I would be less upset if this movie was anything more than mediocre. While the animation is often stunning, the overall result is a throwback to the inferior direct-to-video sequels Disney previously produced for The Lion King and Aladdin. He deserves credit for continuing to bring Pacific Islander folklore to the screen in a respectful way, but these stories deserve a better script.

“Moana 2” continues the story of the residents of Motunui Island, home of Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and her family. In the first film she finds her calling as a wayfinder, connected to the sea and tracking down new lands and people. The spirits of her ancestors, including Gramma Tala (Rachel House), support her on her journeys. Her Disney pals include a pig named Pua and HeiHei (Alan Tudyk), a crazy-looking chicken who continually avoids death.

Although the titular protagonist is memorable and important, Maui was the star of “Moana.” Voiced by Dwayne Johnson and animated with exceptional detail, he is a striking character covered in sentient tattoos that highlight his achievements and occasionally mock him. Maui was the trickster enemy who stole every scene. Cravalho and Johnson created a lasting, unforgettable connection between their characters.

“Moana 2” begins with Moana discovering an artifact that could prove there are others living in places other than her island. A vision from Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey), an ancestor briefly seen in the first film, leads Moana to seek out Motufetū, another island that may hold the key to reuniting her people across the seas. “The ocean doesn’t separate us,” she is told, “it connects us.”

Armed with this knowledge, she sets out to search for Motufetū with a crew chosen to help her with specific tasks. There’s Kele (David Fane), a grumpy old man who knows a thing or two about growing vegetables; Jack-of-all-trades engineer Loto (Rose Matafeo), who helps repair and redesign Moana’s boat; and Moni (Hualālai Chung), the island storyteller and chronicler of tradition who is in love with Maui.

All of these actors (particularly Chung and Fane) bring their characters to life, but they don’t prove to be memorable characters on par with Tamatoa, the bling-covered crab from “Moana” (seen briefly here in the end credits sequence). end of the film) or HeiHei.

And yes, Maui is back too, despite being in a pretty tough spot at the start of the film. Moana will ask him to do one of the things he is famous for: lifting islands out of the sea.

I was a huge fan of the original Moana and placed it in my top 20 for 2016. In fact, for me, the highlight of that year in the theater was the moment Johnson’s demigod Maui opened his mouth to sing. The Rock had previously sung in a film – see the 2005 sequel to Get Shorty, Be Cool; Or better yet, not – but that was a joke. Here he delivered a powerful, nimble and magnificent rendition of “You’re Welcome”, the best song in the film and Disney’s best should have applied for the Oscar this year.

“You’re Welcome,” like the film’s nearly as good Oscar-nominated power ballad “How Far I’ll Go,” was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. I know he gets a lot of criticism, but the man knows how to write a catchy song. Even in the worst case scenario, he can still formulate a sentence. His catchy song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto” became a huge hit for Disney in 2021.

I bring up Miranda because the songs in Moana 2 are mostly terrible, even though the first film’s other songwriters, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina, were brought back. They suffer from Frozen II syndrome and make similar sounding songs that are bigger, louder and not as good.

“Beyond,” Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear’s best new song, is this film’s equivalent of “Into the Unknown” from “Frozen II.” It’s a replacement for “How Far I’ll Go,” which was turned up to 11. Like Idina Menzel did with this song, Cravalho sings this song incredibly well. I expect Cravalho will sing this “Beyond” at next year’s Oscars.

But those same songwriters do Maui dirty with “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?”, the worst song from a Disney movie since Bette Midler sang “Perfect Isn’t Easy” in the 1988 Charles Dickens-inspired fiasco “Oliver & Company.” .”

“Moana 2” is disappointing, but definitely worth watching. I appreciate the attempt to tell a story that isn’t just based on the studio’s IP. And the images will entertain kids too young to sit through all 160 minutes of “Wicked” this holiday season.

★★

MOANA 2

Directed by: David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller. Written by Miller and Jared Bush. Starring Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Alan Tudyk, David Fane, Rose Matafeo, Hualālai Chung and Gerald Ramsey. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, Suburbs. 100 minutes. PG (intense action sequences)

Odie Henderson is the film critic for the Boston Globe.