Review of Strange World (2022) by 4Everafter — 11 Dec 2022

There's a lot I disliked about this movie, but - overall - I actually liked it.

CONS 1. The kid is annoying. Not because he's gay. He'd be equally annoying if he was straight. He's just annoying. Think the teenage John Conner in T2, only aThere's a lot I disliked about this movie, but - overall - I actually liked it.

CONS.

1. The kid is annoying. Not because he's gay. He'd be equally annoying if he was straight. He's just annoying. Think the teenage John Conner in T2, only a total misfire. The way he is animated is annoying. His voice is annoying... but I knew all that from the trailer.

2. The grandfather is one dimensional and totally forgettable.

3. They try way too hard to be "diverse" with the characters. The main character is an openly gay biracial teenager with a three legged dog and the president of the world is a Native American woman with beads in her hair. I'm not anti-diversity, it just seems to be progressing from exhausting to absurd now.

4. I feel like I've seen Splat a bunch of times before. Like they've just taken a bunch of other Disney characters and removed all recognizable features leaving just the blueprint. I have long since learnt to look past the comic relief characters in these films. They're almost always awful. Splat isn't awful, but it doesn't have much room for personality either... so, I guess it's hard to get it wrong? I don't know. It's not much of a character.

5. The gay thing felt a little creepy somehow. I like aspects of what they did. I like that the grandfather (who a tough guy) doesn't even hesitate when he finds out his grandson is gay. Not sure I've ever seen that in a film, let alone a Disney cartoon... but I didn't like the totally unnecessary scene with the gay teen romance. The haircut of the kid he loves is cringe enough on it's own.

PROS.

1. This film is less likely to kill you if you're epileptic. Too much children's animation these days is over-stimulating. Strange World has enough space to breather. You might say it has inner space.

2. The world building is good enough - alone - to justify the ticket price. I love creatures and weird alien planets, so this is right up my alley. I got a sense of childlike wonder watching it and I'm usually pretty jaded to that sort of stuff. It's not earth shattering or anything, but it's all very well done.

3. Love the ending. Dennis Quaid goes back in after 35 years.