“Strange World” Review
The adventurous Clade family go on a journey through a mysterious new realm in “Strange World,” Disney’s latest animated film which ventures into pulp science-fiction.
When I first saw the trailers for “Strange World,” I got pretty excited after seeing that it was going to be a massive science-fiction adventure that was going to take a more old-school approach. Instead of doing what a lot of science-fiction films try to do, like ripping off “Star Wars” or other popular franchises, “Strange World” promised to be influenced by classic film serials and pulp magazines which is music to my ears. However, I was fairly disappointed with the film as it offered a gorgeous environment and fun characters but a stale story that never got to justify the scale of the visuals.
Set in the fantasy world of Avalonia, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) is an explorer who wants to see the other side of the mountains that surround his home. Accompanying him is his young son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhal) who finds an amazing plant, called Pando, which can generate electricity and clean energy. However, Jaeger doesn’t see this discovery as relevant which causes a rift between the two and Jaeger disappears while trying to go through the mountains.
Years later, Searcher has grown into a farmer with his wife Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) helping him harvest Pando to keep their society running. When the Pando begins to rot, the Clade family goes on an expedition to find its roots to solve the potential energy crisis. This journey leads them to an underground world with all sorts of strange creatures and reunites Searcher with his father. With three generations of Clades reunited, they all try to navigate this realm while each of them try to fulfill their wildly different ideas as to what the quest is really about.
To me, the best part of this film is the family dynamic with the Clades. In particular, there are two rifts Searcher is dealing with that kept my interest. The first is with his son who’s not sure he wants to be a farmer. He’d rather be an explorer like his grandfather, which Searcher has a problem with since his dad essentially left him to fulfill his “destiny” and never returned. As for Searcher’s relationship with his own father, they have a lot to catch up on and both Searcher and Jaeger have to face hard truths. Jaeger has to grapple with the fact that he probably wasn’t the greatest dad while Searcher begins to think about the good things his father taught him.
When “Strange World” focuses on the dynamic between the Clades, it makes for a captivating family film.
What makes this work is that these relationships feel real and their progression feels natural. There’s not a scene involving the three Clade men that doesn’t feel disingenuous and Quaid, Gyllenhal and Young-White all do well in these roles. There’s also not just one scene where the characters blow up at each other and then make up, it happens a few times. It’s a way for the story to explain that familial relationships are complicated and that these problems don’t just go away. To put that kind of complexity into a film geared towards children and families is beyond admirable.
Meridian’s presence is also a lot of fun as she not only provides emotional stability for her husband and son, she’s also a kickass pilot whose flying skills are well-utilized in the film’s action sequences. There’s not a weak link among the Clades and they always kept me hooked into where “Strange World” was going.
Unfortunately, the story just doesn’t feel fresh. While I like the idea of a family going on a grand adventure with airships and flamethrowers, there’s no real suspense. The main goal is to save the energy source of Avalonia but it’s not exactly clear what the consequences will be if our heroes fail. I guess things will go back to the way they were without Pando which means that there will be no electricity. But there wasn’t any when Searcher was a kid and he appeared to be fine.
In fact, only 25 years have passed since Searcher discovered the plant and it appears as though humanity has gone through the entire Industrial Revolution already. Years and years of steady technological achievement have been boiled down to less than three decades because of a magic plant. I think you’d need a different magic plant to believe that. I know it seems like I’m nit-picking but these issues really do affect how you view the film’s story.
Instead of showing us why we should care about Pando, the film tells us which gets really old really fast. The entire supporting cast, consisting of explorers that venture to the underground world with the Clades, are all underdeveloped and made me question why the Clades didn’t just go down by themselves. The worst offender has to be Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu), the leader of Avalonia, who is so one-note. All she says is “we need to save Pando” or “this is for Pando.” I love Lucy Liu but this just wasn't the character to show how awesome she is.
What’s even more shocking to me is that the film’s director, Don Hall, and writer, Qui Nguyen, have done great work in the past with Hall having directed “Big Hero 6” and Hall and Nguyen having teamed up to make “Raya and the Last Dragon.” But this film just lacked a stroy for me to really get invested in. “Strange World’s” comedy also fell flat which is a shame since most of Disney’s animated films in the past ten years have made me laugh a lot. While I accept that some jokes in an animated Disney film are going to be geared more towards children, not a single one laughed when they were supposed to. I can only think of a few jokes that were actually pretty funny.
I can’t say the film was a waste of time nor do I despise it despite some of my criticisms. Along with the Clades’ emotional journey, I loved this underground world and how visually stunning it was. With grand landscapes and bright colors, I feel like Hall and Nguyen felt most comfortable when showing off how this place functions and how “Strange World’s” characters have to survive in it. When you find out what is really driving this world and what the purpose is of all these creatures, it’s very creative and drives home the theme of the film: cooperation. Not only do the Clades have to help each other to survive, they also need to work with their environment. When that theme is focused on, the film has my attention.
While not the great Disney film I’m sure many were expecting, “Strange World” does have its entertainment value and is sure to be a fun time for many families. While I wish that the film had a more interesting storyline to justify the amazing visuals, I did somewhat enjoy what I got. It’s not Disney’s strongest work, but it's hard to not recommend it.
