With the release of any new Disney animated movie there comes plenty of expectations and “Strange World” is no different. Inspired by pulp novels from the early 20th century and films like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and the original “King Kong,” director Don Hall (“Big Hero 6,” “Moana”) and writer Qui Nguyen (“Raya and the Last Dragon,” “She Kills Monsters”) deliver a fun and gorgeous adventure flick that’s held back by its routine messaging.
The film follows Searcher Clade, voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal (“Donnie Darko,” “Nightcrawler”), son of legendary adventurer Jaeger Clade, voiced by Dennis Quaid (“The Right Stuff,” “Far From Heaven”), who’s recruited by Jaeger’s former team member and president of Avalonia Callisto Mal, voiced by Lucy Liu (“Charlie’s Angels (2000),” “Set It Up”) to venture underground to find the source of the problem with Avalonia’s energy source, accompanied by Searcher’s wife, crack pilot Meridian, voiced by Gabrielle Union (“Bring It On,” “Love & Basketball”), and their son Ethan, voiced by Jaboukie Young-White (“Someone Great,” “C’mon C’mon”).
Disney films of this caliber tend to have exceptional voice casts, but “Strange World” has a particularly strong one. Each actor brings their characters to life flawlessly, and it’s a truly lively film because of it. There’s some real energy behind each performance, successfully overcoming the “lazy celebrity voices” cliché that plagues most Hollywood animated films. It might just be the strongest voice cast of a Disney film in quite some time.
The art style is also particularly noteworthy. While it’s highly detailed and gorgeous because of the sheer amount of money thrown in, it’s also shines in the ways it deviates slightly from Disney’s previously established style. The characters are more cartoonish and exaggerated in their facial expressions and actions, giving everything a kind of squishiness that helps bring the adventure to life. Likewise, the heavy use of color schemes in the strange world and the city of Avalonia also helps to craft two distinct locations.
There are plenty of additional adventure movie trappings, from the general structure of the plot to the musical score, composed by Henry Jackman (“Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “Pokémon Detective Pikachu”). Neither of these are a detriment to the film at all: it’s been so long since we’ve gotten this kind of an adventure movie that it’s a welcome move even with some of the repetitive structure, and the musical score as well is lively and boisterous.
Rather, the largest detriment to the film’s quality is a different kind of repeated element. There’s so much creativity on display in the design of this new world, above and below ground. So much so that it feels particularly disappointing that the film’s emotional arcs and central conflict feel so routine.
It’s the kind of tale that Disney has done many times before, and in an age where it seemed like their animated films were getting more emotionally intelligent, it’s a shame that this one is fairly basic by comparison. It’s still a well made and well told story to be clear, but it lacks the same energy and creativity put into almost every other aspect of the film. It leaves you with more of a satisfying but not exciting film when things end, since you’ve spent almost two hours on a creative looking adventure that’s telling its story in a fairly generic way.
That being said, “Strange World” is still an overall well crafted and fun adventure, with a completely excellent voice cast and a gorgeous looking world to explore. Sure, it might not be the most creatively told story Disney has ever made, but it’s the kind of adventure that does a really good job of distracting you while you’re actively watching it. It’s an easy one to recommend, even if it doesn’t blow you away. 4/5
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