Dwayne Johnson has reacted to criticism that the Moana live-action remake, in which he reprises the role of demigod Maui, has come "too soon" after the original movie. It's been only ten years since the animated Moana was released in cinemas to huge acclaim from critics and fans.
Johnson co-produces the remake of the beloved film, seeing the titular character, here played by Catherine Laga'aia, set off on a journey to restore the stolen heart of goddess Te Fiti.
Speaking at the LA premiere of the new Moana, Johnson said he never subscribed to the idea of waiting before giving a classic the remake treatment.
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"To be honest with you, I never bought into this idea that 'you have to wait 20 years, you have you wait 30 years, it's too soon,'" the star told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week.
"I honestly never did, and not because I'm biased and I made the film, but because there's themes and values in this, in animated Moana, that could translate really well if you saw a real human being going through it, and a real young girl going through it."
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It appears that good intentions weren't enough as the film has earned a meagre critic score of only 39% on Rotten Tomatoes.
We at Digital Spy argued that Moana is "the most pointless" Disney live-action remake yet, but we're not alone in thinking that the new film doesn't measure up to the original nor had a good reason to be made in the first place.
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"There's no artistic or aesthetic reason for this movie to exist," Polygon noted, adding that "virtually every line, beat, and song in the new movie is identical to the 2016 version", with the addition of only "minor punch-ups or extra comedy tags here and there".
The Irish Times slammed Moana as "lazy, lazy work", with Rolling Stone agreeing and calling it "peak Disney déjà vu".
Moana is released in cinemas on 10 July.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
