- Genre: Animation, Family, Action
Directed by Don Hall
Produced by Roy Conli
Screenplay by Qui Nguyen
Voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union & Lucy Liu.
Music by: Henry Jackman
Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The plot: The Clades are a legendary family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission into uncharted and treacherous territory.
I was looking forward to this movie.
This new Disney animation was alright.
Pros: The opening of this film does remind me of something from Indiana Jones. I enjoyed the family dynamic involving the clade family. Every actor was serviceable in their individual voice-over performance. We get to explore a lot of this strange world in 90% of the movie and it was an enjoyable movie to see at the cinema.
Cons: Most things that go on in the movie are predictable. The characters are very forgettable and after I left the cinema with no impact from this film at all.
Cast & Characters:
- Jake Gyllenhaal is Searcher Clade, Jaeger’s son, Meridian’s husband, and Ethan’s father who is a farmer by collecting Pando energy power source.
- Dennis Quaid as Jaeger Clade, Searcher’s father and Ethan’s grandfather.
- Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan Clade, Searcher’s 16-year-old son who longs for adventure beyond his father’s farm while also navigating a school crush. Being a gay character, Ethan is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ first openly LGBTQ teenaged character.
- Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade, Ethan’s mother, and Searcher’s wife who is a pilot and natural leader.
- Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal, the president of the land of Avalonia and the leader of the exploration into the strange world.
- Karan Soni as Caspian, a nerdy member of the expedition to Strange World.
- Alan Tudyk as Duffle, a pilot for the expedition to Strange World who is killed by wyvern-like creatures. His role is a reference to Tudyk’s Firefly character Hoban “Wash” Washburn.
- Tudyk also voices the Narrator at the beginning of the movie and an announcer on the radio.
- Adelina Anthony as Captain Pulk, the second-in-command of the expedition to Strange World.
- Abraham Benrubi as Lonnie Redshirt, a large member of the expedition to Strange World. His last name refers to the trend in Star Trek for those wearing red shirts to die insignificantly.
- Jonathan Melo as Diazo, Ethan’s love-interest.
- Nik Dodani as Kardez, one of Ethan’s friends.
- Francesca Reale as Azimuth, one of Ethan’s friends.
In the end credits, Legend, the Clades’ three-legged dog, and Splat, the blue creature from the Strange World, are listed as playing themselves.
I still recommend watching this film hoping you all will like it more than me.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.