Strange World (2022) - First Impressions
"The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission."
- IMDB
There are a lot of negative reviews and I just gotta say none of y’all better say this movie is the worst when Cars & Planes exists. The 1st was okay, but after that, it became a franchise geared toward 4-year-old boys with car obsessions. Be critical, but not overdramatic. Geez Louise.
That being said. I dd enjoy this movie, though it does rank a little low for me compared to, like, 60+ other Disney films. At its surface, it's one of those “I don’t wanna be my parent but ended up like them anyway” story with Jaeger and Searcher, which we’ve seen before. But the real moral of the story, and the real heart and soul of this film, is actually a message about protecting the environment, with Grandson, Ethan, at the helm.
When I saw the first trailer, I thought it was Rick & Morty meets Treasure Planet. Then I started watching and I was like “oh, its Rick & Morty meets Atlantis meets Journey to the Center of the Earth.” But by the end I was like “It’s Rick & Morty meets Atlantis meets Journey to the Center of the Earth meets Osmosis Jones meets Last Airbender” because they live on the back of a lion turtle!!! Hello? That was such a cool concept. Square Enix, are you watching? I need this in Kingdom Hearts 4 now! I loved the design of this realm and the creatures. It totally gave me Subnautica vibes and was a joy to look at.
To end it off, we’ve got a multiracial couple with their mixed gay son. The people that hated Turning Red for being “inappropriate” will say this is woke Disney being woke Disney. But those aspects were not in our face. Multinational and multiracial couples and literally all LGBTQ+ people are normal, and should be normalized and seen as normal. I hate racism and homophobia and the likes and am not afraid to call people out, but I also hate when film and television shove it in our faces and make the color of someone's skin or their sexuality to be the prime trait of a character. There is a thing as too much, and Strange World did right. Same can be said for powerful woman. There are strong female characters here, also normalized in this society. The mom is an engineer and there are 2 leading ladies on the crew. That was awesome. And, another small representation thing, the family dog has 3 legs and there is a shot of a kid in a wheel chair. That may not be a big deal to you, but kids with limb differences and/or physical disabilities are surely to get excited about that.
In conclusion, yay or nay? Well, it's one of the more average Disney films. For me, there are hardly any bad Disney films...... except for Cars and Planes... and the live action remakes... I did enjoy Strange World for what it was, but you could watch Treasure Planet, Atlantis, or even Wall-e for better adventures and similar values.
My Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
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