josiahhilbig

Moana falls in line next to Tangled and Frozen as an instant classic 'Disney Princess' movie. The stand-out performance of Auli'i Cravalho as the voice of Moana carried the emotional weight of the movie through some of Disney's most beautiful songs to date, while Dwayne Johnson's experience as an actor provided the necessary humour and comedy to support the young Hawaiian-born actress in her acting debut. Dwayne Johnson's performance singing 'You're Welcome' was also a very pleasant surprise.

The supporting cast is also full of surprises, and so many of the lesser songs are still immensely moving. The film is certainly transported from scene to scene by the music, and the native languages featured in some of the numbers shows Disney's respect and appreciation of the culture they're exploring.

Disney's animation has also taken another leap, and the quality of the movie's visuals is surpassed only by the immense care and detail the animators showed in every scene.

It has its issues, of course, as all films do. The plot is predictable, and as bitter-sweet as the ending is, it's certainly not going to be a surprise. As is the case with all animated family films, there is rarely a fear of the protagonist being in any significant danger, and a happy ending is inevitable.

If you want a feel-good movie with fun songs, good laughs, and a simply happy, yet still rewarding ending, Moana is definitely the top movie of 2016 for you.

Dreamworks never manages to disappoint with its beautiful animated films, and Home is another it can add to the trophy case alongside Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, and Madagascar.

The all-star cast bring such life to the characters, and the animations hold up so much emotion even without the voices that it's easy to get lost in the story. I even found myself tearing up at the end.

Jim Parsons makes a perfect Oh; the lovable and intellectual, but confused Boov. His voice is unfortunately very recognisable; and this is certainly a type-cast for him.

On the other side of the screen; Rihanna brings such a wide range of emotion to Gratuity "Tip" Tucci; it's impossible to not fall in love with the young protagonist, and feel true empathy for her as the plot unfolds.

The story itself offers several moral lessons, and while they're reinforced; they're also not blunt. Other methods of communicating the story - such as the Boov changing colours to match their own moods and emotions; are both incredibly creative and clever, but also allow even small children to follow the story easily, without bland dialogue telling the audience what they should be able to see.

In the end; this is definitely a movie I would recommend, and I would gladly have my kids watch it over and over, because I know I would enjoy it just as much as them.

Sure, this film is a teenage love drama, and that fact is reflected in the script and themes, but it's surprisingly charming. It reminds me of older teenage dramas like Mean Girls and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The sort of movies that you watch in school when you have a substitute, or a school event gets canceled.

Those classic films, however, fall down flat in front of today's young audience because they're outdated. The DUFF has the same cheesy humour, but in a much more modern setting, and honestly, a good-quality movie about cyber bullying was sorely needed.

While the chemistry between some of the actors was misleading, the lead characters were all surprisingly lovable. It was easy to empathise with Mae Whitman's portrayal of a socially-awkward "DUFF" in a way that made the embarrassing and awkward plot device all high school dramas have even more depressing than comparable films.

Ultimately, the comedy was entertaining as well, and the more experienced comedy actors such as Romany Malco and Ken Jeong played a big part in fueling the laughs.

The biggest problem I found with this film is the vulgarity. The chalkboard drawings of penises and erotic dream sequences are nothing that a teenager nowadays hasn't seen before, but it's still not the sort of movie you can watch with the family, or show a child before they enter high school.

It's unfortunate that such an enjoyable film has limited its most likely target audience with its own graphic imagery, and I don't imagine this will join the ranks of classic high school dramas, because I doubt it will ever be shown in a school setting.