NEW YORK – The sequel to animated Disney musical Moana has been broadly described by film critics as good – but not as good as the 2016 original. The Telegraph awarded four stars to the follow-up, which it called a “giddily animated triumph”. Empire gave the same rating, saying the new film is “a touch less fresh than the original”, but is “still bursting with energy, emotion, warmth and imagination”. However, the Guardian awarded two stars to Moana 2, saying “this frictionless sequel lacks genuine passion”. The newspaper’s critic Peter Bradshaw described it as “a vacuum-packed slice of digital IP content, a perky ChatGPT iteration of love, laughter and belonging”. “It is all inoffensive enough, but weirdly lacking in anything genuinely passionate or heartfelt, all managed with frictionless smoothness and algorithmic efficiency,” he wrote.
The original story of an adventurous Polynesian girl who sets sail on a mission to save her people was a box office hit eight years ago. Moana 2 reunites its titular star, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, and Dwayne Johnson’s demigod Maui, on a new voyage to save other islanders oppressed by the evil god Nalo. They are joined by a crew of “unlikely seafarers”, as Disney put it – namely the wide-eyed Moni (Hualālai Chung), brat Loto (Rose Matafeo) and grumpy farmer Kele (David Fane). Variety’s Owen Gleiberman summed up the film as a “more dutiful than inspired sequel which turns into a catchy action fairy tale”. “Moana doesn’t have much inner journey left, but the movie has vibrant monsters and a flow of movement that keeps your eyeballs dancing,” he wrote. He noted how the new songs “lack that Lin-Manuel Miranda magic” that was present in the original on memorable tracks like How Far I’ll Go and You’re Welcome.
“Moana 2 is an okay movie, an above-average kiddie roller-coaster, and a piece of pure product in a way that the first Moana at its best, transcended,” he concluded. “The new movie wears you down to win you over; it’s a just efficient enough delivery system for follow-your-dreams inspiration to be a major holiday hit.” The Telegraph’s Tim Robey was more positive about the “exhilarating, romping sequel with songs that put Wicked to shame”. He added: “Moana 2 exhilarates with its tunefulness, and absolutely romps along from the moment the heroine gets off the island, bound for another adventure on her trusty outrigger canoe.” The earworms in the soundtrack “cluster neatly around entwined themes: spreading your wings versus the tug of homesickness; finding your path but daring also to lose it”, he wrote.
However, the Radio Times said the “colourful Disney sequel lacks emotional impact”. “The follow-up will appeal to the youngest of fans, but parents may find themselves less invested,” wrote James Mottram, awarding three stars. Screen Daily’s Tim Grierson declared that the movie was “not as bold as its heroine”. “What once seemed so effortlessly charming about this young wayfinder forging her own path has, in Part Two, become more convoluted and stilted – it’s a journey that, frustratingly, leads nowhere.” (BBC)

Photo: Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as the demigod Maui on a new voyage. (Disney)

BEIJING – Themed “Connecting the World for a Shared Future,” the expo, hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, kicked off in Beijing last Tuesday. The 2024 expo has introduced a new exhibition area dedicated to advanced manufacturing, adding to last year’s clean energy, smart vehicle, digital technology, healthy life, green agriculture and supply chain service areas.
A complete global advanced manufacturing industrial chain is being showcased in the new area, focused on four categories – R&D and design, application of new materials, key components and processing, and intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment. Through static display, dynamic demonstration and interactive experience, visitors are allowed to better understand cutting-edge achievements and applications of digital, networked and intelligent technologies. (Xinhua)

Photo: People learn about a lightweight aluminum autoparts integrated solution at the booth of CITIC Group in the Advanced Manufacturing Chain exhibition area of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

