It’s the week/end before Thanksgiving, so you know what that means…
I have a new Disney movie to review! This time is the House of Mouse’s 100th anniversary film, “Wish.” Disney as a brand and as an animation studio are struggling to find a solid footing after the pandemic, underwhelming Disney+ movies, some box office misses, and other political/social controversies.
Can “Wish” help Disney revive its magic for the studio’s centennial celebration?
Well, let’s take a look:
Summary:
Asha and her family live on the island-kingdom of Rosas. Its ruler, King Magnifico, is a powerful sorcerer who has the ability to grant people’s wishes. Over the years, almost everyone has given Magnifico their wishes, but once they do, they don’t remember what their wishes were.
When Asha applies to be Magnifico’s apprentice, she learns he isn’t going to grant most of them, but refuses to give them back. An upset Asha wishes upon a Star, who then appears in Rosas. Asha realizes that the Star can help grant her wish — and Rosas’ wishes — but it’ll require facing Magnifico, who’s become more desperate and crazed…
NO SPOILER REVIEW:
Let me say at the outset that I don’t think this is ~Disney’s worst animated movie ever~.
That said, I did find it underwhelming.
I went in trying to temper my expectations (both good and bad) and keep an open mind. But, I’ll admit I wasn’t very successful. The trailers and promotional material gave me pause. “What exactly is the conflict here? Something about wishes and a Star coming to earth? This animation style looks unconventional — I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Then, Disney released Magnifico’s villain song, “This is the Thanks I Get?“, and Asha’s ‘I want’ song, “This Wish,” a few weeks ago. The latter seemed to work just fine, but the former left me very nervous for the fate of the movie.
I feared Magnifico would be this very soft villain. That the movie would either try to make him sympathetic, or make him too humorous to be taken seriously. There’s at least one “evil” moment in the song that’s undercut with a joke.
I’ll do a deeper dive in my spoiler-filled review, but for now, I’ll say: Magnifico was actually a pretty decent villain. Not the best, but not the worst.
Honestly, that’s how I felt about the movie overall. It was better than “Raya and the Last Dragon,” which I’d argue is the worst Disney animated movie in the last 10 years, but it didn’t reach the heights of “Encanto” or “Moana” either.
My roommate went with me to the early screening tonight, and she felt similarly. I gave the movie a B-, and she gave it a “solid B.” She and I agreed: some aspects of the movie were really good; but others, could’ve been fixed or at least improved with a few minor changes.
- The story was a bit weak to me; there are moments that I’m still scratching my head about. But, I will give the creators this: it was an original story. That was something we desperately needed from Disney right now.
- The music was … fine. Some songs work better than others. There was one in the latter half of the film that reminded me of the Disney Channel “Descendants” movies, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. Honestly, I have a whole diatribe about the music, but that’ll have to wait.
- The animation is actually pretty good. I was skeptical of the style when I saw it in the trailer, but I didn’t notice it at all in the theater.
- The characters are decent. I think Asha and Magnifico are the strongest, which makes sense as they have the most screen time and development. I was very nervous I was going to hate Valentino (Asha’s goat sidekick) because I rolled my eyes at all his jokes in the trailers, and I … still disliked him. But, he did have a few good moments. The rest of the cast are serviceable for the movie’s framework, but I think they’re ultimately forgettable. Honestly, my favorite character was Star. If Disney decides to make Star one of their future mascots at theme parks or whatever and/or there’s a billion Star toys out there this holiday season, I totally get it. Star was perfectly designed: adorable and vivacious, without being annoying. Honestly, I wish we could’ve just had Star as Asha’s sidekick and either eliminated or at least minimized Valentino’s screentime. But, the children in my screening loved all Valentino’s jokes, so I acknowledge I wasn’t the target audience for that character.
- The voice acting and singing all worked for me. Ariana deBose is fantastic as Asha, and honestly, we need Chris Pine to be in more musicals. I thought their few scenes together were the best in the movie, and I wish we’d gotten more between them. (I’ll be expanding on that in the spoiler-filled review.)
For me, the strongest aspect of the movie was the Disney Easter eggs and homages.
As the studio’s 100th anniversary film, there are a lot of fun winks and nods to other Disney movies. Some are very obvious, while others are subtle background details.
I had fun noticing little things like the Evil Queen’s poison apple on a table and the Beast’s rose in the stained glass windows. And, honestly, my favorite part of the movie was the credits. When you see them, you’ll understand why.
FUN FACT: If you stay to the very end — after all the credits — there’s a very short scene. It’s not relevant to the movie or anything. It’s just another fun homage.
Overall, I won’t give a blanket recommendation that you give this a watch this Thanksgiving / winter holiday season. If you or your family saw the trailers and thought it’d be fun, or you’re a die-hard Disney fan, I think you might enjoy it. But, I definitely don’t recommend it as strongly as I did “Encanto” in 2021.