movie review of strange world

Strange World

All the basic elements of “Strange World,” Disney’s latest sci-fi/fantasy flick, are familiar. There’s a family of adventurers, a dire mission to save the planet from a mysterious ecological crisis, an absent father, three generations of insecure men, and a bunch of under-developed female supporting characters whose placeholder personalities range from strong to loving. It’s “ Avatar ” meets “Fantastic Voyage,” and it also looks really good on a big screen thanks to Disney’s many, many talented animators. With their help, “Strange World” breezes through a checklist of formulaic plot points and canned emotional revelations with enough style and sensitivity to make it work.

“Strange World” is the latest collaboration of co-directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen , who previously worked on “ Raya and the Last Dragon ” with Hall’s co-directors, Paul Briggs and Carlos López Estrada. It’s always hard to know how to praise collaborations of this scale and nature, but Nguyen’s solo writing byline on “Strange World” stands out, and so does his co-director credit (this is his debut feature). Hall’s no slouch either; his name, on recent Disney successes like “ Moana ,” “ Big Hero 6 ,” and “ Winnie the Pooh ,” also seems noteworthy.

After “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Strange World” feels like a lower-stakes, and therefore more comfortable, union of Hall and Nguyen’s talents. These guys have clearly seen and maybe even studied the Disney cartoons that defined the company’s ‘90s animation renaissance. (Seriously, have you seen “Big Hero 6”?). So it’s nice to see that, with “Strange World,” they’ve found a project that brings out the best of their combined talents and doesn’t just feel like it was focus-grouped to death.

“Strange World” zips along with an easy pace that makes up for its lack of dramatic tension. Stubborn explorer Jaeger Clade ( Dennis Quaid ) abandons his insecure son, Searcher Clade ( Jake Gyllenhaal ). Searcher wants his dad to follow his lead for once, and, in this case, pay attention to a mysterious green plant that he calls Pando, but Jaeger dismisses both Searcher and Pando. Twenty-five years pass in the blink of an intertitle after Searcher leaves his fellow adventurers to find the outer limits of Avalonia, the Clades’ isolated mountain valley home. In that time, Searcher has become Avalonia’s hero, since they’ve adopted Pando as the town’s main power supply. Searcher’s a Pando farmer now and his world mainly revolves around his crops and his family: his loving aviator wife Meridian ( Gabrielle Union ), his easily-embarrassed teenage son Ethan ( Jaboukie Young-White ), and Legend, their three-legged dog.

When the Pando crops are not yielding the electrical charge that they used to, Callisto ( Lucy Liu ), one of Jaeger’s old explorer buddies, asks a reluctant Searcher to help her find out. And he does, with his wife and son in tow. Together, they descend into a big hole in the ground, where they discover a vibrant, Pandora-like world filled with various creatures, plants, and other sentient fauna that look like they were traced from old biology textbook illustrations. They also quickly stumble upon Jaeger, who now lives among the amoeba forests and acid rivers. He and Searcher play catch up while Searcher chases after Ethan, who’s always a few steps ahead.

As you might expect, the Clade men do not see eye-to-eye, nor do they work well together as a team. Their creators thankfully avoid several clichéd power dynamics, though they tiptoe up to a few of them along the way, like when Jaeger asks Ethan about his love life and mercifully doesn’t bat an eye when he discovers that Ethan likes a boy named Diazo. Searcher’s parents already know and accept their kid for who he is, and their affectionate concerns always err on the right side of heavily telegraphed sentimentality. Their dialogue appears to have been polished and rewritten without also being sandblasted down to bland talking points.

The same is true of the animation and general direction of “Strange World,” which flies from one action and chase scene to the next. Quaid and Gyllenhaal stand out among the strong ensemble voice cast, but the animators make what could have been a paint-by-numbers genre exercise look good enough to gawk at. They commit to a sort of lavishly rendered paperback novel/matte painting surrealism and pack the camera’s frame with flocks of magenta pterodactyls, forests of pastel coral, and oceans of multi-colored tentacle grass.

There’s something to be said for a kid-friendly cartoon whose main appeal isn’t its creators’ out-of-the-box thinking, but rather their crew’s thoughtful execution of otherwise shopworn ideas. That doesn’t seem to happen often enough with Disney’s recent animated movies, which help make “Strange World” feel like an exceptional triumph of execution over ingenuity. You could do a lot worse.

Only in theaters today, November 23rd.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in The New York Times , Vanity Fair , The Village Voice, and elsewhere.

Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher Clade (voice)
Dennis Quaid as Jaeger Clade (voice)
Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan Clade (voice)
Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade (voice)
Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal (voice)
Alan Tudyk as Duffle (voice)
Jonathan Melo as Diazo (voice)
Henry Jackman

Director (co-director)

Sarah K. Reimers

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Strange world.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 88 Reviews
Kids Say 42 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Sci-fi adventure/tender family drama has scares, peril.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 8+?

A few life-or-death close calls: in an aircraft, on an all-terrain vehicle, and

Nothing on camera, but tie-in merchandise includes toys, figurines, apparel, and

Ethan's married parents kiss and embrace several times throughout the movie in a

Insults like "really bad dad," "I don't want to be anything like you," etc.

Adults drink what looks like beer from bottles.

Any Positive Content?

Encourages family honesty, intergenerational closeness, and the repair of strain

Various strong role models, including Meridian and Searcher, who are loving, sup

The Clades (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union) are an interracial co

More for entertainment value than educational purposes, but a few discussions ab

Violence & Scariness

A few life-or-death close calls: in an aircraft, on an all-terrain vehicle, and just on foot in a seemingly hostile environment. The opening scene includes a sad moment when a father leaves his teen behind to finish a dangerous mission. In the undiscovered land, various people are nearly hurt by living beings; an aircraft is nearly irreparably damaged. A pilot is sucked out of an aircraft, but his presumed death isn't lingered on or discussed. Characters use a flamethrower and other weapons to defeat foes. The family is locked away when they pose a threat to the status quo.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Nothing on camera, but tie-in merchandise includes toys, figurines, apparel, and games.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Ethan's married parents kiss and embrace several times throughout the movie in a brief but loving manner. Ethan expresses romantic interest in his crush, Diazo, on a few occasions but is only seen speaking to him once. In one quick shot he's shown standing next to him in a side hug.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Encourages family honesty, intergenerational closeness, and the repair of strained parent-child relationships. Reminds parents not to force their children to follow in their footsteps, to see their children as individuals. Emphasis on environmental awareness and diplomacy over conflict.

Positive Role Models

Various strong role models, including Meridian and Searcher, who are loving, supportive parents who accept and encourage their son. Ethan is curious, empathetic, kind. Jaeger apologizes for his past mistakes and commits himself to his family. Callisto is a fierce and commanding soldier. Characters demonstrate personality strengths such as courage, empathy, perseverance, teamwork.

Diverse Representations

The Clades (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union) are an interracial couple with a biracial, LGBTQ+ teen son (Ethan, voiced by Jaboukie Young-White). No one questions Ethan's crush on another boy, even his alpha male grandfather. Filmmakers and cast have made a point of saying that people like Ethan and his family exist in the real world, so it wasn't an issue at all for them to make him both interracial and gay. The Clades' dog has three legs, a subtle representation of a happy, loving, disabled dog. Additional diversity within supporting voice cast (Lucy Liu, Karan Soni, etc.). Writer and co-director Qui Nguyen is Vietnamese American. The plot is largely male-centered, but the two main women characters, Meridian and Callisto, are hyper-capable, tough, and courageous.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Educational Value

More for entertainment value than educational purposes, but a few discussions about gardening and how bodily systems work are central to the plot.

Parents need to know that Strange World is an exciting animated sci-fi adventure that follows the Clades, a family of famous explorers who must put aside their differences to hunt down whatever is killing their town's power-providing plants. Inspired by retro sci-fi films, the movie features several life-or-death pursuits and close calls, including the death of a minor character and the use of a flamethrower and other weapons to defeat foes. The story has positive messages about the environment, diplomatic relations, and honest communication between parents and children, whether they're teens or adults. Teenage Ethan Clade (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White ) is openly gay (although the word is never said) and has a crush on another boy. He's also biracial, but his identity isn't the movie's focus. It's just part of the general inclusivity of the cast, which has representation across categories of race, ethnicity, and disability (the family has a happy tripod dog). Dennis Quaid , Jake Gyllenhaal , and Gabrielle Union co-star. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (88)
Kids say (42)

Based on 88 parent reviews

Awful. I have buyers remorse for paying theater prices to see this. Story was bad. The "crush" plot (plot is strong word here) was like an afterthought. It had no bearing on the movie. The was no real cohesiveness to the show. My teenagers were bored, my littles were restless. What a waste of time & money. Totally over Disney!!

What's the story.

As STRANGE WORLD begins, adventurer Jaeger Clade (voiced by Dennis Quaid ) is trying to find a safe new home for the people of Avalonia, with his crew and his teen son, Searcher ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), in tow. When Searcher finds a magical, power-giving plant, everyone on the mission -- except Jaeger -- believes they should settle there. Instead, Jaeger insists on continuing beyond the mountains, leaving his son behind. Twenty-five years later, Avalonia has thrived thanks to the plant that young Searcher discovered. Called pando, it sustains the entire community's infrastructure. Searcher, a pando farmer, has a wife, Meridian ( Gabrielle Union ), and a 16-year-old son, Ethan ( Jaboukie Young-White ), who -- despite not knowing his grandfather -- dreams of adventure. When Searcher and Ethan realize that there's a blight on the pando crop, they embark on a mission with commander Callisto Mal ( Lucy Liu ) to determine what's causing the crops to die. They find a mysterious underground world where everything around them is a living, and potentially hostile, being. And Searcher and Ethan soon make an even more shocking discovery.

