Dwayne Johnson Responds to Harsh Reviews of Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’

Dwayne Johnson isn’t letting negative reviews change how he feels about Disney’s live-action Moana.

The actor addressed the film’s mixed critical reception during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying he understands that not every movie will connect with critics. Instead of focusing on the reviews, Johnson said he prefers to look at the bigger picture and what the movie means to audiences, especially the Polynesian community.

Looking back at the film’s launch, Johnson admitted the early reactions gave him hope. “Our first two reviews came out,” he recalled. “I’ll never forget it… They were amazing. I was like, wow.” But the positive start didn’t last long.

“Then it went another way… as sometimes happens,” he said with a laugh. “That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business.”

Rather than getting caught up in the changing reviews, Johnson said he and his wife, Lauren Hashian, made a conscious decision to ignore the noise surrounding the film’s opening. He explained that they reminded themselves to think beyond the first weekend instead of reacting emotionally to every headline.

“The challenge was, okay, let’s remember, though, what’s going to be beyond this opening weekend,” Johnson said. “Let’s remember what’s happening right now and the noise that’s happening right now.”

He added that many of those conversations happened privately at home after their children had gone to bed. “We had a lot of these conversations at home, at the kitchen island late at night when the babies are asleep,” he said.

Johnson also made it clear that he has no issue with people who simply didn’t enjoy the movie. “If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem,” he said. For him, the most important achievement was something much bigger than review scores.

“What really mattered” was that “the culture really stood up,” he explained.

Johnson, whose mother is Samoan, said authentic Polynesian representation was always the heart of the project. He explained that giving Polynesian families the chance to see themselves represented on the big screen was the film’s main purpose.

“Because of me and our kids who can now look at the big screen and go, ‘That’s us for the first time on a big screen,'” he said. “‘That’s us up there. How cool is that?'”

His wife shared a similar view during the interview. Hashian said the movie’s cultural representation was meaningful regardless of the critical response.

“The whole community, the whole culture really showed up and they understood,” she said. “Even if you’re not Polynesian, I think we can understand family and love and loss and perseverance — especially as a mom. Having kids and watching it through their eyes, for me, it’s very magical.”

The live-action Moana has divided critics and audiences. At the time of writing, the film holds a 31% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, while verified audience members have given it a much stronger 88% rating. On Metacritic, it has a critics score of 42 and a user score of 3.3.

The movie has also faced challenges at the box office. According to Variety, the film reportedly cost around $250 million to produce, with another $120 million spent on marketing. It has earned roughly $265 million worldwide so far, putting it ahead of Disney’s Snow White remake but well behind billion-dollar hits like Lilo & Stitch and Aladdin.

Even with the mixed reception, Johnson’s comments suggest he remains proud of the project. While critics may not have embraced the remake, he believes its celebration of Polynesian culture and its impact on families are what will matter most in the years ahead.

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