Moana Live-Action Trailer Reactions Compare Remake to ‘T-Mobile Commercial’ Slop

Fans have ridiculed the appearance of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in Disney’s upcoming live-action Moana remake, which has been compared to a “T-Mobile commercial” in comments online.

Yesterday’s trailer gave fans their first proper look at Johnson, who reprises his voice role as the tattooed demigod. But the response to his appearance has not been positive, with many calling out Johnson’s wig and the CGI effects designed to amplify his physique as looking like a parody. (Also, where are the Rock’s nipples?!)

“We’ve told all the casting agents that the Weird Al biopic sequel is currently on hold, but they just keep sending in headshots,” quipped Weird Al Yankovic himself in a widely-shared post on Instagram that simply shows Johnson (and his wig) in an image taken from the trailer.

Others suggested Johnson looked like his face had been added using AI, adding to the appearance that many of the trailer’s shots were the product of heavy computer generation, despite it being a live-action movie.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars wasted so Dwayne Johnson can don a terrible wig and deliver the same lines but with worse timing,” wrote one fan’s blistering response. “New low for the corporate slopmongers.”

Disney is no stranger to live-action remakes of its animated movies, though its decision to make a new version of Moana has attracted particular attention. There’s the fact that the original Moana is beloved and only a decade old, but also the fact that this remake will arrive barely 18 months after Moana 2, which still feels particularly fresh in the memory.

In response, many fans have said this remake is at best unecessary, and simply a vehicle for the 53-year-old Johnson to appear as the character in live-action now, rather than wait another decade.

Aside from criticism of Johnson’s character specifically, fans have more general concerns around the movie’s appearance. There’s a critique that much of the film looks computer-generated (something also levied against other “live-action” Disney remakes), but also that it appears less colorful than the original, and does not appear to have made the most of its on-location filming.

“Shooting even one second of a Polynesian-set movie in Atlanta should be a jailable offense,” one fan wrote, referring to the home of many effects-heavy Disney productions. (Moana was filmed in both Atlanta and Hawaii, though many of the trailer’s shots have the look of being filmed against a green screen.)

All of that criticism aside, however, there’s no suggestion yet this response will actually impact the movie’s box office. The similar remake of Lilo & Stitch made over $1 billion in theaters last year and will now get a live-action sequel, while many more remakes are also in the pipeline, with Tangled up next.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Disney is now developing a live-action Peter Pan spinoff centered on tiny fairy Tinker Bell, to launch on Disney+. Other upcoming live-action remake projects in the works include plans for new versions of Hercules and Bambi, plus a Beauty and the Beast spinoff starring Gaston.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social