Even though Disney has done an absolutely terrible job of promoting Strange World, it was still a movie that I felt had a great deal going for it. It is directed by Don Hall who was behind the camera for a few Disney movies I love such as the 2011 Winnie the Pooh, and Big Hero 6. Plus, it stars, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid, two actors I really like.
How to Download Strange World
You should be able to download or stream the film from Disney+ roughly 45 days after its theatrical release (which happened on 23 November 2022). Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability..
The Movie Review
Before we get into the movie, I have to recommend you check out this hilarious video of Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid doing press for this where Jake suddenly remembers that Dennis Quaid has one before played his dad in a movie. It is awesome stuff and well worth checking out on YouTube.
Anyway, let’s get back to the movie. What we have here is a movie that at its heart is about family, the Clades family who are a family of legendary explorers. Jaeger Clade is a fearless explorer who goes in search of adventure with his son, Searcher, and their crew all over the world, and things seem good.
However, during one adventure. Searcher comes across a strange plant called Pando that has amazing energy possibilities. Searcher and the rest of the crew say that this is an amazing discovery and want to stop the expedition, but Jaeger has other ideas and the two go their separate ways. Also, Jaeger is deemed dead or at least missing for over 20 years.
In the “present” Searcher has changed his home thanks to the use of Pando energy, but there is a problem with Pando, it is losing its power. This causes Searcher and a team of explorers to have to head deep into the Earth to find out what the problem with Pando energy is. Searcher also has a teenage son called Ethan and a wife called, Meridian who end up on this expedition.
A huge part of the fun of Strange World is the family dynamic. Once they enter “The Strange World” they discover that Jaeger has been living down here this whole time! Seeing Searcher and Jaeger butt heads is fun, but the way that Ethan looks up to Jaeger and thinks he is amazing does not sit well with Searcher. The three generations of Clade men thing going on is the aspect of the movie I liked the best.
I will say that you can pretty much figure out what is going to happen as soon as the cast gets to the Strange World and Jaeger shows up, but it still has its fun moments. I like how bright and vibrant this movie is and in many ways, this strange land the movie takes place in reminds me of a more colorful world than what we got on the alien planet in Lightyear.
What we have here with Strange World is not a bad movie, but it sure feels like a weird movie for Disney to release in theatres. This feels much more like a movie that would have premiered on Disney Plus, if anything I feel they would have been better off releasing Disenchanted in theatres and having this be on Disney Plus as the big movie his November.
