Dwayne Johnson has responded to the mixed reception for Disney’s live-action Moana after the film struggled to make a major impact at the box office.
_x000D_Johnson, who played Maui in the original animated film and its 2024 sequel, discussed the movie’s early reviews in a recent interview with People.
_x000D_ _x000D_Dwayne Johnson Reacts to Moana Reviews
_x000D_Johnson recalled that the first reviews for the live-action movie were highly positive.
_x000D_“Our first two reviews came out. I’ll never forget it… They were amazing,†he said.
_x000D_The reception later changed, however. Johnson said that shift reflects the unpredictable nature of the film industry.
_x000D_The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic David Rooney offered a more positive assessment. He described the movie as one of Disney’s stronger live-action remakes and praised it as family entertainment.
_x000D_ _x000D_Moana Gets Strong Audience Response
_x000D_The live-action Moana received a 31 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Its audience score was much stronger at 88 percent.
_x000D_Johnson said he and his wife, Lauren Hashian, discussed the response and focused on the film’s longer-term impact rather than the reaction to its opening weekend.
_x000D_“If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem,†Johnson said.
_x000D_ _x000D_Dwayne Johnson Highlights Cultural Representation
_x000D_For Johnson, the movie’s cultural representation carried special importance.
_x000D_The actor, who has Samoan heritage, said the response from audiences mattered to him. He highlighted the significance of seeing Pacific Islander representation on a major movie screen.
_x000D_Johnson also said the film allowed his children and other young viewers to see themselves represented in a major Hollywood production.
_x000D_ _x000D_Live-Action Moana Struggles at Box Office
_x000D_Catherine Laga’aia stars as Moana in the live-action adaptation, replacing Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced the character in the animated films.
_x000D_Johnson returned as Maui for the new version.
_x000D_Despite the franchise’s popularity, the movie earned about $264 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $250 million.
_x000D_The box-office performance added to the mixed response surrounding the film, even as audiences gave it a considerably stronger rating than critics.