Review: 'Moana' really sings as a respite from the usual princess story

The title heroine of Disney’s animated extravaganza Moana is like a refreshing sea breeze. There are no princes or other square-jawed hunks for her to pine after, and the teen wayfinder-in-training gets to sing the tunes of the uber-talented Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The Hamilton creator and the island personalities of Moana make beautiful music together in this charming seafaring epic (***½ out of four; rated PG; in theaters nationwide Nov. 23). While it wears out its welcome in places, the latest from The Little Mermaid directors Ron Clements and John Musker gets a lot of things right, including a memorable soundtrack, a commitment to Polynesian culture and an MVP voice performance from Dwayne Johnson.

Hawaiian newcomer Auli‘i Cravalho plays Moana, a rebellious youngster feeling the call to sail uncharted waters: She has a connection from the very beginning with the ocean, which plays an important role in her hero’s journey. However, while she shares an adventurous spirit with her Gramma Tala (Rachel House), Moana’s father, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), wants her to stay on their home island of Motunui where it’s safe.

Sneak peek: 'Moana' is 'beautiful' quest of courage

When a mysterious dwindling of resources begins to threaten her people’s well-being, Moana learns about her ancestors’ penchant for voyaging — thanks, Gramma! — and plans a course to find a disgraced demigod named Maui (Johnson), return an important gem to its mythic home and save her land.

The story treads overly familiar ground: That well-worn conceit of one girl’s quest leading to a discovery of identity is pretty standard stuff for Disney. Also, there’s a lot of time spent on family drama, so it takes Moana too long to set off on her mission, and the plot drifts at times when she’s on the water.

However, Moana overcomes all that with considerable humor — courtesy of a dimwitted comic-relief rooster Hei Hei (with clucks by Alan Tudyk) and an army of coconut-wearing beasties straight out of a kiddie Mad Max — plus a variety of nuanced and entertaining personalities.

Johnson is expertly cast as the shapeshifting Maui, a figure with an ego as big as his biceps who has to overcome insecurity and past sins on his way to redemption. He also has a way-cool magical fishhook and a tattooed mini-Maui who acts as the big guy’s voice of reason.

Jemaine Clement adds shifty panache to the monster crab Tamatoa, a crustacean Gollum who’s obsessed with treasure. For her first big acting gig, Cravalho brings the right amount of naivete and spunk to Moana, whose narrative is mostly a welcome respite from the usual princess story line.

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While Moana isn't officially a musical, somebody’s probably already thinking Broadway. Comparable to the best of Disney’s song-filled cartoons (Little Mermaid, Frozen, et al.), the new film has a strong melodic bent because of Miranda, who might as well be Alan Menken 2.0.

Miranda himself sings on the call-to-arms We Know the Way, while You’re Welcome is Maui’s look back at helping mankind with hip-hop flavor. And Moana’s girl-power anthem How Far I’ll Go is the new Let It Go.

So what if she'd rather be a sailor than a princess? Moana still rules.