Strange World
Year: 2022
Director: Don Hall
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Lucy Liu, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union & Jaboukie Young-White
Runtime: 102 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 05/01/22
Director: Don Hall
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Lucy Liu, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union & Jaboukie Young-White
Runtime: 102 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 05/01/22
It’s quite rare that major film releases pass me by with the amount of time I spend watching trailers at the cinema and new publications I follow. So, when it was brought to my attention that there was a new Disney Animated Classic, I have to say I was surprised I hadn’t heard more about it. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I realised that the film had already been out for two weeks, nobody was talking about it, and it had a measly box office taking. Suffice to say, I hardly knew that Strange World even existed until it was time for it to release on Disney+. A shock and a shame following on from the rapturous reception to Encanto just last year, but why has Strange World fallen so low below the radar?
When Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), son of legendary explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), discovers a plant emitting extraordinary amounts of energy he changes the lives of the citizens of Avalonia forever. Unhappy with returning with just a plant Jaeger carries on into the unknown and is never seen again.
Twenty-five years later and Avalonia has seen massive advances in technology thanks to Searcher’s discovery. But when crops of the plant, Pando, begin to die and put Avalonia in an energy crisis, Searcher must find Pando’s source and try to save the precious resource. But when the expedition finds themselves in a strange otherworld below ground, Searcher comes face to face with his past and must learn to bond with his son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) in order to get back home.
When Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), son of legendary explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), discovers a plant emitting extraordinary amounts of energy he changes the lives of the citizens of Avalonia forever. Unhappy with returning with just a plant Jaeger carries on into the unknown and is never seen again.
Twenty-five years later and Avalonia has seen massive advances in technology thanks to Searcher’s discovery. But when crops of the plant, Pando, begin to die and put Avalonia in an energy crisis, Searcher must find Pando’s source and try to save the precious resource. But when the expedition finds themselves in a strange otherworld below ground, Searcher comes face to face with his past and must learn to bond with his son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) in order to get back home.
Inspired by classic adventure tales like Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Strange World feels incredibly reminiscent of Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Unfortunately, it lacks all the charm of that overlooked and incredibly charming Disney Animated Classic and is instead a cliche and bland tale of fathers and sons bonding.
It’s hard to tell whether Strange World was ignored by so many because it was so bland, or because Disney just didn’t market the film, potentially not having much faith in it themselves.
Strange World’s story puts the relationships between Jaeger, Searcher, and Ethan front and centre. Jaeger was always unhappy that Searcher was more interested in plants than exploring, and Searcher is unhappy that Ethan has no interest in inheriting the family farm. But the characters themselves are painfully shallow and frustratingly stupid. Jaeger shouts everything and just want to kill anything not human. Searcher just whinges about his dad the entire time, but then treats Ethan the same way and wonders why they don’t have the best relationship. Then Ethan’s entire character is that he’s gay. Which at first was cool with the way Disney were handling it, but then you realise that’s his entire character and he has no other personality other than wanting to get back home and cuddle his boyfriend.
When the leading characters are this painfully dull you need to rely on the world to immerse you, and unfortunately Strange World also fails here. We don’t spend enough time in Avalonia to understand what kind of place it is, and then the titular world under the ground lacks much depth. It’s certainly pretty but we aren’t given a proper explanation as to how this world functions. Perhaps I have been spoiled by James Cameron’s exhaustive ecosystem explanations in Avatar, but whilst there is one big explanation as to what this world is and that does go a long way in providing context to certain oddities, ultimately there is no attempt at depicting a functioning ecosystem…just some cool looking creatures and environments.
This brings me to the film’s big twist, which I won’t ruin, but I will say it comes out of nowhere and doesn’t feel particularly important to the actual story. I mean it’s just a heavy-handed environmental protection message, but I feel it raises more questions than it answers and because there’s no build up to it I just felt like it had been tacked on last minute for the sake of having a twist.
It’s hard to tell whether Strange World was ignored by so many because it was so bland, or because Disney just didn’t market the film, potentially not having much faith in it themselves.
Strange World’s story puts the relationships between Jaeger, Searcher, and Ethan front and centre. Jaeger was always unhappy that Searcher was more interested in plants than exploring, and Searcher is unhappy that Ethan has no interest in inheriting the family farm. But the characters themselves are painfully shallow and frustratingly stupid. Jaeger shouts everything and just want to kill anything not human. Searcher just whinges about his dad the entire time, but then treats Ethan the same way and wonders why they don’t have the best relationship. Then Ethan’s entire character is that he’s gay. Which at first was cool with the way Disney were handling it, but then you realise that’s his entire character and he has no other personality other than wanting to get back home and cuddle his boyfriend.
When the leading characters are this painfully dull you need to rely on the world to immerse you, and unfortunately Strange World also fails here. We don’t spend enough time in Avalonia to understand what kind of place it is, and then the titular world under the ground lacks much depth. It’s certainly pretty but we aren’t given a proper explanation as to how this world functions. Perhaps I have been spoiled by James Cameron’s exhaustive ecosystem explanations in Avatar, but whilst there is one big explanation as to what this world is and that does go a long way in providing context to certain oddities, ultimately there is no attempt at depicting a functioning ecosystem…just some cool looking creatures and environments.
This brings me to the film’s big twist, which I won’t ruin, but I will say it comes out of nowhere and doesn’t feel particularly important to the actual story. I mean it’s just a heavy-handed environmental protection message, but I feel it raises more questions than it answers and because there’s no build up to it I just felt like it had been tacked on last minute for the sake of having a twist.
Despite all this negativity there is stuff to like in Strange World. I enjoyed the characters of Meridian (Gabrielle Union), Searcher’s wife, and Callisto (Lucy Liu), the President of Avalonia. They don’t get the biggest screen time and by other Disney film standards they’d be very much background characters, but because our three leading men are so dull these two mostly unremarkable characters did outshine them. Meridian in particular is the only character talking sense in the whole film, and more of her would have been very welcome.
Strange World does also look excellent. Since Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney have really gone out of their way to present some gorgeous visuals, arguably even besting Pixar in many areas. Strange World is no different with its imaginative take on an alien world that does feel like it’s been ripped straight from the pages of a 1970’s comic book.
I think Strange World will be overlooked by most, and forgotten by everyone else, and as harsh as it sounds it’s probably best that way. The film is so concerned with meeting particular quotas, and is led by such two-dimensional characters that it never gets the opportunity to create an identity for itself. Whilst I'm sure that kids will enjoy this otherworldly adventure, adults will lose interest before the prologue is even over and it won't be recaptured at any point throughout. There are so many other films that have done this exact story better, and a fair few of them are also from Disney.
Strange World does also look excellent. Since Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney have really gone out of their way to present some gorgeous visuals, arguably even besting Pixar in many areas. Strange World is no different with its imaginative take on an alien world that does feel like it’s been ripped straight from the pages of a 1970’s comic book.
I think Strange World will be overlooked by most, and forgotten by everyone else, and as harsh as it sounds it’s probably best that way. The film is so concerned with meeting particular quotas, and is led by such two-dimensional characters that it never gets the opportunity to create an identity for itself. Whilst I'm sure that kids will enjoy this otherworldly adventure, adults will lose interest before the prologue is even over and it won't be recaptured at any point throughout. There are so many other films that have done this exact story better, and a fair few of them are also from Disney.