In Moana, Johnson voices the demigod Maui, who proves to be an extremely helpful mentor to the film's title character. In another unique step for Johnson, it also gave him a chance to sing. "Dude, it was a big first step," he told USA Today. "I'll sing on a TV show. I'll break out the guitar and have fun with the (pro wrestling) audience. But the bar was raised so high. This is a Disney movie."
The stakes were high, but both Johnson and Moana rose to the challenge. Scoring a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was a critical hit, with Johnson's voice work earning particular acclaim. "Being one of the most charismatic people on the planet, Johnson charms with all the swagger you'd expect," praised Christy Lemiere of RogerEbert.com. "And he's also capable of toying with his tough-guy image as we've seen over the years." Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice, meanwhile, praised how "[Maui] giving up so easily is often played by the film for laughs, but it's hard not to be moved by it, too; his self-loathing humanizes him... He's a marvelous creation, and the Rock voices him with an expert mix of bluster and pathos."
Though his work as Maui was a departure from his past roles in key ways, Dwayne Johnson's work in Moana deserves to rank among his most acclaimed performances.