MOSCOW – Lawmakers in Russia’s upper house have given final parliamentary approval to a plan to boost military spending by almost 30 percent next year. The Federation Council on Wednesday passed the 2025 budget, which builds spending on defence and security to levels not seen since the Soviet era. The boost, which follows a similar move for 2024, comes as Moscow pursues its war in Ukraine and steps up its rhetoric against Western and their supply of weapons to Kyiv. The budget earmarks a record 13.5 trillion rubles (about $125bn) in spending on “national defense”. That is about 3 trillion rubles (about $26.6bn) more than was apportioned for this year, which itself represented a post-Cold War record for being Russia’s largest military spending. The outlay on defence in 2025 is planned to exceed the spending planned for welfare and education combined.
In addition, the headline spending figure does not include resources for “domestic security” and some other categories classified as top secret. The budget will now be sent to be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. As intense fighting continues in Ukraine’s eastern regions, where Russia has been slowly making advances, as well as Kursk inside Russia, Moscow is signaling it plans to sustain the war effort, and has hit out at the West for increasing its support for Kyiv. Putin has maintained that Ukraine must surrender, give up some of its seized territory, and pledge not to join NATO. Moscow confirmed last week that Russia tested a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile in an assault on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The move, Russia said, was in response to Ukraine’s use of missiles supplied by the United States and United Kingdom inside Russian territory.
Putin also recently signed off on a revision of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which would now authorise a nuclear strike if attacked by a non-nuclear state that is backed by a nuclear power. Last Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO has “thrown away all decency” and is now pushing for direct preemptive strikes on Russian missile launch sites deep inside its territory. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: A tank destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict. (Reuters)

PARAMARIBO – Just like his Guyanese counterpart, Irfaan Ali, President Chandrikapersad Santokhi has also promised the Surinamese people that they will also profit from the income that will be generated by the offshore oil sector.

President Ali promised each citizen a once only financial injection of $500 while  Santokhi has promised each citizen a share in the oil royalties. The Surinamese head of state made this promise when he gave a speech on the 49th anniversary of Suriname’s Independence Day on November 25th. He wants to give each citizen a share of $750 at an interest rate of 7% in the future oil royalties. According to President Santokhi, this will be possible because of the positive deal with

Total Energies. The head of state explained that his administration has created a solid economic foundation, a healthy financial structure, economic recovery and that it has also restructured the national and international debts despite having to work under difficult circumstances for the past four years.  “We have given back as much as possible to the people in the form of salary hikes, tax cuts and social packages despite the restrictions that were mentioned,” said Santokhi who added that much more was done for the people. He mentioned funds to finance housing programs for the low and the middle income class, cheap prices for basic goods, cheap credit funds and the recovery of the infrastructure.

COLORADO  –  Much of the eastern US could experience a wave of bad weather as travellers hit the roads and airports for the Thanksgiving holiday. The National Weather Service (NWS) has forecast “a significant arctic outbreak” in the northern Plains, during what have historically been the busiest travel days of the year in the US. Meanwhile, heavy snow and rain are forecast over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday – part of a weather system that will intensify and move eastward later on Thanksgiving Day. More than 10in (25cm) of snow could fall in some areas. Temperatures are also expected to drop to bitter lows across many areas.

The arctic blast could send temperatures as low as -30F to -40F (-34C to -40C) in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, said BBC Weather forecaster Matt Taylor. The storm is expected to advance into the Midwest area, where it will also bring with it “lake-effect” snow and severe thunderstorms. Places that could see a large dump of snow include the interior of New England and the Appalachians. In the Midwest and Great Lakes region, there is a possibility of snow showers that could bring 4-8in of snow over the northern coastline of Michigan, according to the NWS. The severe conditions come at a hectic time for travel. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says passenger volumes during this year’s Thanksgiving have already reached record highs. The busiest days were expected to be Tuesday and Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, as well as the Sunday after the holiday. The TSA expects to screen nearly nine million people at airports during those three days.

Meanwhile, a record number of nearly 72 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles (80km) by car over the week, according to insurance company AAA. The anticipated increase is due to petrol prices that are lower than they were during the Thanksgiving holiday last year. Airports have seen minimal disruptions so far, though travel could be disrupted in the coming days as the worst of the weather hits. The I-90 highway between Cleveland and Buffalo and the I-81 north of Syracuse may see some travel disruptions, as snowfall is expected to mount in places south and east of the Great Lakes. The Thanksgiving rain and snow over the eastern US come after a winter storm in California, on the west coast. This brought heavy snow for higher elevations earlier this week, as well as wind gusts as strong as 50 mph (81km/h). Central California was also hit by another “atmospheric river” event on Tuesday after experiencing a similar phenomenon last week. (BBC)

Photo: BBC Weather Presenter Matt Taylor with US forecast for Thanksgiving. (BBC)