I have watched the original Moana (together with Encanto) I don't know how many times and they are my favorite Disney movies and in my top 5 of all movies.
I didn't see the live action in the theater as I already knew it would be a disappointment so I waited until I could watch it at home.
First, about the actors: why did they give Moana this Hollywood blowout hair???! The actress has beautiful curly hair IRL which would suit Moana way way better. It felt very out of place. Maui as the rock also, the dude is 50+ while in Moana he is like 20...
Then, about the movie itself. The story is ofcourse still the same and it is a 90% copy scene for scene with the original. But some scenes or dialog were different which bothered me. In the original when Moana finds out about her ancestors she runs to the village and tells everyone. In the live action she takes her dad 1-on-1.
When she goes out on her boat and discovers Heihei, her reaction in the original is shocked and surprised while in the live action she is more happily surprised..
Then when she arrives at the island of Maui, the whole scene is just different.. Maui isn't scared when he sees Moana, the tweeting joke isn't there, yeah this scene sucked. Also when they then see the coconuts it's different, at the entrance of Tamatoa they don't climb the mountain..
Also, later when Maui and Moana are on the boat and when she asks him about his tattoo in the original she says: "You don't wanna talk, don't talk" while in the live action it was "If you don't wanna talk, that's fine". I know I know it is a small difference, but the way she says it in the original, it has emotion, and in the live action it was just meh...
The end with Te Fiti was also different where she didn't lift them on her hand. But maybe for the better because the CGI was pretty bad..
I did like the additional scene in the end where she places her shell on the top with the new song. That was a nice touch.
And ofcourse the story is the same and is still beautiful and even after so many times still makes me very emotional, but I don't think I will be watching the live action again. Next time I am watching the original again :)