My thoughts on Moana

I saw this movie less than a week ago, and since imdb has decided to shut down the messageboards in ten days from now I thought I`d say this while I still can.
These are my thoughts.

Before I talk about Moana I want to talk about Tangled and Frozen. "Oh great! As if we don`t hear enough about Frozen all the time already!" I can hear many of you say. But trust me, I`m going somewhere with this.

I like many Disney movies, but none of them have given me a strong emotional experience. Then came Tangled. When I saw the trailers I thought it was gonna be like The emperors new groove. I didn`t have high expectations about it, I thought it was just gonna be funny. I didn`t even think it was gonna be a musical. Anyway, watch it I did and that scene where we see Rapunzel`s parents right before the release of the lanterns made me feel more than any Disney animated canon movie has made me feel before. I teared up a little. Finally an animated Disney movie that made me teary eyed! This would probably not happen again.
(I didn`t even cry when I saw Titanic. Sure, I felt sympathy for the characters but other than that it didn`t give me any strong emotions.)
Next Disney movie was Wreck it Ralph and much like Tangled I didn`t have high expectations about it. I saw it because a movie with a scene where several famous videogame badguys (like M. Bison and Bowser) meet in a support group seemed too hilarious to miss. I expected it to be funny and I was right, but then there were some good scenes with Ralph and Vanellope that hit me right in the feels. I thought it was just gonna be a silly comedy about videogame characters!
Well played Disney, well played.
Then came Frozen.
With two Disney movies in a row giving me the feels I think it`s understandable that I would expect their next movie (that was well recieved by critics) to do the same. I watched it and... it didn`t make me tear up.
But you can`t really judge a movie`s quality (or likeability) based on how much feels it gives you, because feels are not necessary and there are many other things that can work to a movie`s advantage. And I do like Frozen... just not as much as Tangled. I learned from my experience to not assume that every Disney movie would give me a strong emotional experience. Then I saw Big Hero 6. Sure, the story was a bit predictable, but a few scenes poked me in the feels. Then came Zootopia and I once again reminded myself to not expect too much, and once again: right in the feels.
And here we are now... with Moana. Once again I reminded myself that just because the latest Disney movies had found the keys to my tearducts it did not mean that this movie would do it as well.
I saw Moana and... it found the keys to my tearducts! Yes it has flaws. Yes it is formulaic. But I really like it.

I`m not looking for the perfect movie, just movies that really speak to me. If you don`t like the movies I like, fine. Like what you like and I`ll like what I like.

Notice that the word I`m using is "like".
Do not confuse "like" with "objectively good" or "dislike" with "objectively bad". Not that objectively good or bad doesn`t exist. It`s just hard to see them through our opinions.
Is Moana objectively good?
I like to think so. What I do know is that I like it.
I don`t care if it doesn`t beat Frozen at the box office.
All I know is that I like it.

There is more beyond the reef.

I`m 81Scorp and this is my signature.