Strange World Review: I’m Not My Father
Strange World
Director: Don Hall and Qui Nguyen
9
Disney is back on the big screen with Strange World, and it is a step above their last release, Lightyear. The animated, adventure film follows the story of Searcher Clade and his son Ethan Clade as they set off to find a way to save their home. Strange World was a fun movie to watch and was a good family movie. It contains different elements that different audiences will enjoy, providing an experience that truly has something for everyone.
Is Strange World for kids?
Short answer, absolutely. Long answer, yes but depends on age. Strange World is a fairly tame movie, on par with most Disney animated films. The content and the language is ‘G’, and the only reason the movie receives a PG rating is due to the violence. Our characters fight many monsters, a few that could be considered scary, with a variety of weapons. The violence isn’t graphic or gory by any means, but it is still present. If you are concerned, I would give the trailer a watch and decide for yourself as it doesn’t get any worse than that.
Strange World Review
I really enjoyed Strange World, start to finish. With a runtime of 1:42 minutes, the plot doesn’t feel slow or boring at any point and it remains entertains throughout. The story is pretty strong for a family movie, having an end point in mind but not taking the most direct route. Like many family movies, Strange World’s plot is very predictable, but I didn’t find that took away from the quality of the movie.
The world building that goes on is incredible. I don’t want to get too far into the actual movie, but I really enjoyed the world that was set up. The depth to the world was far beyond what I had expected and adds meaningful depth to the movie. The world around our characters sparked a couple of epiphanies for me, and it kept my brain engaged in the movie.
The animation style in Strange World is very similar to other Disney projects, and I quite enjoyed it. With technological advances and even more incredible people working on these movies, the animation has continue to look better and better year after year. Strange World continues the trend, with semi-realistic looking characters and a variety creatures inside this vast world. Everything looks sharp, colourful, and is really friendly on the eyes. For the second movie in a row, I don’t find any value in seeing this in 3D and paying more for it. In my experience, it actually takes away from the quality at times as my eyes got tired of starring through those stiff glasses. Save your money and go see it in 2D.
Searcher Clade, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ethan Clade, played by Jaboukie Young-White, are my favourite characters in Strange World. I really enjoyed the character development by both characters, finding their own path as the plot moves along. It’s a give and take relationship with both Seacher and Ethan learning from each other. Strange World doesn’t hold the same deep meaning that we have seen in past Disney projects, but I think many people will relate to either Searcher or Clade more than they expect.
Jaboukie Young-White did a really good job in this role, and I thought he brought the character to life well. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union are both names I recognized from other movies and shows, but Young-White was brand new to me. I can happily say that he did a good job in this role. I’m not sure how he does with the acting side of things, but I would be happy to see him in future animated roles.
All in all, Strange World is a really good movie. Disney or not, it’s a really fun movie to watch with lovable, relatable characters and a pretty decent plot. The visuals are awesome. Mix that with an interesting world around our characters, and you get a really good movie. This is a movie I would absolutely see in theatres, but it should be on Disney Plus sooner rather than later.