by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
It has been 100 years since the creation of The Walt Disney Company. That’s genuinely such an amazing accomplishment. A centennial celebration is a big deal. No laughing matter. So what has the House of Mouse cooked up for us? Well, besides a new, revamped Walt Disney production company logo animation to start their films, there’s also the 61st official animated feature film from the studio, Strange World, a film with quite a bit of buzz around it that the studio is hoping will become a dazzling adventure for kids and families alike this Thanksgiving. But while there might be some interesting concepts at play, it very shallow and incredibly predictable, and the generic story doesn’t hold nearly the weight it needs to make for a satisfying journey, especially for the 100th Anniversary.
Keeping with recent Disney Animation Studio tradition of developing a musical every other film, after last year’s vibrant Encanto, it’s time for a straightforward narrative. Our very bland story takes place in the land of Avalonia. where Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) is a very famous explorer roaming the land in search of resources to help his country thrive. His teenage son, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal), is dragged along on these wild expeditions against his will, as he has no interest in being an explorer, but every interest in being a botanist, which is a conflict that boils over while out on a trek through the mountains. Fast forward a couple decades, and Searcher is now the father of Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), a teenage son with no interest in farming, but who instead craves to be an adventurer like his grandfather. Queue the predictable shenanigans.
Even based on that synopsis, I’m pretty sure you have an idea of exactly where this plot is going, and you’re likely not far off at all. This is the biggest issue with the film, and this issue is unavoidable. A character disappears and is presumed dead? No way, you know they’re coming back. There’s an inherent conflict between two characters, and then we see the same conflict years later? Of course they’re going to mirror each other, even down to the same lines of dialogue. There’s not a character turn you don’t see coming, or a plot twist that’s not foreseeable. This distinct lack of originality makes the whole experience of watching the film feel deflating. It’s hard to get excited when you know what’s going to happen; it’s impossible to build up tension when you see what’s coming.
A film that has this kind of generic, run-of-the-mill story is reliant on other elements to elevate the product. That could be great acting, solid jokes, deep themes, compelling world building, or fun visuals. Well, the film has a couple of these things, but it’s not done well enough to make this a good film. The voice performances here are fun, at least from Quaid who is trying to do something interesting, but everyone else sounds quite wooden. No one is putting in extra effort, and it feels like people are trying to collect a paycheck. Gyllenhaal and company aren’t bad — it just feels like they don’t care. Especially Lucy Liu, who feels really miscast as Callisto Mal. Additionally, the humor in this movie is severely lacking, and I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. My entire theater auditorium was completely silent throughout the entire film. There wasn’t a single joke that made people laugh. It created a very monotone experience, as every scene had relatively the same vibe and feel to it, with no emotional variance or big popping moments of laughter or levity. In fact, I’ll be honest: I even fell asleep in the theater for about a minute or so because of this. The low energy throughout the flick just made it hard to keep me entertained.
I will say there are some things that really work, this being the world building and visual creature design. The film has one, and only one, real revelation that I would suspect will catch most off-guard, myself included. It ties directly into the originality of the world building, the best part of the movie. This land of Avalonia, and the secret lands beneath it, make for a very pleasing visual experience. It’s full of vivid bright colors and fun creatures, all merged together to build a compelling ecosystem. Seeing these animals interact with each other, how they work with plants, and with humans, clearly shows where most of the creative effort went into this film. I loved visiting this world. I just wish the story we were experiencing in it was as fun as the world itself.
Strange World could’ve really stuck the landing if its themes were developed better, even despite its lackluster story. Unfortunately, these themes are as shallow as a kiddy pool. Are you having issues with your parent/child? Just talk it out, big brain. Duh. Don’t you know other people might have different interests than you? Ohhh. Lightbulb moment. The father/son dynamic is explored better in Onward than it ever is here, and that movie ends up being more about a brother/sibling dynamic. This film has not one, but two attempts to nail the father/son dynamic, and it misses the mark both times. It comes really close to making a statement about global warming, and how we as humans are slowly killing the Earth with its abuse of a resource that’s actually hurting the planet, but again it doesn’t go far enough to really solidify the message. I did appreciate the representation in this film, though: there’s a positive. This was very progressive in many social and political ways, and it’s nice seeing Disney stand for something. Still, it’s worth repeating, it would’ve been nice to have this progressive representation in a better movie.
I am a massive Disney fan. I look forward to every feature film that this studio releases. I want nothing more than to enjoy them and sing their praises. So it breaks my heart to say that Strange World is just an underachieving, bland film. I almost wish it was an actively bad film, because at least it would spurn more conversation and be worth talking about. As it stands, this is just a mediocre film that doesn’t stack up to the legacy of this studio’s 100 years of existence.
Score: 5/10
Strange World is currently playing in theaters
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