The Pliley Review

  Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical Rating:   PG Synopsis: After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced. *** After the huge success of the first Moana movie I had high hopes for this one.  Right off the bat this was just as visually stunning and the water effects are just breathtaking. The biggest highlights for me were the introduction of the little sister and the same amazing dynamic between Moana and Maui, Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. The vibe between them is just amazing to watch and each character feels genuine in their struggles.  I was slightly confused with the fact that the village is shown as still living on the same island as the last movie even though they made a big show of leaving at the end. I believed this indicated that the entire village were wayfinders but this ...

  Genre:   Action, Comedy Rating:   PG-13 Synopsis:    When a villain kidnaps Santa Claus from the North Pole, an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative joins forces with the world's most accomplished tracker to find him and save Christmas. *** When I first saw the trailer for this movie I was excited with a hint of apprehension as it could be either really great or really bad. I am so happy it was the former.  The cast did a great job at bringing the story to life and each embraced their roles beautifully. Lucy Liu, Dwayne Johnson, and Chris Evans all did amazing. J. K. Simmons as Santa Claus also did a great job, but as you can imagine from the synopsis he is not in the movie runtime much. Now, were they Oscar-winning performances? No, however, they made each situation feel as if you were there and you really felt for their predicament. By the end, you are rooting for the good guys.  The storyline was simple enough, yet there was...