PremiumWish review - Someone at Disney confused an outdated misfire for a nostalgic ballad and convinced Chris Pine too
Wish doesn’t aim for any redemption because the foundation itself is so weak that nothing concrete can stand on it.
Last Updated: 01.33 PM, Dec 01, 2023
Rosas is ruled by a King called Magnifico who demands his people's wishes in return for security and promises to give them back at the appropriate time. Asha, a teenage girl, realizes that the King actually has evil intentions and makes a wish to a star. The star comes to Earth for her rescue and defeats Magnifico.
Wish Review:
It’s the 100th year of a studio that has sold dreams and made not just kids but also adults believe in the magic of being alive. That there is a toy that could one day speak and become the core of your existence (Pinocchio), that every Sleeping Beauty will have Prince Charming to break the curse, that Mufasa and Simba are how we should lead this life. So when they decide to make a movie called Wish to mark their 100 years of selling magic, the expectations are not just high but emotional because they are showing it to the audience that has technically grown up with them.
But marking a century is about either marinating in nostalgia or showing a peep into the future. No one expects a studio so massive to be stuck in time serving an outdated project that could have been a special ad celebrating the studio's anniversary at a conclave, and a better story getting a budget for becoming a film. Wish as a concept could hold some water because it is about a man who thinks he is doing a wise thing by snatching away the aspiration and the motive off people. The purpose is lost, and these are just bots.
But the problem for Wish begins when writers Allison Moore, Chris Buck, and Fawn Veerasunthorn start developing this story. They are talking about the man who is introduced as a person who knows what it feels like to lose wishes, so he safeguards everyone else’s. Now the biggest problem with this concept is why would someone even think like that unless they know of a gate to magic they can unlock? What is the initial motive? Why would people willingly hand over their wishes and then forget them?
Wish doesn’t aim for any redemption because the foundation itself is so weak that nothing concrete can stand on it. The studio wants to sell it as a reminder of their influence, as a marketing gimmick with multiple Easter Eggs, a movie that will feel like a warm hug of nostalgia. But sadly, Wish doesn’t feel like anything mentioned above. Rather, it feels like a flat story of a girl chasing a problem that, in the first place, is vague. It is not like I am not suspending my disbelief and finding forces logic. It is about having a backdrop that serves as an explanation for what a bad man aspires.
Pixar’s Soul wouldn’t have been Soul if not for the beautiful background that was created. Or the Pinocchio (1940) could have felt like just another cartoon if not for the pain of a lonely man it made us feel. The animation in Wish is very broad-stroked. Only the magic and its aesthetics land well.
What stands out in Wish is Chris Pine trying his best to make his evil King work to the maximum with his voice. Ariana DeBose’s voice is magic not just when she sings but even when she speaks. If there is anything the movie you can hook your hopes on won't be let down, it is her voice.
Wish Final Verdict:
A misfire on an occasion that should have been celebrated by a movie that defines the essence of the studio. Wish is certainly not the film that does that.