{"id":1863,"date":"2026-07-08T20:18:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T15:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1863"},"modified":"2026-07-08T20:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T15:18:23","slug":"dwayne-johnson-copies-his-charisma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1863","title":{"rendered":"Dwayne Johnson Copies His Charisma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/moana-live-action-dwayne-johnson.jpg?quality=80\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-id=\"1610358\" data-title=\"The Live-Action Moana Is Stuck Between The Rock and a Hard Place: Review\" data-url=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/07\/moana-live-action-review-dwayne-johnson\/\" data-page=\"1\" data-pages=\"1\">\n<p>There is one sequence in the remake of <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/moana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Moana<\/i><\/a> that feels like it was worth all the time, effort, and money necessary to translate a very good animated movie into live-action. The only special effect it requires is Dwayne Johnson\u2019s charisma. Otherwise, this new interpretation falls prey to the issue that continues to plague this subgenre: A struggle to justify its existence, beyond Disney making new money off old ideas.<\/p>\n<p>Those familiar with the 2016 original (a shockingly large number, one assumes, especially considering how many parents there are in the world) won\u2019t be surprised by any plot twists or turns here. The story begins with a quick recap of a <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/mythology-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">myth<\/a> in which the demigod Maui (Johnson) stole and lost the heart of a goddess, leading to the spread of evil throughout the world. Then, we meet young islander Moana (Catherine Laga\u2019aia), who reveals a magical connection with the ocean that follows her into young adulthood.<\/p>\n<p>About to come of age, our heroine is being prepared for future chiefdom by her parents (John Tui, Frankie Adams) when the island\u2019s food supplies become unsustainable \u2014 inspired by her beloved grandmother (Rena Owen), Moana sets out beyond the reefs of her island to find Maui and get him to fix what he broke.<\/p>\n<p>Related Video<\/p>\n<p>From there, it\u2019s all tiny coconut pirates and shiny crabs and shapeshifting fun; you know all the songs, and they still largely rule. Like all live-action remakes, this <i>Moana<\/i> is longer than the animated version, though in this case it\u2019s only a matter of eight minutes, speaking to a little extra padding in some of the early scenes. It\u2019s nowhere near as bad as <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2025\/06\/how-to-train-your-dragon-review-live-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the <i>How to Train Your Dragon<\/i> remake<\/a> adding an extra 27 minutes <i>somehow<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Director Thomas Kail (<i>Hamilton<\/i>), without question a brilliant theater mind who also did some nice work on the FX limited series <i>Fosse\/Verdon<\/i>, feels totally anonymous here. But considering the framework of the project, there\u2019s minimal opportunity for Kail to demonstrate any sort of unique take. There are a few moments in the vocal performances where the singing isn\u2019t quite perfect, tiny deviations that add a bit of a human touch. Still, this thing\u2019s on rails, at the end of the day. So many of the creative choices were pre-made for him.<\/p>\n<p><i>Moana<\/i> does lean on fresh talent for all of the human roles, and Catherine Laga\u2019aia is an able heir to Auli\u02bbi Cravalho\u2019s spirit. Beyond the aforementioned Johnson\u2019s return as Maui, Jemaine Clement reprises his role as Tamatoa, a one-scene performance that\u2019s still fun if rote, since his live-action CGI shininess doesn\u2019t differ too much from his animated CGI shininess. Meanwhile, for some reason Alan Tudyk was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldderby.com\/film\/2025\/alan-tudyk-moana-live-action-heihei\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">not asked to return as Heihei<\/a> \u2014 a damn shame, considering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FaGYXjMwS60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">his commitment to his craft<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alan Tudyk&amp;apos;s Heihei Recording Session - #MoanaMondays\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FaGYXjMwS60?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As hinted at above, the best sequence of the movie ends up being Johnson performing Maui\u2019s hit number \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome\u201d live. Okay, it\u2019s largely against a digitally animated background, and I\u2019m pretty sure he\u2019s singing to playback, but he at least feels like he was physically present when the scene was being shot. The staging is not terribly different from the original, yet it\u2019s perhaps the first time in Johnson\u2019s career he\u2019s been pushed into full song-and-dance mode on screen, and a shocking burst of fun.