Film review: Moana is another solid gold hit from Disney's animation studio

Released: December 2 (UK & Ireland)

The female empowerment of Frozen gets a colourful Polynesian makeover in the joyful rites-of-passage animation Moana, peppered with infectious songs composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa'i and Mark Mancina.

Directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who previously fashioned The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, rediscover their golden touch on land and at sea, with breathtaking visuals including dazzling water effects.

They also wedge tongues firmly in cheek by poking fun at the lead character's stern assertion that she isn't an archetypal Disney heroine.

"If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess," quips a demi-god, who joins her on this memorable odyssey into the magical unknown.

The key message of Frozen - that girls don't need a handsome prince to achieve their happily ever after - is reaffirmed and the script incorporates the now obligatory smattering of pop culture references, like when the same demi-god scrawls a message with a rooster and deadpans, "When you write with a bird, it's called tweeting!"

The songbook might lack a karaoke earworm akin to Let It Go - parents, you can breathe easy - but the film still boasts some terrific compositions, particularly the solo offerings of Miranda, who won numerous Tony awards for the musical Hamilton.

Moana Waialiki (voiced by Auli'i Cravalho) is the daughter of Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison) and has been groomed since birth to lead her people on the island of Motunui.

However, she feels a strong calling to the sea which angers her father, who believes the tropical paradise can sustain their tribe.

Moana's wise grandmother Tala (Rachel House) fills the girl's head with wild stories about the demi-god Maui, who stole the heart of the island goddess Te Fiti and lost this precious green stone during a battle with ferocious lava demon Te Ka.

The old woman encourages Moana to seek out Maui and restore Te Fiti's missing heart in order to bring prosperity to the island.

With the wind in her sail and a witless rooster called Heihei (Alan Tudyk) by her side, Moana ventures over the reef for the first time in search of Maui (Dwayne Johnson).

Moana is another solid gold hit from Disney's animation studio, marrying self-realisation and broad comedy to dizzying effect.

A trippy interlude with a singing coconut crab (Jemaine Clement) in the underwater Realm of the Monsters is a highlight, including one groovy lyric that rhymes demi-god with decapod.

Johnson embraces his role with comic gusto, including a fine rendition of the self-congratulatory anthem You're Welcome, and Cravalho imbues her gung-ho seafarer with tenderness and determination.

Moana is preceded by Leo Matsuda's exquisite animated short Inner Workings, which journeys inside the body of one hapless office worker to explore the literal battle between head and heart for supremacy.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 8/10

SULLY: MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON (12A, 94 mins) Thriller/Action/Romance. Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Mike O'Malley, Anna Gunn, Jamey Sheridan, Patch Darragh, Vince Lombardi. Director: Clint Eastwood.

Released: December 2 (UK & Ireland)

On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia airport in New York bound for North Carolina with 155 passengers and crew on board.

Three minutes into take-off, a flock of Canadian geese impacted the aircraft, causing multiple strikes to both engines that necessitated an emergency landing.

Captain Chesley Sullenberger, known affectionately as Sully, drew on years of experience to glide the stricken Airbus A320 onto the Hudson River in freezing conditions rather than head back to LaGuardia or another runway.

Aided by First Officer Jeff Skiles, Sully safely landed on water and oversaw the evacuation of everyone on board into ferry boats that raced to the scene, aided by scuba divers from the NYPD's Aviation Unit and Harbor Unit.

The captain was hailed a hero by a city still bearing the scars of the September 11 attacks.

"It's been a while since New York had news this good - especially with an airplane in it," observes one of the characters in Sully: Miracle On The Hudson, which centres on the subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) into Sully's actions that fateful day.

Clint Eastwood's exemplary thriller is a masterclass in sustained tension, replaying events aboard US Airways Flight 1549 and from the ground, from multiple perspectives, including air traffic controller Patrick Harten (Patch Darragh) and ferry boat captain (Vince Lombardi, playing himself).

Screenwriter Todd Komarnicki punctuates this deeply human story with different iterations of the crash landing, including chilling scenes of the Airbus ploughing into skyscrapers when Sully (Tom Hanks) imagines a fruitless attempt to reach LaGuardia.