Is It Any Good?

This nostalgic homage to sci-fi adventures has a moving intergenerational storyline, positive diverse representation, and two adorable sidekicks. Filmmakers Don Hall and Qi Nguyen focus on the family relationships between Ethan, his parents, and his grandfather. The environmentalist-friendly story offers plenty of laughs and fuzzy feels courtesy of Legend -- the family's big, lovable, three-legged dog, who's boisterous and befriends everyone -- and Splat, the blob-like, featureless being that Ethan discovers in the seemingly magical world. (Both will absolutely add to the delight of younger and dog-loving viewers.) Although the plot is mostly man-centered, the two main women characters, Meridian and Callisto, are hyper-capable, tough, and courageous. Union particularly stands out as Ethan's no-nonsense, supportive mom.

Strange World 's visuals are vibrant and cotton candy-colored as the new world comes to life around the curious Avalonians. The world-building includes peril at every turn, but, aside from one somewhat humorous implied death, the danger is never too overwhelming. It's disappointing that there's been controversy over the fact that the film includes Ethan's crush on a boy (and his family's complete support of that fact), which is roughly equivalent to the cute date depicted in Inside Out . If anything, Disney deserves credit for promoting an inclusive story that isn't preachy or overwrought. Because this isn't a story about a teenager coming out or being gay -- it's a story about saving your home and repairing generational relationships.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the peril in Strange World . Is it appropriate to the story? Does animated violence impact viewers differently than live-action violence?

Discuss the representation in the movie. Why do you think seeing diversity in the media we consume is important?

How does the movie's environmental message come through?

Which characters exhibit courage , empathy , perseverance , and teamwork ? Why are those important character strengths?

Why do you think some consider Ethan's crush controversial?

Movie Details

In theaters : November 23, 2022
On DVD or streaming : December 23, 2022
Cast : Jake Gyllenhaal , Jaboukie Young-White , Gabrielle Union , Dennis Quaid
Directors : Don Hall , Qui Nguyen
Inclusion Information : Asian directors, Female actors, Black actors, Asian writers
Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Science and Nature , Space and Aliens
Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 102 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : action/peril and some thematic elements
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : July 24, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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‘Strange World’ Review: All Too Familiar

The latest animated Disney creation is like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” reborn as an intercultural fantasia that takes aim at the climate crisis.

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By Beatrice Loayza

In “Strange World,” the director Don Hall’s zippy save-the-planet romp, a father and son, Jaeger (Dennis Quaid) and Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) Clade, are torn apart by their differences, only to come together decades later in a time of crisis.

Jaeger, a famed explorer with macho tendencies and a hulking frame, is fixated on reaching a land beyond the mountains. In the opening scene, he leaves an adolescent Searcher behind to fulfill this destiny, while Searcher — a meeker, brainier type — stumbles upon pando, a glowing, grapelike crop with the power to fuel entire cities. The discovery revolutionizes Searcher’s community of Avalonia. And it allows the filmmakers to create a clear climate-change allegory.

When pando begins to die en masse, Callisto (Lucy Liu), the brawny leader of Avalonia, coaxes Searcher away from his idyllic farmland to join her mission to save the fruit. Searcher’s restless teenage son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), his feisty pilot wife, Meridian (Gabrielle Union), and their three-legged dog also find their way aboard the ship — no matter Searcher’s protests.

Hidden beneath the mountains is a kind of Jurassic World made of gloppy, bubble-gum-pink material and filled with hungry, amoeba-like creatures, acid lakes and fields of anemone that regenerate on the spot. Jaeger shows up — he has been stuck here for years — prompting intergenerational spats.

As with other recent animated Disney films, including “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Moana,” extensive world building and superhero-style actioneering are key. But unlike those movies, “Strange World” doesn’t reflect a specific region or ethnicity — it’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” as a modern, intercultural fantasia.

The screenwriter Qui Nguyen thoughtfully integrates a diverse cast, strong female characters and different kinds of masculinity. (Ethan takes after gramps in the adventuring department, but he’s also sensitive and openly gay in a way that has never been more explicit in a Disney movie.) But these elements aren’t the main point.

The takeaway is the difficulty of collaboration in the face of entrenched beliefs and ways of navigating the world that, ultimately, must be questioned — if not entirely dismantled — if any one of us expects to stick around.

Strange World Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters.

Review: ‘Strange World’ boasts a weird, vibrant world where fathers learn important lessons

An older man, a middle-aged man, a teenage boy and a blue blob playing a board game

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One of “Strange World’s” triumphs is the vibrant, weird, visually stunning subterranean world that the film’s heroes stumble upon during their quest to save their way of life. From its lush palette to its cute and deadly flora and fauna, this strange, mysterious world is very much deserving of its status as the film’s title character.

Another, in true Disney fashion, is its thematic swings. Directed by Walt Disney Animation veteran Don Hall (“ Big Hero 6 ,” “ Moana ”) and written/co-directed by Qui Nguyen — a duo that previously collaborated on “ Raya and the Last Dragon ” (2021) — “Strange World,” which hits theaters Wednesday, tackles father-son relationships and the idea of legacy with an ecological, environmentalist twist.

For your safety

The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic . Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the CDC and local health officials .

The multigeneration family at the center of this animated adventure film is the Clades. Searcher Clade (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal) is a humble farmer and town hero who has built his life around a childhood discovery: a plant called pando that powers everything from giant airships to household appliances. Searcher stumbled upon pando while on an expedition with his father, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), an explorer cut from a more traditional “adventure story” mold whose defining motivation is to be the first to see what lies beyond the giant mountains that surround Avalonia, their hometown.

Unlike his father, who sought grandeur outside of his home, Searcher is happier with his simpler life on the farm with his capable wife Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and 16-year-old son Ethan ( Jaboukie Young-White ). But as could be expected from this setup, one of the realizations Searcher has over the course of the movie is that he is a lot more like his father than he’d like to believe.

Five people and a three-legged dog riding a speeder-like vehicle

Yes, it’s the fathers that learn the lessons in “Strange World.” Jaeger and Searcher each have their own ideas for what they want for their sons and legacies they hope to pass on, but neither account for the inevitability that at some point a child is going to figure out their own wants and dreams. Like father, like son.

Much like Pixar’s “Turning Red” before it, “Strange World” navigates an intergenerational family dynamic in which a parent’s parenting style and decisions can be traced through their own experiences with their parents. And in both stories, true reconciliation and understanding rest on the parent’s willingness to listen to their kid and trust them enough to let them figure things out on their own. ( Variations on this parental theme have recurred in numerous films this year.)

The kid at the center and the heart of “Strange World” is young Ethan. A dutiful son who clearly loves his parents (much more than he does walking in on their displays of affection), Ethan is curious, caring and longs for adventure beyond the fields of his family farm. So when Avalonia’s leader Callisto Mal ( Lucy Liu ) recruits Searcher for a mission to figure out what is harming the world’s supply of pando, Ethan joins as a stowaway, much to his parents’ displeasure.

For the most part, “Strange World’s” story is pretty straightforward and follows familiar beats, but the mysteries of pando and Avalonia’s subterranean world are a creative standout — it’s a place you can’t help but want to know more about, danger be damned, because it’s so different from the lands featured in other stories about journeys to the center of the world, from Jules Verne to “ Godzilla vs. Kong .”

One of “Strange World’s” most ambitious swings is in the way its familial themes are paralleled in the movie’s environmental message. Humankind’s relationship to nature in most mainstream Western stories tends to involve conquest, as symbolized by Jaeger (an explorer), or control, as symbolized by Searcher (a farmer), but “Strange World” presents an alternative: coexistence, as exemplified by Ethan. And the way Ethan approaches and experiences the subterranean world turns out to be key.

A boy and a blue blob peering over a ledge

It’s not much of a spoiler to say that the planet is in peril in “Strange World,” and it’s up to the humans to figure out why. And in the same way that Searcher must learn to listen to Ethan in order to give him space to flourish and grow, Searcher also has to learn to listen to what the planet is telling him so it can flourish. It’s a bit heavy-handed but the message is clear: Being self-absorbed is not good for your family or the planet, so you need to adjust for the sake of the future.

Although he is much more than a representational milestone, it’s noteworthy that Ethan is the first biracial queer teenage main character in an animated Disney film. Disney has (rightly) been called out for years for its lack of meaningful LGBTQ representation in its films. In response, these last few years have seen the studio attempt to tout various first “ gay moments ” and queer characters that for the most part were underwhelming .

So it’s a pleasant surprise that Ethan and his obvious crush on his friend Diazo arrive with minimal fanfare (especially compared with “ Lightyear ” and some Marvel installments). Even more so that although Ethan’s crush is a recurring motif, his story does not revolve around his identity, or coming out, and that him being queer is not a big deal to his family and friends (and hopefully the entirety of Avalonia). Because despite what some right-wing politicians and activists would like people to believe, queer teenagers do in fact exist and it’s not a big deal. It’s about time Disney noticed.

