For being a Disney movie made today (2022) this is a fairly decent one. Sure, they have crammed in some of the usual woke nonsense but at least there is not really any of the blatant preaching the more extreme of Disney’s woke mob have managed to cram into things the last couple of years.
It of course helps that it is a all new story and new characters so they didn’t wokeify and ruin some of the old classics.
If one ignores the nonsense the story is pretty decent and so are the characters. Nothing to write home about but adequate. The coolest character is of course Jaeger. I quite liked him even though he sometimes was a bit dimwitted in his single mindedness. Searcher and his son Ethan are more bland and boring with one just wanting to be a farmer and the other one being the obligatory woke element in this movie.
What really makes the movie rise slightly above being bland is the absolutely magnificent scenery. It is a strange world indeed. It is strange, weird, scary and beautiful all at the same time. This creature, Splat, that Ethan eventually befriends was a nice comical element.
It is a shame though that they couldn’t create a better ending. I mean given what this strange world actually is surely there would be plenty of other options for harvesting energy instead of just more or less giving up. If the writers wanted to deliver some rubbish green message they failed miserably.
Anyway, a decent enough movie. I did enjoy watching it.
This big spoiler marked section here at the beginning of my review – ignore it if you only want to read an actual review about the movie itself and not a vent from me because of those that came away from watching this only whining, “but political agenda!” Which shouldn’t have to feel even remotely necessary. People suck.
It greatly annoys me that I had to go into this looking for signs of “woke garbage” because that’s all I’d repeatedly heard about it. Anyone who complains that it’s full of that is more likely to be a conservative Christian type or is just being too damn picky due to their obsession with the leftist side of extremist politics. I’m somewhere in the middle by the way.
There was an interracial couple. There was a teenage boy who had a crush on another teenage boy. That was the bulk of it really, as far as anything I could discern as potentially being deemed “woke.”
Dudes, those things don’t make or break a story.
Trading out those details for a couple/family of the same race and for a heterosexual love interest instead of a homo one would have resulted in the exact same damn plot. If you were to read a book where the skin color and gender of the characters weren’t ever mentioned or revealed through context, then what the fuck would it matter as long as you were entertained by the story? Seriously, come on.
As far as the interracial couple goes, I actually do kind of understand a certain low level of grumbling from some. Because I have noticed nearly every time I watch something new in the past like, I don’t know, 2 years-ish from watching this, there is one. Often it’s a white man and a black woman with a great afro or similar. It’s become the new norm. I get that much.
I am completely fine with various forms of representation in the media. I’m not against it. For example, I remember thinking it was so beyond cool when I saw a wheelchair bound character introduced in the animated show, Goldie & Bear. Thinking back though, I don't actually find interracial couples to be anything especially new. They’ve been represented throughout media for many years now. It’s the fact that there’s been this uproar and so much talk about certain happenings and perspectives that is driving more content making people to add this specific representation and more into their media creations. So, it at least makes sense why it’s happening. Simply put, it’s popular to do so right now. It’ll probably balance out again in time. In the meantime, we need to look past it and focus on the stories themselves and not judge all this new media based on the color of people’s skin in it. That’s what was supposed to be at the heart of it anyway, right? And I’m talking both ways, to be clear. Judge a movie based on the story, not whether or not it does or doesn’t contain an interracial couple or an LGBT one.
As far as homosexuality goes, that’s perhaps been represented a bit less than the interracial stuff over the years, although it definitely has been. It was going on in the 90s far more than I realized at the time, but I wasn’t paying much attention. I didn’t watch all the popular TV shows containing gay love until years later, far past their debuts. It’s been being normalized and it’s continuing to be! I have no problem with it showing up in animated media, because two of the same gender crushing on each other has no more to do with sex than two of the opposite gender. If the teenage boy in this movie had had a crush on a teenage girl and it wouldn’t have been considered scandalous, then a boy liking a boy is no more so.
Anyway, it makes me a bit angry that any amount of time is being spent discussing this movie outside what it’s actually about. Maybe I shouldn’t be and should instead just talk about how cool and fun it is and ignore the rest, but the fact that it has lower than a 6 on IMDb is telling and I feel the need to point out the stupidity of low ratings based on such bogus bullshit. If you were able to change those aforementioned details and then would give it a higher rating, you’re being a horrid human being.
Strange World is a family action/adventure sci-fi meld. The sci-fi aspect is cool as all heck too! The visuals are mesmerizing! The creatures and the landscapes are really cool.
I personally really loved and respected that race or sexual orientation were never brought up as issues for those particular characters to deal with, as they often are used as an easy way to inject conflict into media. Like, it’s become such an expectation when it comes to those things, that I kept wondering if it would come up that someone had a problem with either of them, but nope. They just existed and that was that. It did have a Utopian feel to it, so people living in harmony despite their differences fits the mood of the movie. It also managed to have a dystopian feel to it though, funnily enough!
One of my favorite lines:
“Watch out for the walking land mass!”
Heavily inspired by the "men's adventure" comics from the 20's and 30's, where the characters would face the environment challenges and uncover some deeper knowledge about themselves in the process, this movie evokes the right tone and feeling of those stories. Starting with a comic book sequence to hit the reference in the head, it presents us to the type of story we are about to embark to.
