Walt Disney Animation’s “musical fantasy film” Wish hits theaters this Wednesday, November 22. It features Ariana DeBose as the movie’s antagonist, Asha, a caring young woman who wishes upon a star and connects with it after learning that wishes were being left forever unfulfilled by Rosas’ king, Magnifico (Chris Pine). In addition to DeBose and Pine, the film has a star-studded voice cast including Victor Garber, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, and the always delightful Harvey Guillen.
I will be the first to say I am probably not the target demographic for a movie like this, and thus, I am probably a lot more critical than a child seeing the movie would be. With that said, I’ll start with the good: DeBose is great. I love her voice and I think Asha’s dedication, especially to her grandfather, is admirable. Having lost a parent at a young age like she did, I could identify with that aspect of the character. Asha also teaches a valuable lesson, beyond, of course, the value of a wish, and that is to not just follow along when you see someone doing the wrong thing.
I went into the movie fairly blind without having seen any. trailers or anything, so I was surprised when — I don’t think this is a spoiler – Chris Pine’s King Magnifico turned out to be a bad guy. I was glad about it, though, because the early moments of the movie seem almost cult-y with praise for him. Pine has an excellent singing voice as well, which is something I somehow managed to not end up seeing before, despite him getting acclaim for it in the past.
The backgrounds and locations of the movie are among my favorite parts of the film, because they almost look like storybook paintings. The animators did a fantastic job.
Where does Wish fall apart? Disney fans, please don’t hate me…
First off, the movie begins with what feel like collections of scenes so we can get a checklist of all we need to know. Asha has a pet goat that I couldn’t tell if it was a goat, or a dog, or a cat at first. Asha’s friends all seem to represent the Seven Dwarfs, and I enjoyed them a lot more once I realized that fact. Some of them don’t have much character, but I did particularly like her friend Dahlia (Jennifer Kumiyama) and their little grumpy friend Gabo (Harvey Guillen) ran away with many of the best lines. Many adults who watch the movie will definitely identify with Gabo the most, because a lot of us were like Gabo in one way or another.
Secondly, while the songs sound great in the course of the film… none are earworms. Even two hours after leaving the theater I couldn’t remember any of them. Contrast that from a “Let It Go” or “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from other contemporary Disney pictures. It’s a shame because the vocals are so good, but they’re just not memorable… and I think what also hurt the music in the film is that it seemed to come out of nowhere and be at the wrong times. The title song sung by DeBose is pretty good, but maybe it’s not a good idea to cut into a loud musical number when you’re standing on the roof of a castle, or hiding in a room from your enemies. Again making a comparison to other Disney films, where it seems like the music is a natural progression.
The movie is a tribute in some ways to Disney’s 100 years, and as such, there are some references to other projects that aren’t as clever as they think they are. I did like the closing credits, though, which reminded us of great characters who wished in 100 years of Disney greatness.
Finally, with it being Disney, you’d think we’d hear “When You Wish Upon A Star,” right? Watch the movie all the way through to see if we do.
I do think younger people will enjoy Wish and I do think there were some characters and talent involved here who should not be overlooked. That said, for me I’d rate at about 5/10… it’s fine. It’s definitely not bad. But like Asha, maybe I wish for something more than this. *
(* I had to look up that lyric.)