‘Strange World’

Rated: PG, for action/peril and some thematic elements Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes Playing: In general release

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‘strange world’ review: jake gyllenhaal and gabrielle union lead voice cast in disney charmer.

The animated adventure film is about three generations of explorers who chart unknown territory in order to save their city.

By Lovia Gyarkye

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Walt Disney Animation Studios’ original action-adventure “Strange World” journeys deep into an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures await the legendary Clades, a family of explorers.

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Disney’s gorgeous animated fantasy Strange World only has one flaw

It missed its crowd in theaters, but its ambitious story deserves to find new life now that it’s streaming

by Petrana Radulovic

in a scene from Strange World, a large, burly man with a wild beard covers his ears, refusing to listen to a smaller man who tries to explain something to him; behind them, the background is warm pink and orange

This review was originally published in conjunction with Strange World ’s theatrical release. It has been updated and republished for the movie’s streaming release.

While Disney musicals have traditionally been a slam dunk for audience success, the animation studio’s other movies — the buddy comedies , the action-adventures , the science fiction epics — are bigger risks with varying returns. Zootopia and Wreck-It Ralph were beloved, sure, but there’s also the whole gamut of early-2000s misfires that only became popular years after their release.

Strange World is Disney’s latest big gamble: a weird movie inspired by pulp magazines and retro science fiction. Directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, who previously worked together on Raya and the Last Dragon , this new Disney movie is an absolutely gorgeous genre fest that gets bogged down by clichéd family drama. There are two stories battling it out here: a phenomenally cool sci-fi epic, and a family story that mostly boils down to “this dream isn’t mine , Dad — it’s yours .”

[ Ed. note: This review contains some slight setup spoilers for Strange World .]

in a scene from Strange World, a teenage boy looks out at a wondrous landscape, where everything is pink, orange, and red; there are floating rockscapes and clouds covering them

Strange World takes place in the fantasy land of Avalonia, which is surrounded on all sides by impenetrably high mountains. Twenty-five years ago, fearless explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) led an expedition team to try and conquer those mountains, but the expedition was halted when his son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) discovered a strange energy-producing plant.

Jaeger stubbornly continued onward, while Searcher and the rest of the team returned to Avalonia and eventually turned the plant, known as pando, into a power source. In the present, the recent pando crops have been failing, so Searcher must embark on a mission to figure out what’s affecting them, even though he’d rather stay on his farm. Tagging along is his teenage son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), who secretly dreams of being an explorer. Searcher, Ethan, and a team of explorers end up in a strange world (ha) beneath the mountains, and pretty soon, they find Jaeger again. Tensions spark between the two different father-son pairs, as they all try to save their land’s primary energy source.

in a scene from Strange World, a gorgeous landscape, where everything is orange, pink, and red; two silhouetted figures stare out at the vista point, which is full of cliff-like structures and strange creatures that look like dinosaurs

Visually, the movie is absolutely stunning. Strange World is a testament to why some movies should be animated — there’s no way that this gorgeously weird world, with its warm hues and constantly moving organic shapes, would look remotely this good in live action. And it’s not just the wacky world below the mountains. Avalonia itself is a fun solarpunk/steampunk sort of world, where people have coffee machines and personal airships, but not cellphones or video games. Their tech is familiar enough to ground the movie, but still unique enough to be engaging. The heart of the movie does come from the actual strange world, however, and every bit of it is a delight.

The main problem is that the emotional thread between the Clade family feels shoehorned into an adventure story. If the movie zoomed out and focused on the quest to save pando and the exploration of this zany new world, it would be a solid sci-fi movie with an environmental message at its core. The Clade family struggle is a stumbling block that boils down to men who have bad relationships with their fathers, fight to avoid going down similar paths, and in doing so, become the very things they sought to dodge.

in a scene from Strange World on the deck of an airship, a large burly man, a smaller man, a teenager, and a blue amorphous blob play a card game

That might be an interesting dynamic to explore in a different movie, but Strange World has a cooler story with higher, more pressing stakes going on, and a limited run time to let it play out. Admittedly, there are some touching scenes between each father-son pair. One of the best ones involves Ethan roping his dad and grandfather into his favorite card game, a sort of Settlers of Catan-inspired strategy game that heavily parallels their current expedition. With more nuance and novelty, these relationships could be something new, but the “Sad Because Dad Left to Explore” trope is already overused in science fiction movies like Interstellar , Ad Astra , and Armageddon . And in Strange World , the storyline resolves itself in the most obvious way.

The exploration arc is less predictable, and it has one of the zaniest twists in a Disney movie — heck, one of the coolest twists in science fiction. When the emotional heart of the movie focuses on this group of ragtag explorers desperately trying to save the world they know, it’s a grand and exciting adventure, with beautiful scenery and fantastical creatures at every turn. When the movie focuses on its wider scope, it shines, but when it pulls back down to the overdone relationships, it loses what makes it sparkle. Those father-son dynamics seem like they were supposed to anchor the movie in some reality, but all they do is drag Strange World down when it could’ve soared.

Strange World is now streaming on Disney Plus.

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Strange World Reviews

And while Strange World is quite entertaining and groundbreaking in terms of representation, we have to admit that it's not the best movie of its genre and ends up feeling formulaic both in terms of storytelling and character development.

Full Review | Jul 15, 2024

While the animation remains top-notch, other aspects of Strange World lack vivacity and emotional connection due to its cookie-cutter procedure in its narrative development.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 4, 2024

Quietly inclusive, with its message of family and finding your place in the world, in trippy psychedelic colours, Strange World scores top marks in the entertaining stakes.

Full Review | Oct 4, 2023

The true stars seem to be the animators, who are so far ahead now that it will take some time for directors, screenwriter -- and us -- to catch up with what they’re capable of achieving.

From fantastic animation, a wonderful score & a creative new world. I had fun, but wanted more… feels a bit repetitive with its messaging where I feel like it should have dove more into the world which made me not a fan.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

Despite being rough around the edges, the film ultimately succeeds in what it is trying to deliver – a fresh take on classic adventure stories.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 25, 2023

It’s easy enough to sit down and watch, and the kids will certainly love it due to the uniqueness of the world that they live in, but apart from that it barely reaches any depth, and just feels like a shallow attempt to push out another Disney property...

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 19, 2023

While not a complete failure, Strange World lacks the signature Disney magic that makes their movies stand out.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 15, 2023

A likeable tale of sons seeking their own identity amid their fathers' expectations, it's a superbly well-made film, with fabulous animation. So while it may feel glib, it says some important things about the interconnection of nature.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 13, 2023

It figures the best part of 'Strange World' would be the strange world, but it's boring characters and predictable dialogue make it pretty dull.

Full Review | Original Score: 2 / 4 | Feb 1, 2023

While it does its best to pastiche 60s B-movies, it feels like a Disney feature released directly to its B-list.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 10, 2023

Nothing either inspiring or entertaining about the film. It just has a lifeless feel to it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jan 9, 2023

Filled my adventure-loving cup right up with its super creative creatures and world design, beautifully animated environments, hilarious fun of exploring a new place with a diverse group of people, and a heartfelt story about legacies and fatherhood.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 6, 2023

... for audiences willing to give "Strange World" a chance, the surprise of the film enriches the entire experience, drawing the daring and inquisitive to look deeper, think bigger, and, just maybe, reconsider their place in the larger world.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 3, 2023

Strip away the setting and messages and what remains is bog-standard Disney and, despite the cuteness, it outstays its welcome, especially for youngsters. A pleasantly entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, it's a lot of effort for little return.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 2, 2023

This is the worst kind of disappointing film: one that never needed to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jan 1, 2023

This was actually a pleasant experience. Great scientific ideas & use of Sci-if exploration. Casting & voice work was well done with great animation, but its unfortunate that it’s not that memorable or inviting for repeated watches

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 29, 2022

It's a noteworthy baby step, one that threatens to vanish into the ether due to the film's poor box office showing. Here's hoping the Mouse doesn't learn the wrong lessons from this big-hearted yarn's low revenue.

Full Review | Dec 28, 2022

Despite being made by the numbers, lacking distinctive elements, urgently in need of a rewrite (and a villain), and offering outdated entertainment, Strange World doesn't deserve to be the absolute flop it's been... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 27, 2022

Strange World is a fantastic voyage that entertains without crossing over into anything resembling a groundbreaking watch. It’s beautiful, lively animation and engaging storytelling.

Full Review | Dec 23, 2022

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Disney Doesn’t Know What to Do With Strange World

In no sane timeline should members of the moviegoing public feel the need to keep track of executive comings and goings, but the age of conglomerates has made us all into trade journalists. Disney, in particular, has become so massive that it reshapes the entertainment landscape as it lumbers along, its movements signaling possible changes for streaming, for the theatrical fate of animated features, for whether certain franchises are tilting toward TV or film, and for bigger concerns. When the wildly unpopular CEO Bob Chapek was ousted in favor of his returning predecessor, Bob Iger, earlier this week, right-wing outlets tried to frame the surprise as, alternately, a triumph of or a rebuke to corporate wokeness. Who knows where they would have taken things if they’d been aware of Strange World , a new Disney animated movie that was announced, but also seemingly consigned to be quietly dumped, during the Chapek era. It’s a movie that’s all but designed to make conservative commentators lose their minds.

