New in Theaters: “Moana 2”

1.  “Moana 2”  (PG)  Trailer

Auli’I Cravalho and The Rock reunite as Moana and Maui.  The sequel picks up three years after the events of the first movie, with Moana returning home to her family after searching for proof of other inhabited islands.

Before she can get too comfortable, she gets a vision from her ancestors, with a dangerous mission to locate a long-lost island.  But this time she won’t be alone, and she sets out with a crew and a little help from a singing demigod.

The first movie leaned into the songwriting talent of Lin Manuel Miranda, but they got a new team for the sequel.  This one’s done by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who won a Grammy for “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” album.

They’re the youngest duo to compose music for Disney and the first female songwriting team to write a full Disney soundtrack.  Abigail is 26.  Emily is 23.

Both the movie and the soundtrack are getting mixed reviews, but it should be enough to hold your kids over until the live action version of “Moana” hits theaters in the summer of 2026.

 

 

2.  “Queer”  (R)  Trailer  (Limited)

Daniel Craig plays a gay American in 1950s Mexico who starts a romantic affair with Drew Starkey from “The Outer Banks”, while trying to come to terms with his own macho masculinity, and the desires a conservative U.S. condemned.