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson\u2019s not a classically trained dancer or singer to the best of my knowledge, but from the WWE to action movies he\u2019s always been a physically gifted performer, and he <i>really<\/i> goes for it here. Animation is an incredible medium, but it cannot match the full force of that aforementioned charisma hamming it up to just the right degree.<\/p>\n<p>However, as hard as that charisma is working, it can\u2019t overcome the cognitive dissonance that comes from Johnson\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2024\/11\/dwayne-johnson-bodysuit-live-action-moana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">muscle suit<\/a> and long flowing locks. Initially, the hair felt like the toughest element to overcome as a viewer, simply because we\u2019re not used to seeing Johnson\u2019s actual face surrounded by it. (The animated Maui\u2019s face does have similar characteristics, but it\u2019s not a copy of the actor.) Then I saw another writer last night <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/thatwitchmia.bsky.social\/post\/3mq4gunqo6s2i\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">mention the body suit\u2019s lack of nipples<\/a>. This is now knowledge that haunts you and me as one.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the nipples and some instances of CGI that let the cracks in reality seep in, watching this was not a terribly unpleasant experience. If nothing else, Heihei the chicken may now be rendered in a more realistic CGI style, but the simple slapstick pleasures of a very stupid bird remain transcendent.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it\u2019s hard not to get frustrated by watching something so determined to be the same, just <i>slightly<\/i> different. This issue might be enhanced in this case because other Disney live-action remakes have all enjoyed more temporal distance from their parent films; at 10 years between projects, this is the shortest amount of time yet from the original to the remake\u2019s production. Twenty years feels like it should be the bare minimum \u2014 long enough for one generation\u2019s memories to fade and make way for the next wave.<\/p>\n<p>Something that made <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2025\/05\/lilo-and-stitch-review-disney-live-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the 2025 live-action <i>Lilo &amp; Stitch<\/i><\/a> controversial was a pretty significant change to the ending \u2014 it\u2019s not necessary to explain what that change was, it\u2019s just important to know that a change <i>was<\/i> made, one that showed some ambition and thought about how the story would play in a slightly different time. <i>Moana<\/i> avoids that \u2014 which is a shame if only because its ecological themes have increased dramatically in importance just in the last ten years; a <i>Moana<\/i> that dove harder into its climate change allegory would be that much more relevant to today.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it feels like every sentence of this review contains some version of \u201clike the original.\u201d This is because the two <i>Moana<\/i>s are so damn close to each other that it\u2019s impossible to detangle them in the mind; 2016\u2019s flaws live on in the 2026 version, as the 2026 version doesn\u2019t aspire to improve on what came before.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, Maui\u2019s nipples aside, <i>Moana<\/i> contains no nightmare fuel on the level of <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2025\/03\/snow-white-review-disney-remake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025\u2019s <i>Snow White<\/i><\/a> \u2014 which ends up being high praise for adaptations like these. At this point, it feels like too much of a stretch to hope for better from these remakes. The most we can aspire to is <i>different<\/i>. If only to avoid the feeling of watching a rerun.<\/p>\n<p><i>Moana<\/i> sails into theaters on Friday, June 10th. Check out the latest trailer below.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Moana | Final Trailer | In Theaters July 10\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EEz5xbzYPKI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n\t\tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=1;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n\t\tdocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\t\tfbq('init', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('track', \"PageView\");\n\t<\/script><script defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v7.0&#038;appId=434175690014\" nonce=\"6gwmbCtM\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is one sequence in the remake of Moana that feels like it was worth all the time, effort, and money necessary to translate a very good animated movie into live-action. The only special effect it requires is Dwayne Johnson\u2019s charisma. Otherwise, this new interpretation falls prey to the issue that continues to plague this&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/moana-live-action-dwayne-johnson.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}