Strange World was directed by Disney veteran Don Hall, of Big Hero 6 , written by Raya and the Last Dragon ’s Qui Nguyen, and takes place in an isolated community called Avalonia surrounded by impassable mountains. Confusingly, we’re introduced to Avalonia and its horse-and-wagon, Land Without Bread –style struggles via an old-timey newsreel touting the area’s lack of technology, which makes you wonder how the newsreel exists. More than anything, the footage (as well as the Ben Day–dotted spreads that follow) evoke the pulp adventure vibes the movie tries to draw on. Its main character, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal), is the son of Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), a swashbuckling adventurer whose only aim in life is to discover a path through the mountains to see what’s on the other side. The two part ways during an expedition when Searcher discovers a plant whose luminous fruit — they’re basically electric Brussels sprouts — are a possible energy source he plans to bring back, while Jaeger wants to keep going. No one’s heard from Jaeger 25 years later, but Searcher has become father to a teenage boy, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), and is happily farming the crop he’s dubbed “Pando,” which has powered Avalonia into a city with hovering vehicles, mass transit, and home appliances.

That Strange World ’s secondary hero, Ethan, is Black and unmistakably queer (no “exclusively gay moments” here — he does some sweetly awkward flirting with his crush in one of his earlier scenes) is noteworthy. But that development is subordinate to the film’s primary story about how the complete and immediate eradication of fossil fuels is the only way for human life to continue. The Pando crop has started failing because of a mysterious infection that started somewhere deep in the shared roots, and Avalonian president Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu) recruits a reluctant Searcher for an expedition into the earth to find the source of the problem. Searcher’s pilot wife, Meridian (Gabrielle Union), tracks their ship down not long after its departure, revealing that Ethan and the family’s tri-pawed dog, Legend, have stowed away. The group finds its way into a fantastical pink-hued panorama of floating and lumbering monsters, encountering an adorable bloblike ally named Splat (“I want to merchandise this!” yelps one of the crew members upon seeing it), and, naturally, finding Jaeger, still going strong after two and a half decades lost in the wilderness and still more focused on adventuring than on his son.

Strange World is a trippily pretty movie with a series of alien landscapes for its characters to navigate and a big twist that owes less to pulp magazines than to ’60s sci-fi. Its three male characters feel as if they were written to embody baby boomers, Gen X, and Gen Z, which gets tiring almost immediately and continues to grate as they bicker over the course of their journey. So much of Strange World ’s audaciousness is front-loaded into its concept, and so little of it comes through in the execution. Its themes linger in the mind longer than any line or emotional beat in part because those elements feel so rote and secondary. Sure, the existence of the movie should be applauded, even or especially because it seems to have terrified its corporate overlords into burying an entry from the animation line, which has traditionally been the spine of the brand. But I’m also tired of measuring social progress by Disney films and applauding the ungainly giant for slowly trudging its way toward the future. If the murine megacorp had any guts, I guess it really would be merchandising Splat all over. But what kind of win would that be?

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Strange World Review

23 Nov 2022

Strange World

It’s rare that Walt Disney Animation Studios goes full sci-fi. The Mouse House’s roots have always been in fantasy and fairytales, rarely looking to the future. But the arrival of Strange World continues in the minor tradition of less-beloved ‘00s efforts Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet – channelling B-movie monsters and adventure serial aesthetics for a film that’s all about upheaving the status quo in favour of a new, better tomorrowland.

In so many ways, Strange World is the product of a studio with one foot planted somewhere new, and the other stood firmly in old traditions – a satisfying mix of the fresh and the familiar. If the nuts-and-bolts of the plot – the power-source of Avalonia, a plant called ‘Pando’, is failing, instigating an adventure to save the kingdom while healing the intergenerational wounds of the Clade family – are similar to those of recent Disney outings (the crops-gone-bad story of Moana , the parent-child divisions of Encanto ), the presentation is refreshingly vibrant. Avalonia itself is beautifully-imagined, part traditional fantasy kingdom, part retro-futurist utopia, part recognisably real-world.

The imaginative creature design and gorgeous use of colour make Strange World a visual feast.

And that’s before you get to the ‘strange world’ itself, a Journey To The Centre Of The Earth -ian realm crawling with fantastic beasts – faceless purple sauropods, swooping pterodactyl-like killers, glowing green Flubber-tardigrades, and schools of soaring, fish-like globules. The imaginative creature design, gorgeous use of colour, and nods to everything from Avatar to Fantastic Voyage make Strange World a visual feast – even if the bulbous human character design Disney has favoured for over a decade post- Tangled feels in need of a refresh soon. One eye-opening frame in the final reel is particularly breathtaking in its conception and execution.

The narrative contains few true surprises – as Searcher Clade ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), slowly reconnects with the explorer dad ( Dennis Quaid ) who walked out on him decades ago, while fearing the possibility of a similar rift with his own son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) – but does stay true to the strength of its convictions. Strange World ’s eco-crisis ethos is so thinly-veiled, it’s barely even a metaphor — its final reel is honest about the level of commitment required to fix our future (while remaining optimistic about that possibility). And, for the very first time, Disney has finally committed to creating a gay character – Searcher’s son Ethan, whose evident crush on fellow teenage boy Diazo (Jonathan Melo) is handled lightly, but not insubstantially.

Those significant advances are wrapped up in a pacy adventure packed with familiar Disney elements – slick set-pieces, sometimes gratingly self-aware gags, and two excellent comedy sidekicks: three-legged dog Legend (who lives up to his name), and a cartwheeling bioluminescent blue blob that Ethan dubs ‘Splat’ (“You just kinda give me ‘Splat’ vibes,” he reasons). Though, as with Don Hall and Qui Nguyen ’s last film, Raya And The Last Dragon , there are no musical numbers – perhaps a disappointment to some. Using sci-fi to interrogate the world we want to live in, and what it’ll take to get us there, Strange World suggests that Disney should try the genre more often. It suits them.

Movies | 21 09 2022

Movies | 06 06 2022

Strange World Review: Disney's Journey To The Center Of The Daddy Issues Is A Blast

The pulpy sci-fi adventure is original and fun..

As Disney fans will recall, after the studio’s 1980s/1990s renaissance that brought us beloved animated musicals like The Little Mermaid , Aladdin , Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King , they got really weird with it in the early 2000s. We got Emperor’s New Groove , Atlantis: The Lost Empire , Lilo & Stitch , Treasure Planet and Meet The Robinsons – a bunch of random adventure movies that many of us grew up watching and unabashedly feel nostalgia for today. Walt Disney Animation’s 61st feature film is a reminder of this era of the studio’s filmmaking, and it’s a blast of a return to the sci-fi sphere.

Strange World follows Jake Gyllenhaal ’s awkward farmer Searcher Clade, who has gone in a different direction with his life than his long lost famous explorer father, Dennis Quaid ’s Jaeger Clade. In the movie’s world of Avalonia, Searcher has made a name for himself as a prominent farmer that harvests a special crop that is vital to survival. However, when Searcher learns that his crop is dying off, he must aid his father’s former fellow explorers on a mission to save Avalonia. His loving family, Gabrielle Union ’s Meridian and Jaboukie Young-White’s Ethan, tag along for an adventure that’s all about the meaning of family across multiple generations.

It can be cliché at times, and its inspiration from Journey of the Center of the Earth is unmistakable, but Disney once again knows how to put their own stamp on a treasured tale with oozes of charm.

While Strange World can be predictable, the multi-generational storyline is affecting.

The studio continues a recent trend of telling family stories over happily ever afters in Strange World , with a storyline that isn’t particularly new, but a new spin on a timeless premise. At its core, the movie explores Searcher’s daddy issues, who tried too hard to make his son just like him when he was growing up. In turn, Searcher creates an enriching life for his family on Clade Farms in a completely different vocation, but he also begins to repeat his father’s own tendencies. With that, the movie impressively captures a common fear: will we become our parents, and even if we don’t, will our kids become us?

The script’s take on this message can be heavy handed, and Strange World could have benefited from an additional plot line considering all the fun characters and creatures the movie features but doesn't use. For example, Lucy Liu voices Avalonia’s badass president, Callisto, but the movie drops the ball on furthering her arc beyond moving the rest of the story forward. At the same time, Strange World does maintain a tight story focused on the Clades that is both straightforward, layered and not seen enough these days in major studio genre films.

Disney’s latest lives in a wonderfully weird and original world.

The setting of Strange World is beautifully original and has a way of taking its viewers on a surprising ride, especially since Avalonia is a wholly new land to discover. As the Clades aim to save their home, they venture into the depths of their world where Disney animators clearly got the opportunity to let their imaginations runs wild with its most trippy and fresh creature designs in some time. Neon pink forests, acid green four-legged creatures and a shifty blue blob capture one’s heart by the end of the film. Disney makes use of its titular world throughout the journey as it acts as a character itself and enters the most bizarre corners of the studio’s imagination.

It’s certainly a compliment to the movie that it leaves the viewer missing the world with the desire to spend more time within its confines once the end credits roll – perhaps just to hang out and meander. Strange World leaves an enticing mystery about Avalonia too that only adds more curiosity to the mix, and on top of everything else, Avalonia hits on a touching environmental message that simultaneously speaks to the vastness of our own world and how small and precious it is.

