MOVIE NEWS – Dwayne Johnson has addressed the harsh response to Disney’s live-action Moana after the movie earned weak reviews and underwhelming box-office results. The returning Maui actor believes its long-term cultural value matters more than the immediate reception because Polynesian children can finally recognize themselves on a screen of this scale.

Disney’s practice of remaking animated classics in live action is far older than the current wave. New versions of The Jungle Book and 101 Dalmatians appeared in the 1990s, followed by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 2010 and Maleficent in 2014. Jon Favreau’s 2016 The Jungle Book truly accelerated the strategy with $966.6 million worldwide, and Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King all became major hits afterward.

The formula has looked far less reliable since the pandemic

The shift toward streaming brought several setbacks. Mulan and Pinocchio largely bypassed theaters, while Mufasa: The Lion King cleared $700 million but The Little Mermaid stopped at $569.6 million and Snow White managed only $205.7 million.

The new Moana has collected roughly $265 million worldwide and holds a 31% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Johnson remembered that the first two published reviews were extremely positive, only for the overall conversation to swing sharply in the opposite direction. He joked that such reversals simply happen sometimes.

For him, the larger cultural effect is more meaningful. The movie exists so children like his can look at the screen and say: “That’s us for the first time on a big screen.”

CGI and the remake’s purpose dominate the criticism

Many negative reactions focus on the heavy computer-generated imagery needed to reproduce the story’s magical world. Because the original was already a CG-animated feature, critics argue that the visual difference is not great enough to make the remake feel necessary.

Disney’s leadership has also acknowledged the disappointing theatrical result, although Josh D’Amaro says a franchise film can strengthen other parts of the company even when it misses box-office expectations. The studio expects Moana to perform strongly on Disney+, following the animated original’s status as one of the most-streamed films ever. A live-action Tangled and a sequel to the successful Lilo & Stitch are already on Disney’s horizon.

Source: MovieWeb