Chief Tui's (John Tui) orders to never leave their island. When their resources run dry, Moana sets sail to find demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and restore the Heart of Te Fiti to the goddess from whom Maui stole it.
The animated film was lush in its depiction of Polynesian culture. Moana defies patriarchal culture like the best Disney princess.
Coming only 10 years later, there's far less of a case for making The Jungle Book with photoreal animals or even Aladdin with a genie interacting with live-action. Representing Pacific Island culture even takes a backseat to unconvincing visual effects.
