Strange World
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: November 23, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonNov 21, 2022
This breathtaking, funny, and heartwarming tale is creativity and sincere storytelling at its finest. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMatthew HuffNov 23, 2022
Strange World feels like a new iteration of Disney, one that is more thoughtful and inclusive without sacrificing any of the humor or fun. Read full review
80
EmpireBen TravisNov 28, 2022
Fast, fun, and full of freaky creatures, Strange World shows that Disney can do all-out action-adventure just as well as fairytale fare – while, hopefully, nudging the studio further towards the future. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenNov 21, 2022
Kids will love its primary-coloured wonderland that teems with weird and wonderful beasts, and only the stoniest-hearted grown-up won’t be moved by its inclusive celebration of family across generations. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesTracy BrownNov 21, 2022
One of Strange World’s triumphs is the vibrant, weird, visually stunning subterranean world that the film’s heroes stumble upon during their quest to save their way of life. From its lush palette to its cute and deadly flora and fauna, this strange, mysterious world is very much deserving of its status as the film’s title character. Read full review
80
SlashfilmJosh SpiegelNov 21, 2022
Though Strange World has no meme-worthy songs like "Encanto," its imagery is singular and unforgettable, and its adventurous spirit is genuine and thrilling. This is the kind of thing Disney should make more often. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeNov 21, 2022
The end of Strange World comes together as one would expect of a Disney offering, but there’s a sweetness to it that may move even the most committed cynic. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicAlexis PotterNov 21, 2022
The film is cute and funny, but it’s also action-packed and much more thrilling than you might expect from a Disney movie, with the same heartwarming lessons you would expect. It's a gem in Disney's new catalog. Read full review
76
PolygonPetrana RadulovicNov 21, 2022
When the emotional heart of the movie focuses on this group of ragtag explorers desperately trying to save the world they know, it’s a grand and exciting adventure, with beautiful scenery and fantastical creatures at every turn. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsNov 23, 2022
It’s “Avatar” meets “Fantastic Voyage,” and it also looks really good on a big screen thanks to Disney’s many, many talented animators. With their help, “Strange World” breezes through a checklist of formulaic plot points and canned emotional revelations with enough style and sensitivity to make it work. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 22, 2022
A sweet, science-fiction family film with a loud environmentalist message (speaking of “Avatar”) that’s good fun. It’s also nicely self-contained. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonNov 22, 2022
Clearly, Strange World is a movie about saving the environment. It is also about the bond between father and son, and how parents must let their kids forge their own paths. Hall and Nguyen deliver these messages with the subtlety of a wrecking ball, but the excellent voice-over work plus the score by Henry Jackman make the preachiness palatable and the film fun. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 21, 2022
It’s a family-friendly fun fest with the expected ingredients of fast-paced action, ingenious visuals, terrific voice performances and, yes, some heaping spoonfuls of upbeat messaging about family ties, the importance of being true to oneself and how we should all take great measures to take care of not only each other but the world in which we live, no matter how STRANGE that world might be. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonNov 21, 2022
But after two instant classics in “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Encanto” in 2021, “Strange World,” while pleasing, is a bit of a step down for Walt Disney Animation. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 21, 2022
An enjoyable piece of vibrant world building that steps away from the musical bent of recent non-Pixar efforts like “Encanto” and the “Frozen” flicks. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaNov 23, 2022
The takeaway is the difficulty of collaboration in the face of entrenched beliefs and ways of navigating the world that, ultimately, must be questioned — if not entirely dismantled — if any one of us expects to stick around. Read full review
70
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaNov 21, 2022
Strange World may fumble its environmentalist themes, but its story of fathers and sons is fairly touching. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 21, 2022
Great as the people and places they explore may be, however, the relatively unimaginative story consigns this gorgeous toon to second-tier status — a notch below director Don Hall’s earlier “Big Hero 6” — instead of cracking the pantheon of Disney classics. Read full review