The NTSB investigation led by Charles Porter (Mike O'Malley), Elizabeth Davis (Anna Gunn) and Ben Edwards (Jamey Sheridan), forms the crux and the script nimbly condenses the actual 15-month timeframe to explore the emotional strain on Sully and First Officer Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) as they defend their actions.

"I've had 40 years in the air, but in the end, I'm going to be judged by 208 seconds," laments Sully as technical data from the craft suggests one of the engines was operational, contradicting his version of events.

A media storm envelops the crew and Sully seeks refuge in regular telephone calls to his concerned wife, Lorraine (Laura Linney).

Shot largely on IMAX cameras, Sully: Miracle On The Hudson is a rousing tribute to a man who repeatedly deflects praise and quietly observes, "I don't feel like a hero. I was just a man doing a job".

Hanks delivers a deeply affecting, yet understated, lead performance, eliciting pathos as he contends with post-traumatic stress disorder in the eye of a media storm.

Eastwood withholds the crash landing in full until the middle of his taut and lean picture, by which time we have fully buckled our seatbelts and are braced for greatness.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 8/10

THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (15, 104 mins) Comedy/Drama/Romance. Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Kyra Sedgwick, Woody Harrelson, Hayden Szeto, Alexander Calvert, Eric Keenleyside. Director: Amma Asante.

Released: November 30 (UK & Ireland)

Every generation has a coming-of-age film that perfectly encapsulates the trials and romantic vacillations of those hormone-fuelled years on the precipice of adulthood.

In the 1950s, James Dean was the iconic Rebel Without A Cause and two decades later, The Last Picture Show, American Graffiti and Quadrophenia struck a chord before John Hughes monopolised depictions of youth culture with The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty In Pink.

More recently, Clueless, Mean Girls, Napoleon Dynamite, This Is England and Juno have beautifully reflected the awkwardness of adolescence and the apocalyptic sense of doom that pervades every setback at that impressionable age.

Now, Kelly Fremon Craig writes and directs a bittersweet new addition to the pantheon with this deftly sketched portrait of a 17-year-old girl, who feels unloved at home and misunderstood by classmates.

Peppered with acidic one-liners and some lovely moments of raw, unvarnished emotion that leave a lump in the throat, The Edge Of Seventeen traverses familiar territory with aplomb.

A running commentary from the film's sarcastic heroine ensures plenty of laughs, before characters face the consequences of their reckless actions.

Nadine Byrd (Hailee Steinfeld) has always been jealous of her good-looking and popular older brother, Darian (Blake Jenner).

Their mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick) treats Darian like a golden child and Nadine's chief protector, her father Tom (Eric Keenleyside), dies from a heart attack during a drive with his daughter.

Her only friend is Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), a fellow outcast who shares her disdain for conformity.

Out of the blue, Nadine discovers that Krista is dating her brother Darian and this betrayal of the sisterly bond drives a wedge between the girls.

"It's me or him. Pick!" screams Nadine in a school corridor.

Cast adrift from her gal pal, Nadine turns to sardonic teacher Mr Bruner (Woody Harrelson) for advice.

Her mother also shares a mantra that helps her get through each day: "Everyone in the world is as empty and miserable as I am. They're just better at pretending."

The emotional vortex intensifies as Nadine politely tolerates romantic overtures from a nerdy classmate (Hayden Szeto) and pines from afar for a handsome older boy (Alexander Calvert), who works at the local Petland store.

The Edge Of Seventeen is a delight, anchored by Steinfeld's touching embodiment of a young woman who feels like she is a crudely fashioned square peg in a world of perfectly round holes.

On-screen rapport with Harrelson's droll educator is sparkling, and proves crucial when Fremon Craig's script force-feeds the central character painful home truths.

The writer-director achieves a pleasing balance between light and shade, and supporting cast aren't short-changed either, even Jenner's hunky sibling, who could have been reduced to a window dressing.

Everybody hurts, even those who look like they have their lives in pristine order.

:: SWEARING :: SEX :: NO VIOLENCE :: RATING: 7.5/10