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The Movie Guru: ‘Strange World,’ ‘Slumberland’ and other Thanksgiving weekend treats

'Strange World' is now playing in theaters.
Disney/Courtesy photo

Strange World (in theaters)

Disney’s stepping back into the world of science fiction, and it pays off in their most entertaining adventure in years. 

“Strange World” takes audiences into the world of old-school pulp sci-fi comics, combining it with an Indiana Jones-feel and a whole buffet of family dynamics. The results capture pure Disney magic while still feeling different than anything Disney has done in a long time. Add in some beautiful, delightfully strange animation, and you have an adventure you’ll want to bring your whole family on.



The movie opens with a small village surrounded by a ring of impossible mountains. The town’s biggest adventurer is determined to cross the mountains no matter what the cost, but his son prefers looking for other solutions to the family’s problems. More than two decades later, the famous family is dragged on an adventure that will take them to an entirely different world.

The animation feels like an experiment in the best possible way, and the family story gives the classic struggle of parental expectations so much depth and richness. It’s satisfying on so many different levels that it will linger in your memory long after the credits roll.

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Grade: Four stars

Slumberland (Netflix)

I think the critics who didn’t like “Slumberland” didn’t actually finish watching it.

Because yes, the movie starts a little slow. Though the visuals are gorgeous, and Jason Momoa is a ton of fun, “Slumberland” starts out feeling like a simple children’s story. A grieving little girl has random adventures through Dreamland with a zany creature only to learn valuable life lessons at the very end. There are some great whimsical touches, including the unexpectedly entertaining use of a garbage truck, but it stretches on a little too long.

Then a plot twist comes midway through the movie that changes everything. What started out as pleasant becomes richly emotional, transforming into a story about family and healing that made me choke up more than once. The ending was definitely one of those moments, managing to be both beautiful and a little bit heartbreaking. It’s still got all the whimsey of before, but now there’s a power behind it.

Together, this is definitely a journey worth taking. Just make sure you stick with it all the way to the end.

Grade: Three and a half stars

Devotion (in theaters)

If you like tragic but ultimately meaningful military movies, then “Devotion” is for you.

The intro says that it’s “inspired” by a true story, but the movie hews much closer to reality than most movies that use the term. While that leaves the script a little more episodic than I might have hoped, it leads to several quietly emotional moments and a gut punch of an ending. It’s a story that deserves to be told, and is told well.

The story follows Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, two pilots flying in the early days of the Korean War. Brown, the only black pilot in the unit, has to deal with racism both personal and systemic. Hudner has the much more complicated battle of understanding what Brown is going through and genuinely supporting him. Jonathan Majors is fantastic as Brown, and Glen Powell brings some good nuance to Hudner. Their scenes together are some of the best in the movie.

Grade: Three stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Denver Film Critics Society. Find her on Twitter at @wardellwriter or drop her a line at themovieguruslc@gmail.com


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