Strange World

Really, really good! I knew nothing about 'Strange World' pre-watch, having only very briefly seen the poster(s) a few times online. The quick look I had at the character design from said poster(s) and the fact that I hadn't heard this talked about anywhere meant my expectactions were quite low. Happily, however, what I saw across the 102 minute run time pleased me. I do think the characters and voice cast could've been improved, but both of those departments are still good. I wasn't immediately keen on the animation style, though honestly I very quickly warmed to it; the world comes alive nicely. The story kept me interested from beginning to end, all that is portrayed is enjoyable. It obviously could've been greater, yet I still had fun with this. I felt way too much sorrow for Splat in that burn scene btw, it's always impressive how they can make you care for such side characters. Sorry to the little blue fella, Morph is still my guy though.

For being a Disney movie made today (2022) this is a fairly decent one. Sure, they have crammed in some of the usual woke nonsense but at least there is not really any of the blatant preaching the more extreme of Disney’s woke mob have managed to cram into things the last couple of years. It of course helps that it is a all new story and new characters so they didn’t wokeify and ruin some of the old classics. If one ignores the nonsense the story is pretty decent and so are the characters. Nothing to write home about but adequate. The coolest character is of course Jaeger. I quite liked him even though he sometimes was a bit dimwitted in his single mindedness. Searcher and his son Ethan are more bland and boring with one just wanting to be a farmer and the other one being the obligatory woke element in this movie. What really makes the movie rise slightly above being bland is the absolutely magnificent scenery. It is a strange world indeed. It is strange, weird, scary and beautiful all at the same time. This creature, Splat, that Ethan eventually befriends was a nice comical element. It is a shame though that they couldn’t create a better ending. I mean given what this strange world actually is surely there would be plenty of other options for harvesting energy instead of just more or less giving up. If the writers wanted to deliver some rubbish green message they failed miserably. Anyway, a decent enough movie. I did enjoy watching it.

Strange World had the potential to be another Disney classic, but unfortunately, some problems limited my total enjoyment. From the get-go, I need to mention that the animation is breathtaking, and is probably the best Disney has done so far. The animators got to flex their muscles with the fantastic worlds and interesting creatures. It is so flush with color and energy; it was extremely pleasant on the eyes from start to finish. The overarching story was fun, and I enjoyed the premise of discovering a technology that is simultaneously progressing your civilization while also destroying it. It has a great message of preserving the world, even though it is extremely heavy-handed at times. The action was great, the exploration was mesmerizing, and the diversity of the world was superb. At a macro level, this movie worked for me in almost every way. The main issues I had with this film were the characters. Individually they are all interesting and unique, even though some of them are major caricatures. But the connections between them are all over the place. A lot of the motivations the characters have are inorganic and feel forced to push the narrative of parent vs child throughout generations. This left me having very little emotions when the characters clashed in high-tension arguments which limited a lot of the impact of the film. Although, the blue creature was cute, funny, and perfect! I loved him. This movie had a lot going on, and it suffers for it. As a kid movie, the plot and themes were all over the place, and it was sometimes confusing for me. Despite that, it is a visual spectacle filled with many laughs and fun adventures. Score: 67% | Verdict: Good | Theater Verdict: See It