Strange World

Everyone is delightfully lost in a softly Lovecraftian Osmosis Jones labyrinth with climate change overtones and lovely faceless critters everywhere, trying to pantomime meaning to these stumbling humans.

Strong familial conflict, magical adventures and timely social messaging make this animated feature a bit deeper than most. If Strange World can find its audience, those viewers will be pleased. Why? Because even the trees are cool!

Despite the film's rich CGI, it’s only when the humans and their conflicts, big and small, come to the forefront, that the film comes to life.

The director Don Hall and his co-director and screenwriter Qui Nguyen seem to have put all of their effort into gaudy backgrounds, wacky gadgets and strange ancillary monsters instead of into dramatic urgency or conflict.

So much of Strange World’s audaciousness is front-loaded into its concept, and so little of it comes through in the execution.

Why isn’t this an out-and-out recommendation? It nearly merits that, but the tangled environmental allegory winds up being a royal headache.

While the animation remains top-notch, other aspects of Strange World lack vivacity and emotional connection due to its cookie-cutter procedure in its narrative development.

Quietly inclusive, with its message of family and finding your place in the world, in trippy psychedelic colours, Strange World scores top marks in the entertaining stakes.

The true stars seem to be the animators, who are so far ahead now that it will take some time for directors, screenwriter -- and us -- to catch up with what they’re capable of achieving.

From fantastic animation, a wonderful score & a creative new world. I had fun, but wanted more… feels a bit repetitive with its messaging where I feel like it should have dove more into the world which made me not a fan.