By Liv Dunleavy Interim Asst. Arts & Features Editor Moana of Motunui sailed her way back into theaters Nov. 27 with a brand new adventure - and soundtrack - that will make you scream “Chee Hoo!” Following the story Moana left us with, the people of the island still praise her for saving the oceans and their people from Te Kā, and they now have no fear of exploring the seas, or searching for other islanders. The island has been thriving, culture is living on through stories, agriculture is blooming, and boat technology is advancing! These crucial advancements are all thanks to Moana’s brave new heroes, friends, and wayfinders, Moni, Keke, and Loto. But after Moana has a tragic vision depicting the extinction of her island’s population, she’s determined to reconnect her island’s people with the other people connected to the ocean. She has to find a way to get to the island of Motufetu, lost deep within the ocean, and after spiritually connecting with her ancestor, Tautai, the last wayfinder, she takes his advice to follow the path of a meteor. Maui coincidentally is also attempting to reach Motufetu, though he’s trapped by the god Nalo, the one who sank the island in the first place, to separate the people of the ocean. Nalo has Matangi, his enforcer and a goddess, watching Maui to make sure he doesn’t escape. I was actually excited to have new characters aboard the boat during the adventure. Moni was probably my favorite new character, as his obsession with Maui is literally hilarious. He’s a fanboy and honestly? I’m rooting for him. I guess there is canonically “fanfiction” in “Moana” now and I don’t know if I should thank him or cry. Keke is really just the guy they use as a comedic punching bag, and it’s silly, I’ll admit. He’s a grumpy old farmer-man, why did they even bring him? I don’t think I saw them eating even once the whole journey. And then there’s Loto, and I really want to like her because her vibes are so cool. She is the super smart, brainy, problem solver, and I love her for that, but she’s kind of just annoying. Her lines are great but in every song they give her rappy-bits that just are incomprehensible and they just make her sound too “know-it-all”-y. She seems to be a character that’s meant to be just smart and not smart and interesting. The team, when meeting Maui, have great chemistry. Maui and Moana’s dynamic was refreshing, and to have them together again was nice. It did seem a bit regurgitated but fan service is fan service. On the topic of new characters, Moana has a baby sister! Simea is officially the cutest Disney baby - I cannot find a way to express my love for her. She’s literally a copy paste baby Moana but I don’t even care because they have the best sister dynamic in any Disney movie yet. I feel like a lot of us were really excited for this movie. The first “Moana” was a classic, the soundtrack literally still lives rent free in my brain. I do believe this movie lacks a lot of the first “Moana’s” pizzazz. With no Lin-Manuel Miranda, the soundtrack is, well, lacking. It just seems not very well thought out, like they were throwing together whatever they could and tacking on references to make it palatable. Honestly, it doesn’t do it for me. I do have to say it sounds like they definitely spent 90 percent of the time they had for music production on the main track “Beyond” because that song is super catchy and gave me the chills, twice! I think they really just rushed most of the movie. With a lot of reused jokes, it just feels like they copied and pasted “Moana” with a different villain. Although even after I say all of this, I genuinely enjoyed this movie, because I am a 7-year-old at heart.