My family and I watched Strange World yesterday. I don’t remember when I was this unimpressed with a Disney movie. The makers attempted to hit a lot of big ideas but forgot what story they wanted to tell. The world-building is half-baked and foolish. The emotional parts bore you. The climax is dull.
My wife quipped, “Disney doesn’t know how to make a movie with a male protagonist.” After all, when did Disney last make a movie with a strong father-son dynamic? Maybe Nemo?
This comment from Alison Willmore’s review of the movie resonated with me.
So much of Strange World’s audaciousness is front-loaded into its concept, and so little of it comes through in the execution. Its themes linger in the mind longer than any line or emotional beat in part because those elements feel so rote and secondary.