Movie Review - Strange World

Disney's latest film from their in house animation studio, comes across as a little different to what has come before. Sure, we have an LGBTQ+ lead character, and it looks visually impressive, but what I find different is the look of the characters. I guess we have been so used to seeing the designs of characters from previous films that it's a bit more noticeable when two of them look comical looking. Adventure films for Disney Animation Studio haven't always been the greatest when it comes to the box office, and by the looks of things, Strange World may be going that same way. But despite this, I am hoping it's another winner for the House of Mouse, even though this would be their first animation canon film since the hugely successful Encanto. So let's take a look:

We are in Avalonia, a world surrounded by islands and home to the adventurer Jaeger Clade (voiced by Dennis Quaid) and his son Searcher (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal) who set off one day to find new worlds. But following a disagreement, Jaeger continues alone to find new worlds on one expedition, while Searcher and the crew return to Avalonia with a new power source in the form of plants. 25 years go by and Searcher is happily married to a capable pilot called Meridian (voiced by Gabrielle Union) and has a son called Ethan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White). Searcher is now a farmer of the plant he found all those years ago, but the origins of which remain a mystery. That is until he is called into another mission to figure out just exactly what is happening to them when they mysteriously turn dark, and he may even find his father in the process.

It's very clear that this film was Disney trying out a Journey to the Centre of the Earth style adventure film and given their history with animated adventure films, this one is alright. A few memorable characters and moments, make this a fun film. Though it does have a few "Get on with it" moments and some predictable elements too. In fact, many who have reviewed Disney films have gone on to say that small kids may get distracted from watching their films and when I saw this, at least one small child was not watching it. I don't know, maybe Disney aren't quite there yet with engaging the younger fans. But overall, a decent adventure film, but one that may be forgotten all too quickly. 7/10