Moana (2016)

Every once in a while, I like to check out Disney Plus and maybe watch films that I avoided at the cinemas which definitely includes the film I chose for today. Back in 2016, Disney tackled a new topic when they explored the lore of the Polynesian islands and their culture when they released Moana in 2016. Legend has it that a goddess by the name of Te Fiti created life with the power of her heart. One day, a demigod by the name of Maui (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) stole her heart and when he tried to escape it was lost in the ocean and he was banished. Fast forward to the future and we meet Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) who is a very curious girl and only daughter of the chief of her island. All she wants to do is set sail in the ocean, but when resources start to become scarce because of the curse, she finds the heart and sets out to find Maui to convince him to make things right once and for all to save her island. The film also stars Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarok) as Gramma Tala,  Temuera Morrison (Star Wars: Episode II- Attack Of The Clones) as Chief Tui, Jemaine Clement (What We Do In The Shadows) as Tamatoa, Nicole Scherzinger (Men In Black 3) as Sina, Alan Tudyk (Frozen) as Heihei, Oscar Kightley (Hunt For The Wilderpeople) as Fisherman, and the film was directed by Ron Clements (Hercules), John Musker (Aladdin), Don Hall (Big Hero 6), and Chris Williams (Bolt).

What can be said about a Disney movie that hasn't already been said before? They all follow the same formula where you have your main characters with one being on a mission, one being funny, and then they give you the comedic relief character in the form of an animal or creation (snowman). Most every single Disney movie follows that formula and why not? The formula has worked for years and as long as they keep it fresh it will work for more and more years. One thing I will say is that even though he is in cartoon mode, Dwayne Johnson still found a way to be funny and a very integral part of the film because if it wasn't for him I may not have enjoyed this as much. To be honest, I think he was more the comedic relief then the darn chicken who was just too dumb to be eaten. I thought some of the songs were just too much and it's probably the one thing that drives me nuts about Disney movies, but the one I did like was when Jemaine Clement had his time to shine with his song which had a very Bowie/Tim Curry feel to it and that was awesome. This was definitely enjoyable especially if you want to learn about some of the legends of the culture and how they received their names. I however don't think it's the best Disney movie ever made cause that belongs to The Toy Story. Therefore I am going to give this film an B+ for a final grade.

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Whenever a sleeper film or a film that studios are not sure how will be received does very well at the box office then you can bet your bottom dollar that a sequel will be in the works. That was definitely the case with 2017's Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle which made their money back almost ten fold. So now we fast forward to 2019 and everyone is back for the sequel in Juamnji: The Next Level. For Spencer (Alex Wolff) he thought that things were going to be different for him after what happened in the game in the first film, but that isn't the case he struggles with life in New York City. Home of the winter break, Spencer returns home and things don't seem right especially now that his grandfather (Danny DeVito)is living with him. The only problem is that Spencer has gone back into the game and now it's up to Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain), Martha (Morgan Turner), Bethany (Madison Iseman), Alex (Colin Hanks), his grandfather, and his friend Milo (Danny Glover) to save the day. The film also stars Dwayne Johnson (Central Intelligence) as Bravestone, Kevin Hart (Night School) as Mouse, Jack Black (Orange County) as Oberon, Karen Gillan (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Ruby,  Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) as Ming, Nick Jonas (Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle) as Seaplane, and the film was directed by Jake Kasdan.

I went into this wondering if they could pull off the sequel because the first film was magic and I have to honestly say that I enjoyed it a lot. I don't believe that the film was better than the first, but I really liked what they did when they added new levels and characters to the game because it made it interesting. The other dynamic that made the film work is that not everyone had the same avatar which made it hilarious especially when you have Kevin Hart and The Rock acting like Danny Glover and Danny DeVito. That also made the pairing of The Rock and Hart even better as both of these guys obviously work well together with all that chemistry. The action sequences in the film are just as cool as the first film, but one of the craziest scenes ever has to be the one with the Mandrills and the bridge. That was such an awesome and chaotic action sequence that it kept me glued to my seat. Other than that, there were a lot of decent moments in the film that gave you a lot of laughs especially when Kevin Hart was portraying Danny Glover, but it didn't wow me completely like the first film. One thing they did was at the end of the film, there is an extra scene that leaves the film up for a third film to make it a trilogy, but to be honest I am not quite sure if I would be down with a third film. By the looks of it, they have almost totaled the box office of the first film so I would not be surprised if they did. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.