From “a waste of everyone’s time and talent” to praise for Catherine Lagaʻaia and Dwayne Johnson, here’s what reviewers had to say...

The remake, which dropped on 10 July, has been met with a pretty brutal response from critics, sitting at 36% on Rotten Tomatoes from 110 reviews at the time of writing.

That reaction comes after months of fans asking the same question: did Moana really need a live-action remake already?

For context, the first film only premiered in 2016, while Moana 2 was released in 2024 and became another billion-dollar hit for Disney.

In its one-star review, The Independent described the remake as "a waste of everyone’s time and talent."

"If there was something good to be done with a remake of a mere decade-old film (and I can’t stress this enough, Moana came out in 2016), it would surely be to double down on its celebration of Polynesian culture, music, and mythology. But there are no new songs by Polynesian artists, and a quick, new, forgettable one thrown over the credits by original songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda," Clarisse Loughrey wrote.

Rating it a slightly higher two stars, The Guardian branded the remake “a competent but basically pointless and unexciting back-to-basics live-action remake”. 

Peter Bradshaw added: “There is some pretty funny stuff from Johnson here, certainly, and there’s a nice enough rapport between him and his young co-star, but it feels as if he is on autopilot, like a piece of software.” 

Meanwhile, Vulture film critic Alison Willmore suggested Moana was nothing short of a money grab.

It "lays bare the actual motivations: to squeeze as much revenue as possible from the existing hits because the powers that be no longer have confidence in their ability to turn out new ones," she penned.

Despite the disappointing reviews, some critics highlighted the performance of Moana's two leads. 

"A tremendous lead performance… Catherine Lagaʻaia is the film’s brightest reason to exist," wrote Nagier Chambers for Big Gold Belt Media.

Rachel Leishman of CBR similarly praised Lagaʻaia, writing: "Laga’aia is captivating as Moana, albeit a little shaky at the start, and she really brings to life the determination and brilliance of the character that so many fell in love with."

And while Johnson's return as the demigod was familiar territory, reviewers felt he still brought his trademark charm to the role. 

"Johnson makes a really smart choice with his performance. Rather than play up Maui’s cartoonish nature, Johnson plays up the character’s human side," Michael Walsh of Nerdist shared.