Wish

This movie was boring af. The first song is pretty and I appreciated the chalky animation that appears inspired by the Puss in Boots sequel. Beyond that I was bored to tears.

The plot is beat-by-beat, the villain is pure formula & paper-thin, and they don't invest in any running gags or in enriching any side characters. It's as if they had to reach a deadline so put in the minimal effort necessary to get it finished, which left us with a hollow movie devoid of any magic, held together only by its mind-numbingly predictable narrative.

I feel bad for those who worked hard on this film because this could have been a good movie if the studio just took the time to fill it with personality and character. Instead, Wish is a pretty lifeless addition to the Disney canon.

Note: Apparently there has been a hate-train trashing this film trending all over TikTok. It is why my niece already had a well-formulated opinion on the film at Thanksgiving dinner without having even seen it. Sadly, the thoughts she echoed were pretty spot-on, so she just saved me the trouble of warning her against it.

In Wish, Disney honors their tradition, and at the same time adds a new movie to their catalogue of animated films. Wish is a nice movie, but lacks what makes Disney animated movies so special.

In Wish, young Asha wishes on a star, and gets more than she bargained for when a star comes down to help her in her quest to defeat the evil king Magnifico.

The greatest advantage the movie has is its gorgeous animation, the brushstrokes painted beautifully on the screen. It is a wondrous blend of hand-drawn animation and 3d animation, a la Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. I hope we get many more films animated in this style, as it is very relaxing and nice to look at.

If only the story matched the visuals... An overly simple story lacks anything of substance. And yes, I'm taking into account that this is a kids movie. I sympathized with the villain (who did not begin the movie evil) in the beginning of the film, only for him to suddenly turn evil out of no where. The film also suffers from a horrifying over dependence on magic. The songs are very good, but they all sound about the same, which isn't a problem in the movie, but I can't imagine the music in this movie selling many CDs. I do have to give the voice actors some credit though. They didn't do anything award worthy, but they did an excellent job.

That being said, while I watched this movie, I enjoyed it. The only reason I went to see it was to take my nephews. Disney has a rich history of making the greatest animated classics of all time. They have a proven formula that works, and I hope they either return to it in the future, or try something else besides Wish. It's a decent movie, but there's nothing memorable about it, and I don't expect it will be long before it is forgotten.

I had high hopes for this movie. After the box office flop 'Strange World', which looked loud and unappealing and most of all very un-Disney, it seemed this movie was going to be a return to form. It even promised the return of the great Disney villain, a concept strangely abandoned by the studio for almost a decade (preferring 'twist villains' or no villains instead).

Sadly, the return of the villain is the only real benefit of this movie. For what it is, it's not terrible per se, but all is wholly forgettable, from the music to the animation to the characters. I'd say the latter is the most problematic aspect of 'Wish'. Asha is the most unoriginal, uninspired protagonist of any Disney movie. Even annoying leads in a Disney picture leave an impression, like the cows in 'Home On The Range'. Asha, on the other hand, not only looks like an identical twin of recent heroïnes like Anna, Mirabel and Rapunzel (the latter of whom she resembles most) but also acts like them. It's the exact same 'quirky awkward nervous teen girl' all over again without a shred of uniqueness that would make her a recognizable character of her own.

It's hard to root for a heroïne as empty and shallow as that. Especially when the villain's objectives are equally as empty and shallow. He wants power over people because... he wants power over people? The story is severely lacking. You would expect more from Disney's outing in its 100th birthyear, but it basically boils down to something as banal as 'he has the wishes and she wants to give the wishes back'. It's not a very exciting proposition and there's not much you can do with such a bare bones simplistic story. Which I guess is where all the padding comes from. And by god, is it terrible.

None of the goat's lines are funny. He's clearly meant as the funny sidekick but he didn't make me laugh even once. Nor did any of the other side characters, who are even more bland than Asha. Does anyone remember any joke from the movie that cracked a smile for them? I found the humor very much aimed at little kids, but then again I would say most of this movie is aimed at little kids. Even the animation looks like a saturday morning cartoon. It had a lot of potential, the blend of 2D with 3D. I will give the movie this: at least it looks different than the other Disney computer animated movies, the way handdrawn movies looked different (compare, say, 'Atlantis' to 'Lilo & Stitch').

The most underwhelming aspect of this movie were the songs. Most of them are pointless, the lyrics are laughably weak and they fail to illuminate important plot points (as is customary in Disney musicals). I found them sadly unimaginative, not catchy or memorable, and with the villain song I was even hoping it would be over soon, that's how bad that one was. I also dislike the modern pop sound the songs had, which is jarring when shoehorned into a supposed fairytale. It makes you long for the days of the Disney Renaissance.

All in all, 'Wish' is not the worst Disney movie by a long shot and it's wholly unoffensive and it had some potential but that potential was never realized. As it stands, it's a pretty mediocre film that serves as babysitter material on Disney+ but can't stand alongside the Classics of (even the recent) past.

Disney's 100th celebration falls flat with "Wish," a film that struggles to maintain its own identity in the beloved Disney animated canon.

Unfortunately the problem with the film is the story is so underdeveloped and poorly executed. There are no stakes and the end result is a muddled theme, uneven pacing, and boring, flat characters. The film attempts to pay homage to older Disney classics and all the ingredients are there: lovable characters, a menacing, tongue-in cheek villain, cute animal sidekicks, and interesting concepts; but instead of "showing" the character beats like older films, we are "told" the story through bland dialogue and little action. Asha joins Disney's recent line of uninspiring "adorkable" female protagonists, with no defining motivations or character growth. This quirky, clumsy character archetype for Disney princesses has been recycled for the past decade with Rapunzel, Anna, Moana, and Mirabel. The animation and sound don't fair better, with bland, pop-y music that feels like filler and a combination of animation styles that look unpolished. There is no "Be Our Guest," "Part of your World," "Let it Go" or "We Don't Talk about Bruno".

It's laughable that one of the lyrics to the song "I'm a Star" in the movie is "in this universe we are all shareholders." Wish remains harmless entertainment for families but is a painful reminder of what this film sets out to do: please investors. This film is a rushed, soulless, by the numbers paint-job with no innovation in storytelling or animation. A massive disappointment to Disney's legacy and a poor excuse for their 100th animated film.

As a 100th anniversary celebration, this was seriously below par, given Disney's recent, dreary output, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this was woeful.

It felt as though they'd borrowed bits of Disney classics, and bolted them together as a kind of eco friendly Frankenstein. It doesn't manage to spark into life, arguably the most forgettable Disney characters to date.

I've read several comments about the animation, and plenty seem to applaud the style, quality and colours, let me be honest, this sucks, the most basic and unimaginative animation I think I've seen, to me it looks unfinished, did they get it out in a rush, or were there budget cuts, this isn't Disney standard, let alone a Centenary special.

I genuinely fear for Disney, everything they're touching seems to be going to pot, they need a major shake up, Snow White doesn't look like a classic, where do Disney go from this?

Woeful.

4/10.