When one looks at a multimedia company as legendary as Disney, it's hard to imagine the iconic studio as being capable of delivering a flop. With a trackrecord that's immeasurable in comparison to other studios, one can almost forget that Disney churned out massive underperformers like 2002's Treasure Planet or Atlantis: The Lost Empire despite the films themselves not deserving of being misfires. With Disney Studios Strange World, their 61st film, much has been said about the films box office underperformance to its surprisingly mixed audience reaction and LGBT representation. While it doesn't offer anything innovative in terms of storytelling, Strange World delivers in providing families with a brand new Sci-Fi action-adventure that's both entertaining and full of heart.
Strange World's plot focuses on The Classes, a legendary family of explorers whose conflicts with each other threaten to derail their latest mission into uncharted territory. Though it's true that Strange World relies heavily on previously established Disney formulas to round out it's plot, it manages to make them work once again with a story that's serviceable in presenting a dazzling animated experience which ultimately gets the job done in giving audiences a visual stunner that contains poignant messages regarding family and becoming ones own person.
One of the key elements that makes any successful Disney animated feature work are the fantastic voice acting performances of its main cast with Strange World's ensemble proving to be hugely effective and charming. Leading the cast is Jake Gyllenhaal, who delivers a charming and heartfelt performance as farmer Searcher Clade, whose the son of famous explorer Jaegar. Gyllenhaal is an actor who feels like an excellent fit to play an animated character as he possesses the right amount of emotions and sincerity behind his voice. Following Gyllenhaal's lead is Dennis Quaid as Searcher's father, Jaeger Clade who chose continuing his quest over being a husband and father. Both Gyllenhaal and Quaid do an excellent job of making audiences believe in their damaged father-and-son relationship. Jaboukie Young-White impresses as Searchers 16-year old son Ethan Clade, who longs for adventure beyond his father's farm while navigating being an openly LGBTQ teenager. Gabrielle Union also surprises and shines as Ethan's mother and Searcher's wife, Meridian Clade, whose revealed to be both a pilot and natural leader. The rest of the cast give noteworthy performances including Lucy Liu as Castillo Mal, president of the land of Avalonia, and leader of the exploration into the strange world, Karen Sonai as Caspian, a nerdy member of the expedition to Strange World, and Alan Tudyk as pilot Duffle for the expedition to Strange World who is killed by Wyvern-like creatures. As far as voice performances go, Strange World's ensemble injects the story with some much-needed enthusiasm and energy.
As far as the animation goes, director Don Hall crafts a vibrant adventure that looks sharp in terms of both graphics and scenery while enhancing the visual richness of the story. The new world is full of numerous colors, that gives it a cotton-candy style appearance as the Avalonians further explore it. The films action sequences and moments of peril are presented as being relatively intense, but not to the point where they're anxiety driven. One death scene in particular is presented as being humorous in an effort to deflate the amount of stress audiences would feel if it was totally serious. The films world-building is admirable with Hall going to extreme lengths to present a unique kind of world for audiences to experience. The soundtrack by Henry Jackman does a notable job of adding to the stories emotional core, along with making it appear as being sentimental. At 102 minutes, Strange World is kept fast-paced with the film striking the right balance of keeping things constantly moving while setting aside time to flesh out the main characters arcs.
When it comes to the scriptwriting, Strange World is very much about finding a way to live harmoniously with the environment that surrounds you while repairing generational relationships as evidenced by Searcher and Jaegar. Their dynamic serves as the film's heart, while also setting up the conflict between Searcher and his son Ethan. The latter has received a significant amount of controversy (Mostly negative) regarding his character being LGBT with a subplot revealing his crush on another boy, much to the support of his whole family. Whereas such a plot device should earn praise for being inclusive, it's become a primary target of criticism with some reviewers accusing the film of being "too woke". The reveal of the characters sexuality doesn't feel forced nor bears any negative weight on the story as it goes in line with the films themes regarding family, growing up, being stuck in a path, and becoming ones own person with the latter theme coming into play with Searcher wanting Ethan to follow his farmer footsteps, yet resents the fact that Jaegar is influencing him with exploring. The story is one that's about family and healing old wounds with the adventure setting being used as the glue binding everyone together. The film also plays as a fun throwback to classic pulp "lost world" storytelling that dominated the 1940's and 50's era of cinema.
Despite the lack of originality, Strange World's plot is serviceable enough for the animated team behind it to deliver a visual feast for the eyes combined with some notable messages aimed at young audiences. As with any recent Disney film, World promotes a healthy level of diversity through it's multicultural cast of talented actors and characters with Gyllenhaal's Searcher sharing an interracial marriage with Gabrielle Union's Meridian, which resulted in them having a biracial son. While the story may disappoint Disney fans in terms of being more original in regards to storytelling, the world-building that's done here deserves commending along with the efforts its talented cast bring to the table. It's not the strongest of Disney's works, but there's enough magic present to make it palatable for fans.
Final Verdict: Worth Watching For Both Families and Disney Fans.
Images Courtesy Of Disney
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