Strange World marks a beautiful milestone for authentic inclusion in family animation.

The heart of Strange World ultimately comes down to the Clade family, which follows a bit in the footsteps of the studio’s previous film, Encanto , in its familial themes. What does it take to break the cycle from one generation to the next and be healing and accepting rather than judgmental of one another? Disney effectively tells this story by including the first openly gay Disney leading character in one of their feature films with Ethan Clade. There’s no coming out scene, or moment of questioning his identity; it just is, and it’s beautifully accepted. Plus, Ethan doesn’t feel like a shoe-in diversity check mark, as there are a multitude of coming-of-age conflicts the character deals with in Strange World that feels universal and fit gracefully into Disney’s history.

Strange World is part old school Jules Verne tale, part nostalgic Disney adventure and demonstrates the best of Disney Animation’s current strengths as a studio.

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.

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Walt Disney Animation Studios has had successful projects over the last few years to add to its longstanding legacy in storytelling. Films like Encanto , which celebrated Colombian culture under a magical landscape and Raya and the Last Dragon , which took on Southeast Asian cultures and mythology, continue to advance the studio’s approach to creating diverse stories. Don Hall and Qui Nguyen team up once more to continue this path of original animation after their collaboration on Raya . With Strange World , the duo captures a big adventure fit for an entire family this holiday season. This breathtaking, funny, and heartwarming tale is creativity and sincere storytelling at its finest.

Hall and Nguyen’s latest action-packed adventure introduces a legendary family of explorers, the Clades. Jake Gyllenhaal voices Searcher Clade, former explorer-turned-brilliant-farmer who proudly enjoys spending time with his family. His 16-year-old son, Ethan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White) longs for adventure, but doesn’t want to disappoint his father in the process. Rounding out the small family is Gabrielle Union’s Meridian, an accomplished pilot and the headstrong woman of the Clade household. When Searcher’s plant-based power source begins to give out, the Clade family must race against the clock and venture into unknown territory with Avalonia president Callisto Mal (voiced by Lucy Liu) to determine the cause of its troubles. While in this uncharted region, they all witness a mysterious world full of shocking surprises that will change their lives forever.

Related: Strange World Can Redeem 2 Of Disney's Biggest Disappointments

The alien planet landscape in Strange World

Strange World contains everything audiences love to experience in animated features. It’s original, has gorgeous animation, and the film includes a heartwarming storyline that anyone could relate to. At its core, the film is about sons and fathers, legacy, and growing into one’s own and deciding what kind of person one wants to be. Through the three generations of Clades — Searcher, the strong-willed farmer, Ethan, the emotionally-torn teenager, and Jaegar (Dennis Quaid), the legendary explorer who went missing 25 years ago — the script beautifully captures the importance of fatherhood. Often, there’s a struggle between setting a path for one’s children and letting them decide for themselves, and the script’s focus on this element truly encapsulates how legacy often interferes with reality and expectations.

Qui Nguyen’s script doesn’t just pull from reality when it comes to exploring the relationships between three generations of family men, it’s also incredibly smart and funny at every turn. The icing on the cake is the extraordinary, rich, gorgeous, and creative animation that matches the action-packed adventure that Nguyen’s screenplay calls for. The feature is an animation dream come true as it’s incredibly pleasing visually and contains genuine messaging about family dynamics in a realistic yet creative way. One may head into Strange World expecting an average family movie with typical action sequences and character interactions. But this is one of the best animated films in recent years that contains those elements and exceeds expectations by adding humor and heart.

strange world ethan smiling and reaching out to touch Splat's hand

It goes without saying, but a film like Strange World requires very little effort to love on the surface. Thankfully, its core messages and themes match the quality of its storytelling with great voice acting to match. The film also showcases an openly gay teenager, Ethan, a component that Disney hasn’t fully embraced in a while. The difference here is that it feels so natural, whereas in other films it tends to come off as an afterthought that scripts shy away from. For a while, the LGBTQ+ community has longed for films that center their livelihood in a way that embraces their existence without any added qualifiers or requirements. Through Strange World , it finally feels like Disney is taking huge strides in that direction, and it is beautiful to see.

Rich with stunning animation, fun action sequences, and heartwarming storylines, Strange World is the must-see animated film of the season. This isn’t just a story about exploring new territory or even discovering a new part of oneself. It’s about making appropriate choices that would impact the environment and future generations. It’s easy to look at Hall and Nguyen’s latest as another animated film with a great cast to sell its adventure story. But thanks to the remarkably creative script centered on sons, fathers, and legacy, it’s the kind of feature that will take the industry by storm and require other studios to step up their game in animation and screenplay.

Next: Spirited Review: Ferrell & Reynolds Can’t Sing But They Will Make You Laugh

Strange World releases in theaters on Wednesday, November 23. The film is 102 minutes long and rated PG for action, peril, and some thematic elements.

Strange World

Strange World is a new film from Walt Disney Animation Studios and director Don Hall that follows the exploits of a three-generations-deep family of adventurers known as the Clade family. The family is in search of a mysterious creature little is known about, but to traverse the treacherous and uncharted land, the family will have to put aside their generational differences and work together to survive ravenous creatures, devious traps, and most of all, each other.

Key Release Dates

4.5 star movies
Movie Reviews

Strange World Review: Disney Delivers A Solarpunk Spectacle

A fun family adventure
Gorgeously animated world
Strong utopian ideals
Dialogue can be too obvious
Some plots lack satisfying resolution

Someone at Disney must be a fan of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar," given that the company's animation studios released not one but two films this year using similar plot devices. Combine the time-dilation space drama of Pixar's "Lightyear" with the farmer explorers fighting the agricultural apocalypse in Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Strange World" and you'd basically get a much more colorful, less confusing kid-friendly remake of "Interstellar." With that said, "Strange World" is a much better film than "Lightyear," offering stronger character development, more consistent entertainment, and a wide array of genuinely fresh and beautiful visual ideas.

Some more comparisons that come to mind while watching "Strange World" as an adult science fiction nerd: Jules Verne novels, particularly "Journey to the Center of the Earth;" classic adventure comic books; 1970s psychedelic pulp illustrations of the same kind that influenced James Cameron's "Avatar" ; the flying machines, strange creatures, and eco-consciousness of the films of Hayao Miyazaki, particularly "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind"; one particular British fantasy series that I won't name for fear of giving away a major twist; and other recent animated films dealing with familial trauma like "Encanto" and "Turning Red."

Perhaps the most surprising apparent influence on "Strange World" is the literary and artistic movement known as solarpunk. First defined in 2008 , solarpunk is a movement with parallels to steampunk or cyberpunk, but in contrast to the historical focus of the former and the dystopian inclinations of the latter, it is focused on imagining more sustainable futures. While some may argue it's questionable to describe a product of the Walt Disney Corporation as anything -"punk," one of the most impressive features of "Strange World" is just how powerfully and poetically it expresses the ideals of such a movement.

What a wonderful world

Ethan and Searcher Clade observe creatures in pink fields

"Strange World" takes place in Avalonia, a fictional country isolated by mountains. Explorer Yeager Clade (Dennis Quaid) is determined to make it to the other side of the mountains — even if it means abandoning his son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal). 25 years since his father left, Searcher has revolutionized technology in Avalonia by farming electricity-generating plants called pando. Searcher is pressuring his son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) to follow in his footsteps as a farmer, but Ethan dreams of being an explorer despite his father's wishes. Everything changes when president and former explorer Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu) calls upon Searcher to join an underground expedition investigating a series of crop failures. Ethan, his skilled pilot mother Meridian (Gabrielle Union), and their three-legged dog Legend all end up tagging along on this journey.

Aside from a couple of scenes stylized more directly like comics or paintings, the human characters are all animated in the same familiar style audiences have become accustomed to in every Walt Disney Animation Studios CG film since "Tangled." The subterranean world they journey to, however, is so wondrously conceived as to make "Strange World" stand out as among the most visually stunning of 2022's animated films . The creature designs range from adorable (the sidekick character Splat is flat-out described as "merchandisable") to etherial to borderline Lovecraftian, all conceived with logic to their strangeness and why they look and behave the way they do.

Director Don Hall ("Moana," "Big Hero 6") and writer/co-director Qui Nguyen ("Raya and the Last Dragon") have made a big adventure movie with entertaining action scenes, but they've also continued the recent Disney trend of avoiding villains and instead focusing on conflict resolution between well-meaning characters with wildly different perspectives. Some who miss classic Disney villainy might be tired of this trend, and the movie itself lampshades these complaints, but here it's a meaningful choice, both in how it approaches families and in how it approaches ecosystems.

Many great set-ups, some lacking resolutions

Conceptually, "Strange World" ranks among the most interesting Disney animated films. Every member of the Clade family is vibrantly characterized, and the central themes of the legacies fathers leave for their sons are compelling. The science fiction elements have one foot in broad fantasy (the world itself is one of suspended disbelief and wild imagination) and one foot in serious social reality (how technological changes impact the environment, and how fixing one's mistakes can require serious sacrifice).

