Strange World Review: Disney's ambitious fantasy deserved better

This review was originally published in connection with with strange world‘s theatrical release. It was updated and re-released for the film’s streaming release.

While Disney musicals have traditionally been a slam dunk for audience success, that of the animation studio is other Movies — the buddy comedies, the action-adventures, the sci-fi epics — are bigger risks with variable returns. Zootopia and Destroy it Ralph were loved, sure, but there’s also the full gamut of early 2000’s misfires that didn’t become popular until years after their release.

strange world is Disney’s latest big gamble: a weird film inspired by pulp magazines and retro sci-fi. Directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, who had previously worked together Raya and the last dragon, this new Disney film is an absolutely gorgeous celebration of the genre riddled with clichéd family drama. Two stories do battle here: a phenomenally cool sci-fi epic and a family story that mostly boils down to, “this dream isn’t mineDad – it is yours

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

In a scene from Strange World, a teenager gazes out at a wondrous landscape where everything is pink, orange, and red; There are floating rocky landscapes and clouds covering them

strange world takes place in the fantasy land of Avalonia, which is surrounded on all sides by impenetrably high mountains. 25 years ago, intrepid explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) led an expedition team to attempt to conquer these mountains, but the expedition was halted when his son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) discovered a strange energy-producing plant.

Jaeger stubbornly persevered while Searcher and the rest of the team returned to Avalonia, eventually turning the plant known as Pando into a power source. In the present, recent pando harvests have failed, so Searcher must embark on a mission to find out what affects them, though he’d rather stay on his farm. Joining him is his teenage son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), who secretly dreams of becoming an explorer. Searcher, Ethan and a team of explorers end up in a strange world (ha) under the mountains, and pretty soon they find Jaeger again. Tensions rise between the two disparate father-son pairs as they all try to save their country’s primary source of energy.

in a scene from Strange World, a beautiful landscape where everything is orange, pink and red; Two silhouettes stare at the viewpoint, which is full of cliff-like structures and strange creatures that look like dinosaurs

Visually, the film is absolutely stunning. strange world is a testament to why some movies should be animated – there’s no way this delightfully odd world, with its warm tones and ever-moving organic shapes, would look nearly as good in live action. And it’s not just the crazy world under the mountains. Avalonia itself is a fun solarpunk/steampunk world where people have coffee makers and personal airships, but no cell phones or video games. Their technology is familiar enough to ground the film, yet unique enough to be compelling. However, the heart of the film comes from the really weird world, and every bit of it is a delight.

The main issue is that the emotional thread between the Clade family feels morphed into an adventure story. If the film zoomed out and focused on the quest to save the pando and explore this crazy new world, it would be a solid sci-fi film with an environmental message at its core. The struggle of the Clade family is a stumbling block that boils down to males on bad terms with their fathers, struggling to avoid following similar paths, and in the process becoming the very things they were trying to avoid.

In a scene from Strange World on the deck of an airship, a tall, burly man, a smaller man, a teenager, and a blue amorphous blob are playing cards

That might be an interesting dynamic to explore in another film, though strange world has a cooler storyline with higher, more pressing stakes and a limited run time to let them play. Admittedly, there are some touching scenes between the two father-son couples. One of the best is that Ethan involves his father and grandfather in his favorite card game, a type of strategy game inspired by the settlers of Catan, which aligns heavily with their current expedition. With more nuance and novelty, these relationships might be something new, but the “Sorry ’cause Dad went exploring” trope is as overused in sci-fi movies as it is now Interstellar, Ad Astraand Armageddon. And in strange worldthe plot unravels in the most obvious way.

The exploration arc is less predictable and has one of the craziest twists in a Disney movie – heck, one of the coolest twists in sci-fi. When the emotional heart of the film focuses on this group of ragtag explorers desperate to save the world they know, it’s a grand and thrilling adventure, with beautiful landscapes and fantastical creatures at every turn. When the film focuses on its larger scope, it shines, but when it backs down to the over-the-top relationships, it loses what makes it sparkle. This father-son dynamic seems to ground the film in some reality, but all they do is pull strange world down when it could have gone up.

strange world streaming now on Disney Plus.