A movie about generational trauma and using the screen time to flash out the conflicts of dealing with family in a very polarized world of today, "Strange World" brings a journey about trauma, healing and acceptance.
The characters are modern, imperfect and their growth is dealt on screen with conversation and work. Disney now and then delivers a movie a little more daring that flies over the head of people and takes some time to get his recognition.
With beautiful visuals, good mix of 2D texture finalization on 3D models, and fun characters, the movie by itself is a feast to the eyes. With a solid script focusing on the generational conflict and it's resolution, "Strange World" it's a great time with a nice message of commiting to change what we must for those we care.
I really liked this movie. It just felt very human in a way. It’s one of those movies where it feels relatable to a lot of people. Especially in the beginning of the movie the main characters feel like a "normal" happy family. Parents sometimes hurt you by trying to do what they think is best for you. The visuals were pretty good even though I understand why some won’t like the "world". I liked how the Miridian did the mom stare. That was very relatable. The movie has a lot of diverse characters and that makes it even more appealing. I can understand why people would dislike the story as it is a slightly overused topic. (Family & Co. dropped in a unknown place trying to do something but find out they have to do something else instead.) Still I enjoy those types of movies. But I feel like this movie is getting a lot of hate for no reason? People hate on it for diversity? I think that’s pretty stupid. I heard people complain about the dog missing a leg... it really doesn’t matter to the story at all. I just don’t understand all the racist and homophobic people. People making a big thing about Ethan being gay. It’s not impacting the story in any way. My man didn’t even kiss a dude on screen. If you don’t like the movie for the story or look, fine.. but :asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:don’t:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol: give hate to a movie because of some stupid reason like a character being gay or black.
Review by TygerboiBlockedParent2022-12-27T01:05:29Z
This film was actually pretty good, very reminiscent of "Dragons - Riders of Berk" in terms of the appearance and personality of the main characters. It was perhaps a little too psychedelic, but that didn't detract rom the film in any way. The plot offered nothing new really, but overall it was an entertaining family film which I and my two teen daughters enjoyed.
What really saddens me is the horrific homophobic bigotry from most of the people commenting on here. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for your pathetic gay hatred that is evident from your comments. There is no "woke agenda" or forcing any LGBTQ+ equality or sexual scenes upon the viewers in this film. Disney, in a very tasteful and mild way, was simply portraying a very common everyday occurrence - two teenagers being in love with each other, and so what if they were the same sex? It clearly didn't matter to any of the characters in the movie, even his overly macho, egotistical old grandad. If Ethan's love interest had been female then their relationship almost certainly wouldn't even have been mentioned by any of you in your comments. It didn't matter that it wasn't instrumental to the plot. Plenty of other films, whether or not they're Disney animations or live-action productions by any studio, have characters who are in open relationships, where the relationship itself isn't part of the plot, other than trying to portray a bit of realistic backstory to the characters, and it doesn't detract from the quality of those films. It's fairly safe to say that at least 90% of Hollywood blockbuster films have overt heterosexual activity in them - the protagonist (most often male) either saves a 'damsel in distress' and then ends up 'sleeping' with them, or else they're already in a heterosexual relationship, and they are very frequently shown to be hugging and kissing, or even more. Would you say that these films are "forcing a heterosexual agenda" on their viewers? No, of course you wouldn't. None of you making these homophobic comments have called out any of those other films because they've had a protagonist (or antagonist) in a non-essential-to-the-plot heterosexual relationship. Which is total proof that your comments DO stem from your own hypocritical, bigoted personal opinions. Trakt is not the place to air your closed-minded prejudices; the comments are for balanced reviews of films and shows. If you can't keep your hateful bigotry out of the comments, don't comment in the first place.
Like it or not, same-sex relationships are part of real human culture and everyday life (as they have been for centuries) but as of the last 20 years or so in the entire western world, they have become perfectly legal and fall under the same levels of acceptance as heterosexual relationships. Therefore, their portrayal in an everyday life context in films is merely a reflection of modern society. There is globally a huge problem with teenagers - as they realise when they go through adolescence that they're attracted to the same sex as themselves - committing suicide because of homophobic bullying and intolerance from fellow schoolchildren and even their own parents. With that in mind, perhaps the portrayal on mainstream films and TV shows of same-sex relationships as a completely normal, acceptable thing just like heterosexual relationships is actually a good thing, because it helps to normalise them without it specifically being "an agenda" or some nefarious plot to "encourage/convert children into becoming gay" - which is a massively ignorant and ridiculous viewpoint anyway, as someone's sexuality is no more a choice than their skin colour or eye colour. Why don't all you homophobes try to convert your sexuality for a week or two to being gay or lesbian? No? You'd find that disgusting, or simply couldn't do it because you're inherently heterosexual? Well, that's exactly how it is for someone who's gay or lesbian - they find the idea of personally engaging in heterosexual relationships equally repugnant, and conversion to heterosexuality equally impossible. So perhaps practice a little bit of 'do as you would be done by' or, in other words, "only ever treat others as you would have them treat you".