67
ColliderRoss BonaimeNov 23, 2022
As rich and exciting as this new world is, the characters and script that have been thrown into this scenario are fairly banal, full of tropes and platitudes that we’ve heard countless times in this type of film. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 21, 2022
Strange World isn't afraid of taking on a rich mix of narrative strands: After all, how do intergenerational relationships fit together with an eco-crisis? The answer is very Disney in the best ways, and a rewarding continuation of the studio's recent narrative fascination with overcoming divides rather than evil. Read full review
66
Paste MagazineJacob OllerNov 21, 2022
Strange World’s embrace and rejection of both tradition and modernity can be confounding, despite the undeniable beauty it finds along the way. Read full review
65
TheWrapCarlos AguilarNov 21, 2022
For all the wonderfully weird entities and world-building — with the adorable Splat being the standout — the filmmakers are unable to cohesively merge the fanciful tone with the overbearing precepts they seek to impart. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckNov 23, 2022
Disney’s pleasantly entertaining, gorgeously rendered but slightly heavy-handed meditation on climate change and father-son dynamics. Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramNov 22, 2022
All of this is watchable enough, but Strange World does rather lack dynamism in the final third, especially after such a hallucinatory set-up. As the story heads towards resolution, it becomes more likely to elicit shrugs not shrieks. Read full review
60
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsNov 21, 2022
There’s the nagging feeling that this one is very content to rake old ground rather than search for a new way to express these important, if rather boilerplate ideas. It’s laudable that these lessons are being passed on to a new generation, but it’s hardly new or exciting terrain for storytelling. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 21, 2022
What gives Strange World some forward momentum, however, is the clear affection the filmmakers have for their characters — and that they have for each other - giving the film ample modest charms in its portrayal of basically decent people coming to accept each other’s differences. Read full review
58
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferNov 23, 2022
The Disney animators clearly had a blast creating a world beyond their wildest dreams and finding the connections between all the curios they created. Too bad that they could not let the wider creative team in on the fun – and the audience as well, for that matter. A visual feast leaves the other four senses wanting. Read full review
58
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzNov 21, 2022
Despite all the wonder that Strange World has going for it, the film cannot help but land with the softest of thuds. Read full review
50
IndieWireEmma StefanskyFeb 6, 2023
It’s tough to watch a movie whose rootbound nostalgia keeps it from making good on the promise those stories made to show us something we’ve never seen before. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenNov 23, 2022
The uneasy marriage of clunky psychodrama and overwrought special effects along with the fact that none of these characters are particularly likable make Strange World a chore to sit through. Read full review
50
Washington PostKristen Page-KirbyNov 22, 2022
Maybe Strange World only seems to falter because it can’t handle the weight of its own expectations. Nah. It’s just not very good. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDerek SmithNov 21, 2022
While Strange World’s examination of generational tension is tender and inspiring, as well as nicely tied to its theme of the necessity of adapting to changing times, the film’s sci-fi elements and environmental message are more half-baked in their execution. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithNov 23, 2022
The director Don Hall and his co-director and screenwriter Qui Nguyen (who last year collaborated on a slightly less mediocre Disney picture, “Raya and the Last Dragon”) seem to have put all of their effort into gaudy backgrounds, wacky gadgets and strange ancillary monsters instead of into dramatic urgency or conflict. Read full review
40
The GuardianCath ClarkeNov 21, 2022
The clunky script feels like it’s been re-drafted and re-drafted to the point of incomprehension – blowing any chance of conveying a message. However well-meaning, it makes for a surprisingly dull watch. That said, my five-and-three-quarter-year-old (and clearly a few other younger people in the cinema) were a bit scared by some of the dicier moments of action-adventure peril. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 21, 2022
The film’s stumbling unoriginality, cliched characters and intended jokes that land like flops from a constipated greenhouse gassy cow, however earn every ounce of ire I can summon. Read full review
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