Most critics do not think this remake needed to exist, and fourteen of the twenty-six reviews are negative. What agreement there is clusters around two things: Catherine Laga’aia, whose Moana is called winning, bright and the film’s one source of life by reviewers on both sides of the verdict, and the Lin-Manuel Miranda songs, which nearly everyone says survive the move to live action intact. Rena Owen’s grandmother earns a handful of kind mentions.
The complaint is the same almost everywhere: a scene-by-scene, line-by-line copy of the 2016 film that adds nothing and loses the animation’s fluidity to studio tanks and green screen. Dwayne Johnson divides them; Variety calls him a perfect fit, The Hollywood Reporter enjoys his winking support, The Times blames him for the leaden result, and several find him on autopilot. The spread is wide only at the top: three reviews call this one of Disney’s better remakes, and the rest sit between mild disappointment and outright irritation.
V
Variety
8 July 2026 · Owen Gleiberman
89*
This is the first Disney live-action remake that works, delivering the original’s beauty, comic personality, and enchantment through artful CG and strong performances. The critic singles out Dwayne Johnson’s perfect fit as Maui and Catherine Laga’aia’s beaming Moana for creating a buoyant, visually vibrant world that earns its place alongside the animated film.
The critic calls it a buoyant surprise and one of Disney’s better live-action remakes, praising the charming new iteration that stands confidently on its own thanks to Catherine Laga’aia’s winning turn and Dwayne Johnson’s winking backup.
It is called a soulless CG-by-numbers remake that soullessly sails a repeat voyage, with the brilliant source material retread with lifeless faithfulness making this a total wash.
The review deems it a competent but superfluous addition to the Disney live-action remake pantheon, faithful to a fault and deathly afraid to explore unfamiliar waters.
The critic calls the update superfluous and unwelcome even by Disney remake standards, feeling minutely close to the original with little new spark. They single out the lack of originality and one new song for complaint while noting Catherine Laga’aia sings nicely and has passable chemistry with Johnson.
The critic says the 2026 Moana demonstrates how live-action remakes stifle the charm of the originals, with Thomas Kail struggling to summon the sunny spirit and heartfelt tone. They single out the songs as remaining stirring but complain that the leaden approach, subpar choreography, and drab design sap the high-seas adventure of excitement.
The critic finds the live-action remake competent but pointless and unexciting, a cynical piece of monetisable content that feels superfluous. They single out Dwayne Johnson's autopilot performance and the heavy reliance on CGI for complaint, while noting some rapport with co-star Catherine Laga’aia.
The critic says the remake isn’t horrid but is a scene-by-scene, line-by-line copy that only works because the original was excellent, calling it everything wrong with Disney’s cash-grabbing approach. The songs and Laga’aia’s performance are highlights, but the lack of imagination and pointlessness are criticized.
The live-action remake recycles the original plot and jokes without adding anything new, making it feel pointless and subtractive compared to the animated version. The critic singles out the songs for holding up well and praises Catherine Lagaʻaia’s winning performance as Moana, while questioning the studio’s decision to remake rather than create something fresh.
The critic finds this a pointless, airless remake that reconstructs the animated classic using green screen and studio tanks, lacking freshness or adventure. They single out the songs as still bangers but note the staging lacks wit and fluidity compared to the original animation.
The critic calls it a low point in Disney’s live-action remake run and a pointless, shot-for-shot imitation of the 2016 original that feels flat and confusing. They single out the unassailably brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda songs and Catherine Laga’aia’s bright performance for praise amid the overall lack of authorial voice.
The critic argues please stop making these, calling it not the worst or ugliest of the live-action Disney remakes but the fastest since the original, laying bare the motivations to squeeze revenue from existing hits without offering a true reinterpretation.
The critic calls it a tale of great courage told with creative cowardice, a near-identical but inferior copy that loses magic in translation and feels like a financially motivated facsimile. They single out the fundamentally strong songs and story but complain that the flesh-and-blood version results in a lacklustre retelling with soulless CGI landscapes.
The critic blames Dwayne Johnson for a dismal Disney reboot that is leaden where the original was sprightly. They single out Johnson's age and performance as making the film feel too old and unengaging.
The critic labels it a pointless cashgrab and new low for Disney, a lifeless shot-for-shot remake lacking the original’s vibrancy and charm. Catherine Laga’aia’s powerful song renditions are the only positive noted.
The remake is a titanically misguided cash grab that is never enchanting or magical and feels totally lost at sea, with flat visuals and fake muscles. The critic singles out the close-up framing and fuzzy backgrounds for shrinking the epic voyage and praises only the practical banana-peeling shot and a single lovely line from Rena Owen’s grandmother.
The critic finds the live-action remake fun, pacy and colourful, adhering closely to the 2016 original with more believable locations and lighting that give weight to the hero’s odyssey. Dwayne Johnson and newcomer Catherine Laga’aia make the trip worthwhile, though there is no real chicken sidekick.
The review calls the film a competent but unremarkable copy of the animated original that struggles to justify its existence, with minimal opportunity for the director to add a unique vision. It singles out Dwayne Johnson's charismatic, full song-and-dance performance in the "You're Welcome" sequence for praise as a burst of fun, while noting complaints about the film's length, some uncanny CGI elements like Maui's muscle suit, and its overall determination to stay too close to the source without meaningful changes.
The critic finds the live-action remake unnecessary and flat overall, with most elements falling disappointingly short despite some copied strengths from the original. They single out the focus on Polynesian culture and the dynamic between Moana and her grandmother Tala for praise, along with a few fun musical sequences, while complaining about sluggish pacing, overly polished CGI, and a restrained, stiff performance from Dwayne Johnson as Maui.
The critic calls the remake a craven, cynical, unnecessary cash grab that copies the original without recapturing its heart and soul, resulting in flat, literal visuals and a lack of visual imagination or ingenuity. Catherine Lagaʻaia’s performance stands out as the closest thing to reality amid the corporate nostalgia-baiting.
The critic finds the live-action remake lifeless and redundant, criticizing its artificial visuals, lack of invention, and cynical cash-grab motives as a near shot-for-shot copy of the 2016 original. Catherine Laga’aia’s performance as Moana is singled out as the film’s one source of vitality amid otherwise staid direction and poor effects.
The critic finds the remake redundant and unnecessary, a lifeless reenactment of the original that lacks kinetic energy despite capable singing from the new cast. They single out the songs and some casting as relative strengths while criticizing the overall execution and lack of innovation.
The critic finds the film an insubstantial, perfunctory, bland, artificial and forgettable rehash that is little more than cynical nostalgia exploitation, with uninspired camerawork, flat dialogue scenes, excessive CGI that blurs into animation, and no new angles or surprises. The singing is fine but the overall experience is blah and unwelcome.
The critic calls the remake pointless and redundant, arguing there is no reason to watch a faded live-action xerox of a recent, near-flawless animated film beyond Disney’s desire for money. Catherine Laga’aia and Rena Owen’s performances receive praise, while the visuals and lack of changes are criticized as drab and unneeded.
The critic calls the remake the most pointless Disney live-action remake yet, an exact replica of the original with no innovation that feels like cheap re-runs. They praise the songs still hitting the mark and competent execution but complain about the lack of ambition and changes for the worse.
The critic describes the live-action version as a glossy digital clone of the 2016 animated film that lacks any identity of its own despite parroting the original's themes of self-discovery. They single out the songs' retained power and the specificity of the human background cast celebrating Polynesian culture for praise, while complaining that virtually every line, beat, and song is identical with only minor additions, making the remake superfluous and reductive with no artistic reason to exist.
Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate
