REVIEW: Strange World Desperately Lacked a True Villain
Strange World opens with the introduction of the Clade family, father Jaeger (voiced by Dennis Quaid) and son Searcher (voiced by Jake Gyllenhall), as they set out to discover what lies on the other side of the mountains that surround their home, Avalonia. During their expedition to the other side of the mountain, Searcher discovers an energy producing plant, Pando, he believes could revolutionize Avalonia. As he brings this to his father’s attention, Jaeger tells Searcher that their mission is to get to the other side of the mountain not bring back an unknown plant. With neither side seeing each other’s point of view, an argument turns into Jaeger abandoning his son. Fast-forward 25 years later and Searcher is now a very successful Pando farmer, with a son of his own, Ethan ( voiced by Jaboukie Young-White). Everything seems to be going well for Searcher until the president of Avalonia, Callisto (voiced by Lucy Liu), shows up to tell Searcher that he needs to pack his gear and help them figure out what is destroying their precious Pando. Now, Searcher with his family in tow, must head to a strange world to figure out what is at the root of the plant’s destruction, and maybe learn a little bit about themselves along the way.
The best part about Disney films are their ability to distract a child with an engaging story, captivating music, and colorful animation. Strange World does none of this. In a theater packed with families, nothing seemed to catch the interest of the young audience goers, expect for maybe Ethan’s gooey sidekick, Splat. Yes, there were a few laughs here and there, but the story was lackluster and simply repetitive. Throughout the film, the audience is constantly reminded of how the son doesn’t want to be like their father. Whether the scene was between Ethan and Searcher or Searcher and Jaeger, there was no way the audience could miss the message the writers were trying to convey.
Disney also seems to be running on the mindset of creating stories that run on the idea of either self-reflection, cultivating relationships, or understanding/accepting people’s differences, which is not a bad thing but it doesn’t always translate well to the screen. Instead of utilizing the hero/villain template like films of old, they have instead opted to leave out the villain all together. What has happened to the villain? Maybe if the movie had a honest to bad villain then more people would have been entertained.
Gyllenhall, Quaid, and Young-White are the clear leads in this movie, but they are no where near the standouts. That award goes to Gabrielle Union’s Meridian, aviator and wife to Searcher. The character was the moral compass for many of the characters and provided some of the best lines in the movie.
The biggest mistake Disney made with this movie was not sending it directly to Disney+. This is the perfect movie to watch on the streaming platform if you are adamant about watching it. This way, you could turn it off whenever you want. However, it is not just yet, so I suggest waiting until it comes out on Disney+ and not checking it out in theaters.
Grade: D