2 days before Thanksgiving, I saw Disney's attempt at celebrating 100 years of entertaining us with it's newest movie "Wish". While the movie somewhat had a lot going for it, it also had a lot going against it as I was fully aware of the not-so great reception that it has been receiving. The movie centers on Asha, a 17-year-old living in a kingdom where its idiot residents give up their wishes to its ruler King Magnifico. When she discovers that most people's wishes will not be granted, Asha wishes upon a star. And to her surprise, the star literally comes down to help free the wishes.
I genuinely wanted this to be an amazing movie because I liked the trailers, I liked that Disney was jumping in on the Spider-Verse wagon, and I really am happy for the company as 100 years is a huge achievement. But in the end, it was just......fine. That's it. And the movie has a lot of issues.
For starters; the pacing. The pacing for the movie in my opinion is way too fast. I feel like it got to certain points of the movie a little too quickly and they could've fleshed out the plot (as well as some of the characters) a little more. The problem is the movie focused too much on making references to past Disney films, with one of the biggest references being Asha's group of friends (who are clearly based on the 7 dwarfs). Don't get me wrong, personally I love the references as they were very nostalgic, but they did overdo it to the point where it somewhat destroyed any chances of developing the plot or its characters. You've also noticed that I called the residents of Rosa idiots. It's obvious that those wishes are very important to them and a part of who they are. Trusting that to someone else is a very stupid idea. I don't care if the person's a king, queen, prime minister, president, or whatever. Unless you're Jesus, I would never trust something that personal to someone else. There were also moments in the film that was overdramatic and a little cheesy, most notably the final battle of the movie. The resolution of it was kind of ridiculous.
There's nothing particularly bad or great about the characters (except one). Asha is your typical awkward Disney heroine, which would've been fine if that trope wasn't either overused or wasn't a good fit for her character. But other than that, she didn't really piss me off, she just didn't stand out either. Only 3 of her friends were useful (or entertaining) to an extent, and the the goat did not need to be there at all. The star was cute, and I wouldn't mind seeing him again. King Magnifico is easily the best character of the movie. I wouldn't say he's as great as Disney's other villains, but still memorable enough to the point where I felt he was too good for the movie. Though he probably needed some more development as well.
The songs aren't bad, just not great. This Wish is pretty much your typical Disney Princess song, This Is The Thanks I Get is your typical Disney Villain song, and I kind of got into Knowing What I Know Now, but just barely. For some reason I really like At All Costs. Is it by all means a great song? No. But there are some nice harmonies in the song though.
The voice acting as well as the singing was actually pretty good. I don't like Ariana DeBose, but she did a decent job as Asha. Her, Alan Tudyk, and Chris Pine (especially Pine) were the only ones who really stood out in the movie. Tudyk (who voices the goat) did the best he could with what he was given. Chris Pine was AWESOME as Magnifico. Not only is he a decent singer, but he absolutely sold his decent into madness and his lust for power.
And lastly, I did like the animation. As I mentioned earlier, Disney jumped in on the Spider-Verse wagon. A little late, but they jumped in. If that's getting old for some people, fine. But I love this type of animation and will gladly embrace it.
I want to celebrate Disney's 100 years, but it feels so bittersweet. If I were them, I would've gladly left the nostalgia to the Once Upon A Studio short, which I had the pleasure of watching recently. It was a better celebration than this movie. At least doing what I suggested would've given the movie the room it needed to succeed. This has been a very bad year for Disney, and I (ironically) wish I could celebrate this achievement as this company is part of my childhood. But it's so sad to see it sink so low.
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