Film review: ‘STRANGE WORLD’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

While it’s filled with vivid, inventive images and while it touches on important themes such as family conflict, same sex relationships and environmental preservation, the Disney animated fantasy, Strange World isn’t as engaging as it might have been.   It seems as if the filmmakers weren’t sure if they wanted to create an old school sci fi adventure like Journey To The Centre Of The Earth or a kid-friendly fantasia.  As a result, the film is more of a trippy and at times violent action movie infused with contemporary drama and occasional attempts at cuteness.  It’s an odd mix and at the preview a few too many adults were checking their phones while some of the littlies seemed more interested in running up and down the aisles.

Here, Jake Gyllenhaal voices lead character, Searcher Clade, a timid farmer who, as a child, discovered an electricity-generating plant called Pando that now powers his world called Avalonia.  Despite his fame, he still lives in the shadow of his renowned explorer father, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) who disappeared 25 years earlier.  When Avalonia’s Pando crop begins dying, the President (Lucy Liu) calls on Searcher to join her and a crew on a subterranean mission to find the source of the problem. Winding up in a mysterious underground world, Searcher discovers that this dangerous place’s critters are not his only problem as family issues have followed him there.

As we’ve come to expect with contemporary big budget animation, the visuals in Strange World are pretty remarkable.  With its green and magenta landscape and hordes of weird looking bubble creatures, the underground world is a strikingly odd place. The humans and some of the beasties have a slightly plastic complexion but for the most part, the animation has impressive depth and clarity.  The most visually stunning segments, though, are the flashbacks to Jaeger’s adventures that replicate 1950’s era comic book panels.

The underground world is at times reminiscent of Kong’s subterranean home in the recent Godzilla vs Kong where nearly everything that moved was a dangerous monster.  Some of this will prove a little too intense and possibly inappropriate for youngsters, especially the predators that look like giant aggressive testicles that project slimy tentacles.  These seemed designed more to appeal to adult fans of Lovecraftian horror than innocent, unsuspecting kiddies.  The film does include plenty of attempts at quirky humour but only a few of them land and the youngsters at the preview didn’t seem to take to the supposedly cute little blob creature that befriends Searcher and his son.

If they’re not being scared by the testicle monsters, the kids might be a bit bored by the constant squabbling between Searcher and various family members. While family reconciliation is an important theme, this repetitive therapy session becomes a little annoying.  Impressively, though, the film contains a plea for the environment and a pretty clear reference to the damage wrought by fossil fuels and the need for more sustainable living.  It also portrays a same sex teen relationship as Searcher’s son Ehtan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White) frets about his crush on another boy at school.  This is, apparently, the first out gay relationship in a Disney film and thankfully the characters are treated with warmth and respect.

Strange World doesn’t entirely work.  It’s not as funny as it could have been and some parts will be nasty for littlies but there are just enough strong elements to make it worthwhile for kids aged 10 and older.

Nick’s rating: ***

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/ Animation.

Classification: PG.

Director(s): Don Hall.

Release date: 24th Nov 2022.

Running time: 102 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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