Strange World: An Out of This World Adventure!

It's a shame about this movie, really. You probably saw me posting this and thought, "What the hell is Strange World?" I wouldn't blame you either because Disney did an absolutely horrendous job marketing this film. This would explain why it's bombing at the box office right now, which sucks because it's a pretty fun little ride. I'm blaming this on the old boss of Disney, Bob Chapek, who probably just wanted people to watch this on Disney+. Well, it's a good thing he got fired a couple weeks back. Disney has been doing a horrible job with their animated movies in general the last couple years. They're either going straight to the streaming service or being put in theaters with little marketing. It's extremely disappointing. I love animated movies and I was aggravated when Chapek pretty much insinuated they were just for little kids. That's why I'm glad he's gone. Hopefully, now that there's new (or returning) leadership, these movies will start to be treated with a little more respect. After all, animation is what made the damn studio. With that little rant out of the way, let's get started!

Strange World is directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, Dennis Quad, and Lucy Liu. Searcher Clade (Gyllenhaal), the son of legendary explorer Jaeger Clade (Quaid), must embark on an extremely important mission that will take him and his family to a strange world. A little disclaimer before I get into it. I was a little late and missed the first couple of minutes of the movie. There were some things I saw later on that kinda lost me and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact I was late, so I'm not gonna deduct points for that. It just gives me an excuse to watch it again! With all of that out of the way, let's dive into the review!

This is a fun little movie. By no means is it a game-changer, but I was really enjoying myself while watching it. I'm a sucker for a sci-fi adventure and this did the job for me. Even though his name is ridiculous, I really liked Searcher and his family. They felt authentic. Searcher is upset that his dad seemingly left him for over 20 years and he's determined to be better. He has no problem with being a farmer and loves to be around his family. The crux of the story is the relationship between father and son, whether that be between Searcher and his dad, or Searcher and his son, Ethan (Young-White). It just happens to be set in a really awesome sci-fi world. The scenes when the three generations of the Glade family are together were really wholesome. As I mentioned before, Searcher doesn't want to be like his dad. This is why he becomes a farmer. He loves goofing around with Ethan and it was really fun to see. The entire cast did a great job. I really liked Dennis Quaid as Jaeger. The former explorer is extremely concerned about his legacy, so much so that he leaves his family behind. This idea of legacy is an important part of the movie as well. Even though he disagrees, Searcher and his father are more alike than he thinks. Like his dad, he wants his son to continue the work that he started. Like his father, Ethan really doesn't want to. Ethan was another character I really liked. It was announced a couple months back that he was gay and a lot of people (wrongly) were losing their minds over it. I feel that everyone should see themselves represented on the big screen. I was surprised when him being gay actually had something to do with the story. It wasn't a background thing or a brief clip like in other Disney movies, but it actually served a function to the story. On a technical level, the movie looks great. The designs are very reminiscent of that retro 50s sci-fi look. Everything was gorgeous to look at. The creature designs were pretty inventive too. They were all pretty unique and added a new flavor to the movie. The humor also worked really well, too. Most of it comes from the little blob, Splat. For something that doesn't have any eyes, the animators did a great job of giving character to the little guy.

Like I mentioned earlier, this movie isn't a game-changer for Disney animation. The pacing is a little off at times, speeding through certain moments. At times, the story can be very predictable, checking off all of the boxes of an animated movie. The whole, "I don't want to be like you dad," can be seen in countless other animated movies (Kung Fu Panda, Chicken Little, How to Train Your Dragon, Happy Feet, etc.). It's not a bad trope, necessarily, but one we've seen done so many times before. We all know how it's going to end. With that being said, I think what adds to this movie is the whole generational angle of it.

Strange World is a very cute and fun animated movie. The family dynamic, particularly dealing with fathers and their legacies, is great, the characters are good, the animation is very pretty, the look of the world is interesting, and the humor really works. What holds this movie back, though, is that it can be predictable at times and has quite a few tropes we've seen before. The thing that really bugs me, though, is that Disney left this movie to struggle with very little advertising. I highly recommend that you see this in a theater to support the artists who've worked on this movie. It's a fun ride! If I were to rate it, I'd give Strange World an 8/10.