Strange World

The main of Strange World story is boring because it’s simply a quest to find out what’s wrong with the Pando, which becomes this inane environmental message that only fiction can write. Once the clades are reunited, it’s a story of fathers and sons trying to relate to one another. C’mon! They’re simply trying to figure out their family s**t. Will they complete the quest? Will they become a family once again?

I’ve mentioned this in other Disney reviews, but whatever happened to the Disney Villain? There’s no villain in this story. Not a single antagonist plays the Clades against one another or exploits the family’s weaknesses. In the middle of the movie, there’s a joke where Jaeger and Searcher call this out, “You can’t have a good story without a villain.” Guess what? They’re right! Screenwriter Qui Nguyen thought that calling out our complaint would prove that stories don’t need a villain. They failed!

“…features the entire spectrum of identity politics.”

Let’s call out the elephant in the room. Yes, there’s an LGBT storyline between Ethan and Diazo. Here’s the problem. Personally, I have no issues with an LGBT storyline featuring teens. My problem is this LGBT storyline was brought in just to bring it in and show how progressive Jaeger and Searcher are as parents. “Let’s just make them gay!” “OK, they’re gay. Done,” and that’s it. The storyline is so inconsequential to the overall narrative that its inclusion is insulting and clearly pandering.

Let’s also talk about checking off boxes. Strange World features the entire spectrum of identity politics. There’s diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, abled and disabled. I mean, there’s a three-legged dog for crying out loud! What’s clear is the filmmakers were so concerned about being diverse and inclusive that the story took a back seat. So now everyone promoting the films can only talk about how “representation matters” and not about how great their story is. That’s because it’s not.

Why is Strange World so bad? Storytelling. It’s bland as hell and not entertaining in the slightest. It’s instantly forgettable. The worst part is Disney will blame its fans with lame excuses about families not returning to theaters after COVID or overly “woke” story elements. Let me be real with you, Disney: tell a good story, and don’t alienate your family fanbase. You’ll make a lot of money that way.