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Finding ‘Ohana Movie Review

Finding ‘Ohana is a 2021 family adventure film directed by Jude Weng and starring Alex Aiono among others. It’s a fun Netflix adventure, though far from great.

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“Somebody is a Meghan Trainor fan“

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The film follows two Brooklyn siblings on a trip to Oahu where they discover their Hawaiian heritage. This is one of those films that recall the many eighties and nineties family adventure flicks, and although that made it very familiar, I ultimately liked it as I really miss this kind of fun live-action films for the entire family.

‘The Goonies’ clearly springs to mind very quickly when it comes to the movie’s adventure elements. The entire cave part felt very similar to so many other adventure flicks and it wasn’t as engaging as it should have been, but overall it was solid and enjoyable enough.

To me the highlight is the Hawaiian setting, which I loved, and the whole homage to their culture and heritage was wonderful. That scene with the ancestors coming was truly something special. It was both spiritual and very cool. The movie is rather emotional at times thanks to solid characterization as well.

I really liked these characters, even if some are definite stereotypes. Ioane is this typical angsty teenager who is good-looking and acting cool all the time. Alex Aiono is a singer and not an actor, which shows as his performance is the weakest of the bunch. But still I liked the romance here as the girl is super cool and a lot of fun while their dynamic was also very strong.

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The kids also were pretty good. The boy is nerdy, but some of his lines could be quite amusing. The girl was so much fun in her awesome adventurous spirit and the movie’s treatment of young girls as fun and adventurous instead of boring and just pretty was the movie’s biggest strength and the area where it obviously trumped similar movies from the past.

Finding ‘Ohana is rather rushed in the family drama elements as the mother is memorable, but underutilized as are all the other adults. The effects could have been better, but overall the cinematography is strong, some of the imagery is memorable and the film is mostly very enjoyable, if nothing truly remarkable.