I was interested in Strange World because of both the top-notch cast and the wonderful diversity associated with it. The cast members do in fact fit their roles very well and the diversity is handled well in an organic fashion. While these factors are big positives, the script isn’t as exciting and creative as the film would like to be. There’s a definite spark in the beginning and the characters are appealing, but at a certain point, the story begins to lose steam. It’s a real shame because for a good while this was really fun and charming.
The casting of Jake Gyllenhaal is perfect here. His voice fits the nature of the lead role very well and his character is a lovely mix of intellect and charm. I can understand Gabrielle Union’s character falling for him! Union plays his wife and also does a nice job. They have a romantic chemistry that works and even more than that, their little family unit is adorable.
They have a teenage son in the film that’s voiced by Jaboukie Young-White. I’m not familiar with Young-White’s work, but I must say that I was impressed by his very expressive voice work here. I’m so glad they didn’t write this character in a stereotypical annoying way. I can’t stand teenage boys in films that are just snarky jerks the whole time. Young-White’s role is really quite sweet and endearing.
This character is responsible for most of the diversity too. He is gay and has a crush on another boy he goes to school with. I just couldn’t help but smile at the couple scenes that cover this. Their nervous teenage flirtation is so heartwarming and it’s fantastic to see LGBTQ youth in a family film. That’s incredibly important!
Another pro is Strange World’s animation and visual effects. The visuals are very creative and should be commended. With all these positives, it’s disappointing that the story peters out. The foundation is rather strong, and the first half sets up an opportunity for this to be incredibly satisfying.
After that halfway mark is passed, things become fairly generic and the problems that arise that must be overcome are not as exciting as they need to be. The third act is chock full of predictable scenes you can see coming from a mile away that focus on the relationships between the characters.
I like these characters, but I wish they would’ve come up with a different way to resolve their issues. It comes off as overly cliche and it’s all happening in the middle of a big crisis, which feels odd. There’s a twist they introduce that I suppose could be interpreted as inventive, but they only scrape the very surface.
There’s actually something else that occurs in the third act around the same time that they could have and should have gone a lot further with. It’s something related to a character, and they introduce a shift only to turn it around very shortly after. I think they should have stuck with that, done it earlier, and gone deeper. It would have made things more interesting and would have been a plot twist that could have actually improved the entertainment value quite a bit.
I love the fact that the characters are, for the most part, very lovable. Having said that, I think Strange World needed more bite. There really is no villain and the threat they must overcome isn’t that enthralling. If only they would’ve sharpened their storytelling here and made this more exciting, this could have been a homerun!
Strange World is a film I mildly recommend. The cast is great, the characters are lovely, and the diversity is fantastic to see. If only the storytelling was stronger!
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