Whoa! A gay son, a three-legged dog, and an interracial marriage … has Disney gone all-in on woke? What will the MAGA cretins think? Scratch that; we know what they think; it’s not like there’s a big mystery to bigotry. The real question is “what will they do?” Pool their resources and organize a stunning rebuttal in movie form … or impotently troll imdb? Again, this isn’t really a question. And here are the results: Hmmm, the inventive and uplifting Strange World has as many “1” votes as all other votes combined.
Congrats, trolls, you’ve won the internet, again. I’m sure Disney has been suitably shamed and put out of business as a result.
The land of Avalonia is a great valley surrounded entirely by unpassable mountains. In a tribute to both Up and Journey to the Center of the Earth, Avalonia gives rise to noteworthy explorer Jaeger Clade (voice of Dennis Quaid), who has vowed to cross the mountains as no Avalonian has done before him.
(How you get the rep for being a great explorer in a land that is basically one big valley is beyond me, but it sets up the film nicely.)
At some point, Jaeger begets Searcher Clade, a wimpier and more cerebral version of the barrel-chested larger-than-life virility symbol that is his father. Jaeger drags Searcher all over the land on his various adventures
. Where’s mom? Who knows? As a teen, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) breaks with Jaeger; the two have diverging interests. Jaeger wants to get over the mountains; Searcher wants to check out this cool new electric plant.
Fast-forward 25 years. No one has seen Jaeger in that time, and the once medieval valley is now completely run by power farmed on Searcher’s land. Searcher, now middle-aged, has a wife, Meridian (Gabrielle Union), and a son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White). Ah, but the Pondo plants are dying, and, wouldn’t you know it? They all have the same root (wha?) and so it’s time to take the ships that can fly not high enough to conquer mountains to visit the underground Strange World below.
OK, so it’s a little cheesy that the Strange World exploring becomes completely a family affair, but whatchagonnado? Blame the three-legged dog? The Strange World itself is wild and dangerous, with a mystery to be solved. Can you guess what’s going on? The film doesn’t lack for clues.
Strange World has seriously bombed at the box office. Wow. Honestly? It’s nice to see Disney capable of such; they can certainly afford it many times over. Sure, I wish it had happened to one of their
poorer or more cynical offerings … and yet still it’s a tad refreshing to know Disney won’t profit off of everything they do. What bothers me about this is I have no doubt part of the bombing has to do with the PC nature of the film. Oh yeah, you can blame moderate reviews and lackluster word-of-mouth and, yes, these things matter. But part of this failure is that MAGA seized hold of an opportunity to be dicks – and MAGA never misses an opportunity to be a dick; that’s what MAGA is. God forbid a family film does not conform to your matchbook-size understanding of what a family film should look like, assholes.
I found the film entertaining and occasionally surprising. I do not imagine Strange World was ever destined to be among classic Disney any more than, say, Atlantis or Treasure Planet, but, truthfully, I liked those films, too. I don’t know what lesson Disney will take from the box office disaster here, but I sure hope it doesn’t involve giving in to the trolls.
There once was a tough named Jaeger Clade
Whose exploring you couldn’t dissuade
He fell down a hole
Acquired a new role
And relinquished his fatherhood masquerade
Rated PG, 102 Minutes
Director: Don Hall, Qui Nguyen
Writer: Qui Nguyen
Genre: Guess what’s going on
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The underrepresented
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: MAGA