Execution-wise, I feel like a lack of developed resolution holds the film back from greatness. The father-son conflicts are dealt with satisfyingly enough, but some of the dialogue can be a bit too obvious or even cheesy. The greater scientific/ecological/sociological conflicts are set up brilliantly but I feel needed more time to work through them. Basically, the film establishes some big and potentially radical ideas about changing the world, only to gloss over how such change comes about. The sentiment does a lot of heavy lifting, and I still found myself moved by it, but I would have loved to have even a bit more time on those issues.

I guess we have to talk once again about Disney's latest "first gay character," though this time, it's actually one of the main characters. That by default makes it some of the best queer representation the company has put out, though it still feels somewhat compromised. Ethan's crush on another boy is treated naturally as a part of his character, but the subplot about said crush is yet another aspect of the movie that's lacking in the resolution department. Even a 10-second credits scene could have been enough to resolve that drama, but it's basically forgotten about (there are no credits scenes in the movie).

Despite my issues with it, I have to emphasize that "Strange World" is a wonderful big-screen experience. In an age where animated films outside giant franchises get mostly relegated to streaming, I hope families who feel comfortable going to theaters will make this a box-office success. It offers entertainment and inspiration; people will hopefully leave this film caring more about each other and their world. Also, Splat is funny and Legend is a very good boy.

"Strange World" opens in theaters on Wednesday, November 23.

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DVD & Streaming

Strange World

Action/Adventure , Animation , Comedy , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

November 23, 2022
Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher Clade; Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan Clade; Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade; Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal; Dennis Quaid as Jaeger Clade

Home Release Date

December 23, 2022
Don Hall, Qui Nguyen

Distributor

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Movie Review

You might say it was a shocking discovery.

Pando—the plant discovered by the famous Clade family in the farthest, coldest regions of Avalonia—literally zaps anyone who picks one of its peppy green berries. But while electric fruit makes a poor snack, it makes a really nifty power source. And it pretty much revolutionized everything.

After all, it’s not like Avalonia could import coal or oil from foreign lands to keep its lights on and its hovercraft moving. As far as its residents know, there are no foreign lands. The only land they’ve ever known is, well, Avalonia—surrounded by towering mountains that no one’s ever been able to climb or cross. And the whole country had made due without lights and hovercrafts for its entire candlelit history.

Jaeger Clade would’ve been just fine if pando had never been discovered, if we’re being honest. Avalonia’s greatest explorer wasn’t looking for a mamby-pamby plant when he and his intrepid team ran across the thing. He was going to do what no Avalonian had ever done. He was going to scale its mountains and see what lay on the other side.

But Searcher Clade, Jaeger’s son, spotted the berries and argued that they should tote them back down the mountain. Why, they might well reshape Avalonia’s future, Searcher argued.

“Searcher, we’re explorers , not gardeners,” Jaeger said.

And then, Searcher had the audacity to tell Jaeger that he’s not an explorer. He never wanted to be an explorer. And this plant might impact Avalonia way more than a little climb past unclimbable mountains. And then—as if just to gall him—everyone else in Jaeger’s intrepid team agreed.

So that snowy day, father and son split: Jaeger went into the mountains and disappeared. Searcher took the plant down to Avalonia and, indeed, changed the world. Well, admittedly, the plant did the work. But still, Searcher got a nice statue out of it—right next to one of his complicated pops.

It’s 25 years later now, and Searcher’s put his exploring stuff in the closet. Instead, he works with a rake and hoe. Searcher and his family (wife Meridian and son Ethan) are farmers now—one of many growing the miracle crop.

But now, it seems there’s something wrong with pando. It’s dying—blighted by some strange disease. Avalonia’s president, Callisto Mal, says that every crop in the country might be infected within a month.

But Callisto has a plan: If they can travel down under Avalonia—where Pando’s roots flow to what is rumored to be the plant’s central heart—perhaps they can figure out what’s killing pando and figure out how to fix it.

Oh, yes: Callisto said “they.” She wants Searcher to dig out his explorer duds and come with. No one knows about Pando more than he does, after all.

Son Ethan wants to come, too. But Searcher insists it’d be just too dangerous. He still has terrible memories of scaling unscalable cliffs and fording unfordable rivers with his own father. He’s not going to make Ethan suffer like he did.

“I will not risk your life,” Searcher tells his son. “Not ever.”

But what if 16-year-old Ethan wants to risk his life? What if he’s not built to be a farmer? What if there’s a little of Jaeger lurking inside him?

And what if Ethan decided to sneak aboard Callisto’s hovercraft? Would you be … shocked?

Positive Elements

Strange World has a lot of messages in play. But perhaps the biggest, and the best, is the story between father, son and grandson.

Forging your own identity away from your parents can be tricky, and not just the Clades can feel the strain. Jaeger and Searcher literally split over the issue, and Searcher was determined not to become like his father. But when they run into Jaeger on their adventure to the center of the earth (who’s been living the last 25 years in the titular Strange World), Ethan has a chance to meet and bond with his grandpa—and Searcher has loads of opportunity to grapple with all his insecurities.

In the end, though, all parties come to understand something important: As much as we parents might like to raise clones of ourselves, our children can be frustratingly independent, full of their own interests and passions and talents. All of the Clades eventually learn to accept and embrace that. And Jaeger and Searcher have a chance to heal some long-festering wounds.

The movie comes with another good lesson, albeit one with some caveats we’ll mention below: It reminds us that it’s often good to think about what you’re doing before you start burning it all with a flame-thrower. Sometimes, the true relationship between things isn’t what we initially think it is. (That’s as true about people as it is for Strange World’ s plants and animals and monsters.)

Spiritual Elements

[ Spoiler Warning ] This is a big spoiler, so here’s a few extra words to give you time to consider whether to dive into this section or not.

Avalonia rests on the top of a continent-size turtle. This concept of a “world turtle” is hardly a Disney creation: Indeed, such a turtle is part of several myths worldwide, and you can hear references to it in everything from Hinduism to Native American belief systems.

We hear a reference to pando being a “miracle.”

Sexual & Romantic Content

As you may have heard by now, Ethan—Searcher’s son—is gay. This is not a blink-and-you missed it reference or an ambiguous nod or part of a secondary character’s backstory. Ethan’s identity is the crux on which this narrative revolves, and he’s smitten by a fellow named Diazo. Ethan flirts nervously with him at the outset, daydreams about talking with him later, and eventually the two are shown leaning against each other companionably, suggesting they’re now an official couple.

Their relationship is no big deal in the ethos of Avalonia. His father makes awkward dad-like conversation with him. His grandfather gives him dating tips. While Jaeger, Searcher and Ethan have their collective share of pain points, Ethan’s sexuality is not among them.

Searcher and Miranda kiss several times—sometimes rather showily to purposefully make Ethan uncomfortable. The family dances together, with some dancers occasionally wiggling or bumping their backsides. When Searcher sighs to Jaeger how he can be his father, Jaeger sighs and begins, “When two people love each other ….”

Violent Content

When Searcher and the rest of the explorers run into Jaeger, he soon informs them that most of the things in this strange land want to kill and eat them. That’s especially true of what he calls the “reapers,” huge gelatinous balls that suddenly shoot forth loads of tentacles to grab and devour anything that strikes their fancy. (Think of them a little like gigantic stress balls that can turn into rubbery jellyfish in a split second.)

The team must also face flying eyeless creatures determined to kill. One crashes through the windshield of the team’s hovercraft, grabs the pilot with its tongue and flies away—presumably carrying the crewmember to his gruesome doom. They must cross (in their hovercraft) a sea of acid that’ll (in Jaeger’s words) “dissolve the flesh off your bones,” and their trip there comes with its own bumps and bruises.

Jaeger has dealt with these creatures for lo these many years with the use of a flame-thrower: He burns his way through the land’s bizarre growth (which is immediately sown and overgrown again), and he tries to flambé many a creature (with varying degrees of success). Callisto stabs several beasts with a pair of knives she wields. But perhaps the most effective weapon is pando itself—specifically the berries. They retain their shocking power down below, and Jaeger and Searcher pelt their attackers with them. Eventually, Searcher grinds the berries into a sort of powder, allowing them to spray the stuff on the attackers as if they were dusting crops.

A creature is thrown against a tree-like thing and falls down comically. (Ethan later names the blue thing “Splat”.) One of its “arms” gets burned, necessitating a bit of first aid. Characters get slapped. We see some other moments of slapstick humor, too, and the movie opens with a montage of Jaeger risking his life—and the life of his son—in various ways. We see Jaeger relish the most violent opportunities that come across their path. People are thrown around in the careening, sometimes diving, nearly crashing hovership.

Crude or Profane Language

If you don’t count a use of the word “butt,” none. (That said, a blue native of this strange world mutters in its own tongue, to which Meridian says she’s pretty sure it was “inappropriate.”)

Drug & Alcohol Content

Searcher and Jaeger drink from bottles of beverage. While we can’t know what’s in those bottles, the vibe is that of two guys drinking beer together.

Other Noteworthy Elements

While this isn’t necessarily negative, it is worth mentioning: Strange World comes with a pretty obvious environmental message attached—and one that suggests we’re doing a terrible job of stewardship.

Jaeger—especially when he’s first rediscovered—feels like an almost Neanderthalish hunter, prone to flame-throw first, ask questions later. The more peaceable Searcher looks at his dad with progressive disdain, but he too is guilty of trying to shape and dominate the world around him through farming. (Without giving much away, you could argue that Strange World takes issue with the modern use of, say, pesticides.)

