Finding Ohana movie review

MOVIE TITLE: FINDING OHANA

Now Available on Netflix

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 2 hours 3 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

This cute action mystery is family-friendly and a lot of fun. If you love Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark , then you’ll get a kick out of this movie because it has a similar adventurous feeling and has a lot of heart. In fact, some of the set pieces look like they came straight out of an Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark film. The movie was directed by June Weng, a TV sitcom staple, and written by Christina Strain, creating a film that feels like a fresh, tropical breeze.

THINGS I LIKED:

- The cast of kids is really great and features the debut performance of Kea Peahu, who is totally adorable. The other talented kids include Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson, and Owen Vaccaro. The adult cast spotlights Branscombe Richmond (not a very Haiwaiin-sounding name but he seems super legit), the handsome Hawaiian hunk Brad Kalilimoku, and Kelly Hu. Plus, there is a fun cast of pirates played by Chris Parnell, Marc Evan Jackson, and Ricky Garcia.
- The movie introduces you to geocaching.
- I got a kick out of the scenes where the kids’ voices come out of the pirates’ mouths when they’re speaking.
- You get to see some gorgeous Hawaiian landscape. You see some beautiful spots where they filmed the popular TV show Lost – The Complete First Season and the movie Jurassic Park. It’s on the gorgeous island of Kauai, the destination of one of my husband’s all-time favorite vacations we took many years ago. We took a helicopter tour of Kauai while we were there and I felt like my eyeballs were so saturated with the beauty that I had to close my eyes every few minutes. This movie also features the Halona beach from the movie From Here To Eternity
- Speaking of movies filmed there, you might recognize the actor Ke Huy Quan who played the little boy in Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom. He wears the same baseball cap in this movie that he wore in that one. He also pays homage to his role in The Goonies with a key chain containing the “Pinchers of Peril” and referencing “Slick Shoes.”
- There’s a fun and lively soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese. Meghan Trainer gets featured a couple of times. The kids in the cast are really good singers too!

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There’s a lot of humor both spoken and visual.
Beautiful cinematography by Cort Fey.
Cute rolling credits at the end.
Although some of the sets looked like constructed sets, many of the visual effects by Jay Cooper were really good.
It was clever to use muted colors in the scenes that showed the story of the pirates from long ago.
You learn about “kapu” (sacred ground) and, in fact, all of the interior cave shots in the movie were done in Thailand so as to protect the spirits in Hawaii.
The movie is long but definitely didn’t feel like it. There plenty of escapades to keep you interested and entertained.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There are quite a few cringe-worthy acting moments.
I can’t stand bickering. I don’t think it’s charming at all. The family is super disrespectful to each other and some teenagers are really sarcastic to one another. Of course, I completely understand it’s designed to show the character growth in the movie, but I still thought it was annoying.
Spiders. EEEEWWWW!
The mom played by Kelly Hu has grey streaks in her hair during the entire movie until the last scene. She also has 2 patches on one of her arms at the beginning of the movie that were never explained. What’s that all about?