Ethan, meanwhile, seems to wave the flag for a third way of dealing with the environment: Through peaceable, reflective symbiosis. Sure, that may mean having to give up some of what we’ve grown to love and depend upon in our modern world (the movie says), but it’s worth it for the future of the planet.

We get a foretaste when Ethan introduces his dad and grandfather to his favorite board game, Primal Outpost, the tagline of which is, “Live harmoniously with your environment.” When Jaeger decides to kill a bunch of monstrous spiders in the game, it opens the door for everyone’s crops to be destroyed by its locust-like equivalent. That’s a worthwhile message, to be sure. Natural predators can be quite helpful. But many a farmer would also say that modern farming methods are helpful, too—and in fact, the only way that the world can manage to feed its now 8 billion people.

A compass becomes a prime vehicle to tell us everything we need to know about Jaeger and Searcher’s relationship. One passes it to the other in moments of critical disappointment, as a way of saying, “if you insist on going your own way—the wrong way—at least take this with you.”

It’s kind of fitting, really. Because with Strange World , Disney’s also telling us which way we should go. And if we don’t, the company will be sorely disappointed in us.

Offering morals with its movies isn’t anything new for Disney. We’ve talked quite a bit about Pinocchio this year, and the Mouse House’s 1940 classic version of Pinocchio had its own talking and teaching points. It had an agenda—one built around time-honored values such as hard work and honoring your parents and not lying.

Strange World has an agenda, too—one in keeping in time our own increasingly secular world. This is a moral movie as the world judges morality. And there’s another telling twist that sets it apart from the original Pinocchio : In that film, the little wooden boy had to learn to be good from his father and Jiminy Cricket. In Strange World , it’s the father that learns from the boy. Morality isn’t honed through experience and informed by age-honored truth. It’s a new thing. Those before had it wrong. And if you want to stay up-to-date, better get with the program.

And even though Ethan’s sexuality is far more a footnote than a driving theme, that makes the movie’s LGBT content—more explicit than we’ve seen from Disney yet—all the more puzzling, at least from a critical, narrative point of view.

From a storytelling perspective, there’s absolutely no reason why Ethan needed to be gay. There’s no reason for us to know about his sexuality at all, other than the makers’ desires to make sure we know he likes guys—and, by extension, to make its viewers know just where they, the movie and Disney itself stand on these issues. Ethan’s sexuality feels like a storytelling token, albeit one that rejects the traditional, Judeo-Christian sexual morality of the past.

All this can be distracting for those watching Strange World , of course—which setting aside its more agenda-driven issues, is a colorful, clever adventure romp.

I was primed to love this movie. It took its inspiration from schlocky pulp magazines and delightful old-school adventure yarns, both of which I love. But for all its Indiana Jones-style labeling and fantastic creatures, Strange World is just kinda fun and rather forgettable. Perhaps if it wasn’t so preoccupied with its own (ugh, the word again) agenda , it might’ve worked better.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Strange World (2022)

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Movie Review: ‘Strange Darling’ is one of the most electric and unpredictable thrillers in years

Jason Fraley | [email protected]

September 6, 2024, 3:45 PM

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Stephen King called it a “clever masterpiece.” Mike Flanagan added, “Sublimely brilliant. You must go in blind.”

Allow me to throw my own stunned support behind the must-see new thriller “Strange Darling,” written and directed by JT Mollner, who is now officially a filmmaking force to be reckoned with in the horror genre.

The film opens by claiming it’s based on a true story of “the final known killings of the most prolific and unique American serial killer of the 21st century.” Films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974) and “Fargo” (1996) have taught us that this is often apocryphal, but it’s an effective tease as we enter rural Oregon for a one-night stand that goes terribly wrong in the grand finale of a bloody rampage across the Pacific Northwest.

The film works as well as it does because of the complex performances by its two lead actors. Willa Fitzgerald previously starred in Flanagan’s miniseries “The Fall of the House of Usher” (2023) and her performance here is truly harrowing, transcending the label “scream queen” with chilling shrieks. You’ll also recognize Kyle Gallner from the horror flick “Smile” (2022) and here his mustached loner is creepy right from the opening frames.

The coolest casting coup is Barbara Hershey, who had a run of ’80s classics in “The Right Stuff” (1983), “The Natural” (1984), “Hoosiers” (1986), “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1987) before her resurgence in horror films like “Black Swan” (2010) and “Insidious” (2010). She joins Ed Begley Jr. (“St. Elsewhere”) as a nice old couple making Sunday breakfast and doing puzzles before hell arrives at their doorstep.

These actors weave in and out of a nonlinear script brilliantly presented out of order as Mollner intentionally rearranges his scenes to subvert audience expectations. He first drops us into the middle of the story in Chapter 3, then leaps ahead to the penultimate Chapter 5, rewinds back to the setup of Chapter 1, races ahead to Chapter 4, doubles back to Chapter 2, and finally drops the dramatic conclusion of Chapter 6, followed by a brief Epilogue.

The genius fractured narrative is clearly inspired by Quentin Tarantino, right down to catchy titles for each chapter (“Here Kitty, Kitty”). There’s a similar energy to the proceedings, including an enclosed space like the buried-alive sequence in “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” (2004) and a roaring car chase that recalls “Death Proof” (2007). As for the Pacific Northwest setting, I found it to be reminiscent of John Hyams’ underrated thriller “Alone” (2020).

Homages aside, Mollner deserves credit for his own creative voice. He’s a 16-year “overnight success” since his first short film “The Red Room” (2008) before getting the horror rub from Dee Wallace (“The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Howling,” “Cujo”) in his short “Flowers in December” (2015). His feature directorial debut “Outlaws & Angels” (2016) starred Luke Wilson at Sundance, using Kodak film stock and old-school Panavision cameras and lenses.

Similarly, “Strange Darling” rebukes contemporary digital cameras to shoot on 35-mm film for a gritty throwback feel. You’ll be wonderfully surprised by the end credits to see who is behind the camera as actor Giovanni Ribisi (“Saving Private Ryan”) makes his debut as a cinematographer, while also executive producing. Together, Ribisi and Mollner demonstrate a strong visual eye, even in mundane moments such as overhead shots of breakfast plates.

The soundtrack is gloriously mischievous with Z Berg’s female cover of Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” with symbolic lyrics such as “love scars” that are both melancholic and meta considering the male voice on the track is Keith Carradine. Not only did he sing “I’m Easy” in “Nashville” (1975), his brother was the late David Carradine (“Kill Bill”), who had a child with Hershey and whose shocking manner of death hauntingly echos in “Strange Darling.”

If the film has one flaw it’s the late scene of a male cop making misogynistic quips to his female partner, though I suppose the entire film is a commentary on genre and gender, so maybe that’s the point. Driving down the road in the final shot, the color slowly drains from the image like blood draining from a body, but it lasts a little too long before the end credits arrive. The unblinking final gaze of Ti West’s “Pearl” (2022) still takes the cake.

Don’t worry, that’s just some necessary nitpicking by a film critic who has to point out extremely minor issues in order to justify his otherwise overwhelming praise for a vibrant instant classic without simply saying, “No notes.” Without a doubt, “Strange Darling” is one of the best horror-thrillers I’ve seen in years, maybe one of the best that you’ll ever see, and certainly one of the most unpredictable. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s truly electric.

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Hailed by The Washington Post for “his savantlike ability to name every Best Picture winner in history," Jason Fraley began at WTOP as Morning Drive Writer in 2008, film critic in 2011 and Entertainment Editor in 2014, providing daily arts coverage on-air and online.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Star Addresses Possible Retcon of Captain Pike's Fate

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Anson Mount discusses a possible retcon of his iconic character's tragic fate.

Per ScreenRant , Mount opened up about the possibility of a return via retcon during a Q & A session alongside fellow stars Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, Carol Kane, and Melanie Scrofano. When asked about his character Captain Christopher Pike's future in the series, Mount responded quite carefully, noting, " I have to preface this by saying what we think doesn't really matter. It's not our wheelhouse. It’s not our department." Mount added, "But I will say, we have not been with ourselves too specific about where we are in that particular timeline."

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Mount continued, "Nor are we specific about how long a season is in fictional time. So there’s a lot of give and take. So, depending upon what the network wants, which we only find out year-to-year, as a project, for my own… I have much more specific ideas about it, but I don't want to say anything about it. But in general, I think I would like to stick with canon, and just, maybe, from a different point of view . Maybe from Pike's point of view. So that's all I'll say about that."

I have much more specific ideas about it, but I don't want to say anything about it.

Anson Mount's portrayal of Captain Pike kicked off with the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in May 2022. The series follows Pike and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as they were over a decade prior to the events of 1966's original Star Trek series. Alongside Mount, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La'an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding in Nichelle Nichols' iconic role of Nyota Uhura, and Paul Wesley as Captain James T. Kirk, a role made famous by original Star Trek star and Hollywood icon William Shatner. The series also introduced Ethan Peck's Spock , originally portrayed by the late Leonard Nimoy.

The Next Star Trek Series Has Officially Started Production

Production officially begins on the next entry in the long-running and beloved Star Trek franchise.

Fans Are Still Waiting for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3

Fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are currently eagerly awaiting the release of the series' third season which is set to premiere sometime in 2025 following delays related to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Mount previously discussed what Season 3 has in store for audiences, noting that he believes it is going to be the show's "best season so far" in terms of storytelling, development, and its more technical aspects. Mount also promised an upcoming musical episode that, surprisingly, "will not be the craziest thing that we did or we have done by the end of this. We’re feeling more ownership over what it is that we’re doing and realizing that it continues to resonate."

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently available for streaming on Paramount+.

Source: ScreenRant

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Uhura and Chapel Are Reporting for Duty in New 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' BTS Image

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Nyota Uhura and Christine Chapel are back in action with phasers at the ready in a new behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Chapel actor Jess Bush shared the image of her posing with co-star Celia Rose Gooding on Instagram. The image also teases a new look for Uhura on the Paramount+ science fiction series' hotly anticipated third season.

In the new picture, Gooding sports a longer hairstyle, closer to that worn by Nichelle Nichols , who originated the role; the previous two seasons had seen her with a shorter haircut. Season three promises to have some major developments for Chapel, as well - Roger Korby, her fiancé from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", will have a recurring role on the upcoming season, where he'll be played by Cillian O'Sullivan . The season was filmed at Toronto's Star Trek Stage earlier this year, after a break between seasons that was extended by last year's dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes; while that stage is now occupied by the production of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy , Gooding, Bush, and company will return there next spring for season four .

What Do We Know About 'Strange New Worlds' Season Three?

The upcoming season will pick up right where last season's cliffhanger finale left off - with the Enterprise under attack by the Gorn, a race of hostile reptilian aliens. Presumably, it will also address the fate of recurring character Captain Marie Batel ( Melanie Scrofano ), who we last saw having been infected with a seemingly fatal dose of Gorn larvae. The series will be getting a new addition, in the form of beloved Original Series character Montgomery "Scotty" Scott; he first appeared on the series in the season finale, played by Scottish actor Martin Quinn . The season will also include a murder mystery episode, directed by Star Trek stalwart Jonathan Frakes . Our first tease of the season came at this year's San Diego Comic Con, where a clip of an upcoming episode in which several crew members are transformed into Vulcans was revealed.

Although Strange New Worlds won't be back for some time, there's plenty of Star Trek coming to Paramount+ in the meantime. Star Trek: Lower Decks ' fifth and final season will premiere on October 24, while the streaming-original movie, Star Trek: Section 31 , will bow on the streamer in early 2025.

Watch on Paramount+

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will premiere its third season on Paramount+ next year . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (played by Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds throughout the galaxy in the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.

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Speaking to Variety about the stunts in the film, Brooks said, “I’ve been harnessed a few times. It’s mostly the combat and learning these moves. And I’ve got a weapon, I’ll you that much. Danger, danger! But it’s really Jack Black, he’s the one who is doing the heavy lifting here. He’s doing some flying and having all techno-fire coming behind him.”

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COMMENTS

Strange World movie review & film summary (2022)
Strange World movie review & film summary (2022)
Strange World
Walt Disney Animation Studios' original action-packed adventure "Strange World" introduces a legendary family of explorers, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land ...
Strange World Movie Review
Strange World Movie Review
'Strange World' Review: All Too Familiar
In "Strange World," the director Don Hall's zippy save-the-planet romp, a father and son, Jaeger (Dennis Quaid) and Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) Clade, are torn apart by their differences ...
Strange World (2022)
Strange World: Directed by Don Hall, Qui Nguyen. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union. The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission.
'Strange World' review: A weird, vibrant and heartfelt excursion
Review: 'Strange World' boasts a weird, vibrant world where fathers learn important lessons. Three generations of Clades — Jaeger (Dennis Quaid), left, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ethan ...
'Strange World' Review: Jake Gyllenhaal in Disney Animated Charmer
Screenwriter: Qui Nguyen. Rated PG, 1 hour 42 minutes. Directed by Don Hall (Raya and the Last Dragon) with co-direction and a screenplay by Raya and the Last Dragon writer Qui Nguyen, Strange ...
Strange World Review
Strange World Review Somehow, it took Disney 13 years to riff on Avatar. ... It's also very late into the movie's 102-minute runtime that its themes of environmentalism and the connectedness of ...
Strange World review: Disney's ambitious fantasy deserves ...
Strange World is Disney's latest big gamble: a weird movie inspired by pulp magazines and retro science fiction.Directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, who previously worked together on Raya and ...
'Strange World' Review: Disney Expands Its Horizons
Produced by Roy Conli ('Treasure Planet'), 'Strange World' is a Jules Verne-worthy step into fresh territory, creatively and in terms of character. 'Strange World' Review: Disney Expands Its ...
Strange World
Boston Globe. Nov 22, 2022. Clearly, Strange World is a movie about saving the environment. It is also about the bond between father and son, and how parents must let their kids forge their own paths. Hall and Nguyen deliver these messages with the subtlety of a wrecking ball, but the excellent voice-over work plus the score by Henry Jackman ...
Strange World
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 3, 2023. Strip away the setting and messages and what remains is bog-standard Disney and, despite the cuteness, it outstays its welcome, especially for ...
'Strange World' Review: Disney's Audacious New Animated Film
Strange World is a trippily pretty movie with a series of alien landscapes for its characters to navigate and a big twist that owes less to pulp magazines than to '60s sci-fi. Its three male ...
'Strange World' review: Disney takes father-son dynamics on pulp trip
As part of a decently consistent Disney animated run, the family-friendly film offers an escape that's not that "Strange" in its ability to satisfy. Disney goes all in on weird pulp with ...
Strange World Review
Published on 24 11 2022. Release Date: 23 Nov 2022. Original Title: Strange World. It's rare that Walt Disney Animation Studios goes full sci-fi. The Mouse House's roots have always been in ...
Strange World (film)
Strange World (film)
Strange World Review: Disney's Journey To The Center Of The Daddy
Walt Disney Animation's 61st feature film is a reminder of this era of the studio's filmmaking, and it's a blast of a return to the sci-fi sphere. Strange World follows Jake Gyllenhaal 's ...
Strange World Is a Wonderfully Weird and Fantastic Family Adventure
The expedition becomes a family affair when Ethan sneaks aboard the ship and his mom chases after them—right before they crash through a mysterious cavern that reveals a surreal, subterranean ...
Strange World Review: Disney's Latest Heartwarming Adventure Is Fun
Strange World Can Redeem 2 Of Disney's Biggest Disappointments. Strange World contains everything audiences love to experience in animated features. It's original, has gorgeous animation, and the film includes a heartwarming storyline that anyone could relate to. At its core, the film is about sons and fathers, legacy, and growing into one ...
Strange World Review: Disney Delivers A Solarpunk Spectacle
The subterranean world they journey to, however, is so wondrously conceived as to make "Strange World" stand out as among the most visually stunning of 2022's animated films. The creature designs ...
Strange World
Strange World has an agenda, too—one in keeping in time our own increasingly secular world. This is a moral movie as the world judges morality. And there's another telling twist that sets it apart from the original Pinocchio: In that film, the little wooden boy had to learn to be good from his father and Jiminy Cricket. In Strange World, it ...
Strange World (2022)
7/10. A good movie without being perfect. jp_91 28 November 2022. "Strange World" is an animated film whose script focuses on following your own path and finding yourself, as well as telling a story that aims to leave us a message about the importance of taking care of our body and our planet.
Strange World Review: Inventive Disney Film Gets Stuck in Cliches
'Strange World' Review: Inventive, Earnest Film Gets Stuck in Disney Cliches Movie Reviews. By Ross Bonaime. Published Nov 23, 2022. Your changes have been saved. Email is sent.
'Nightbitch' Review: Amy Adams Gives One of Her Most Daring and
Adams stars as a woman simply known as Mother, who stays home every day with her son (played by the adorable Arleigh and Emmett Snowden).The film opens by showing us the monotony of this existence ...
Movie Review: 'Strange Darling' is one of the most electric and
The film works as well as it does because of the complex performances by its two lead actors. Willa Fitzgerald previously starred in Flanagan's miniseries "The Fall of the House of Usher ...
Strange New Worlds Season 3 Can Set Up A Star Trek Movie Romance ...
Scotty made a surprise debut in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's finale.An engineer aboard the USS Stardiver, Scotty was the lone survivor after his starship was attacked by the Gorn.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Star Addresses Possible Retcon of ...
Anson Mount's portrayal of Captain Pike kicked off with the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in May 2022.The series follows Pike and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as they were over a decade prior to the events of 1966's original Star Trek series.Alongside Mount, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La'an Noonien ...
Uhura and Chapel Are Reporting for Duty in New 'Star Trek: Strange New
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (played by Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds ...
'Elton John: Never Too Late' Review: The Original King of ...
'Elton John: Never Too Late' Review: The Original King of Pop Gets the Satisfying Documentary He Deserves Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (World premiere), Sept. 6, 2024. MPOA rating: PG-13.
Minecraft Movie Trailer: Jack Black, Jason Momoa Team Up
Directed by "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Nacho Libre" filmmaker Jared Hess, "A Minecraft Movie" also stars Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Eugene Hansen and Jennifer ...

Strange World

Simon Abrams

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‘Strange World’ Review: All Too Familiar

Review: ‘Strange World’ boasts a weird, vibrant world where fathers learn important lessons

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