Wish

So guys, we've arrived at the newest Disney Classic and probably my most anticipated in a long, long time, Wish. I mentioned before that I was so incredibly excited for this movie. I thought the trailers were really exciting and from how the story was being presented, not to mention the fact that this was technically a film being made to help celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Disney completely, all that was making me so unbelievably excited to see this. Not only that, but, last week, I actually went to the UK Leicester Square premiere of the movie and it was the very first premiere I've ever been to. Though, for about a week now, I've been hearing that critics weren't liking the film and some were saying it was kinda bad. So, I saw this film yesterday and was curious to know what my thoughts would be like, especially since the last few Disney and Pixar films like Strange World, Lightyear and Elemental have all been big disappointments to me that I personally didn't really like. So, in the end, as much as I really, really, really hate to say it, yeah, I gotta agree with the critics on this one too. I personally thought this movie wasn't good and had some really bad elements to it. I really can't stress enough just how much I hate to say that because I really did have a lot of faith in this film, but I just didn't like it. That's not to say there's nothing good in it at all and that it's terrible, I wouldn't go that far, but I thought this was pretty bad. But, let's get into the review and, like always, this will have no spoilers for the first part and then I'll get into the spoilers after a warning. So, what's the story? In a kingdom called Rosas, there's a king named Magnifico who created the kingdom a long time ago and he's also a person who's studied magic and now has the ability to grant anyone's wish once they've given it to him. One day, a teenager named Asha goes to talk to him about possibly working something out for her family, but, while there, she discovers a truth and the rest of the film is about her trying to figure out how to protect the kingdom all while she's being hunted. That's as far as I'll go in regards to the plot, but there's still a whole lot more that happens in the story overall. So, for this review, I'll go over the things I actually liked in the film first and then go into the negatives, cause there are more negatives than positives. So, like almost every other Disney film and the number 1 thing I always say is that the animation is still spectacular. But it's different here because, normally Disney tries to make everything like designs and textures look as real as possible, but they don't necessarily do that here. It reminds me a lot of Spider-Man:Into The Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-Verse and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. It feels like it's that type of animation, but it's still done in a way where you can still tell it's Disney animation and I really appreciate that. Also, seeing as this is a film being made to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Disney, they made a whole bunch of Disney references. And some were actually really fun to spot. As a giant Disney fan, it was fun to catch smart Easter Eggs for fans like me. That wasn't handled very well for everything, but we'll get into that later. Plus, the number 1 thing I absolutely adored about the film was the songs. I've been listening to them online for ages ever since they were revealed, and they're really amazing. Two of which have actually become two of my favourite songs ever recently and I really loved listening to them. Again, not every song is great, and, especially towards the end, they were used in "not great ways," but, again I'll get into that later. Also, with the songs being so amazing, they're helped greatly by really great voice acting, especially Ariana DeBose as Asha herself. I feel like she made Asha really likeable and I did really like Asha as a character. And, I guess the last positive I'll say is that the movie isn't really boring. Unlike movies like Strange World or Elemental, I wasn't bored to death watching this and I did at least find it entertaining despite all the bad stuff we're gonna get into, and I am weirdly happy this is the newest Disney Classic and the one celebrating the 100 year anniversary. But, with all that said, this film still has a lot of bad things in it and we're gonna get into those now. For starters, the pacing really isn't good here. It gets into the main plot really quickly. There is a bit of time before that, but it's still done extremely quickly and we quickly find out the main conflict pretty fast. I feel like Moana is a good example of where the pacing is done perfectly at the beginning to get us invested in the protagonists and their lives before the adventure kicks off, whereas here, it's done really quick and the main conflict is set up pretty fast too. That also leads to a lot of the film being really predictable and not very engaging, especially when a twist is revealed at the very beginning. Speaking of twist, the whole eventual villain reveal was not only insanely obvious, though I guess it wasn't really meant to be a surprise given the advertising, but still, that also didn't really help with the writing because, once it's revealed, the villain gets really over the top and campy and a lot of moments from that feel really forced and not done in the traditional loving Disney way, just in a really over the top and campy way. Also, some character moments and motivations felt really out of nowhere and sporadic, which also made some eventual redemption moments feel unnatural and not earned. Also, like I said, the film made a whole bunch of different Disney references, and, again, while some were really clever and fun to spot, others were really forced and shoehorned in and felt almost kinda manufactured. The comedy and humour in general also really fell flat for me. Nothing was awful, but nothing really made me laugh either, except a small moment at the end that got a small chuckle out of me, but, at the same time, there wasn't anything unintentionally cringy like in Strange World or Frozen 2, so I guess I'll give it that. The comedy also was another thing that felt kinda manufactured and felt like Disney wanted some pieces of comedy even when it felt really unnatural. Speaking of unnatural, the ending is also another one of the moments that goes really over the top and had some really dumb and cheesy moments, especially the eventual resolution to the whole thing. That might be the closest the film had to a kinda cringy moment. So, yeah, guys, overall, I was super disappointed in this movie. I was really, really holding out a lot of hope for it and really believed it was gonna be amazing, but it just wasn't good in my opinion. Weirdly enough though, again, I actually would kinda like to see it again. Even with all the bad stuff I just mentioned, a part of me does really want to see this again. Unlike some other recent Disney films like Strange World, Elemental, Lightyear and so on, this one I actually would want to see again, even if it does have a lot of bad elements in it. But, yeah, whether or not I can say I'd actually recommend this is a little tough because a part of me does want to say you should give the movie a chance, but there are still all the problems I mentioned. Honestly, I think you should just decide for yourself if this is something you'd be curious to see, but a part of me does still want to recommend it regardless. So everyone, that's my review of Wish. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think. Okay, now we're gonna get into the spoilers, if you don't want anything spoiled, go see the movie, then come back and read the rest of this.

Spoilers:

So, given all the things I listed already, I'm just gonna go through all the major stuff and give my thoughts on each part. So, when I said the pacing at the start felt rushed, I meant the fact that we get the scene of Asha going to Magnifico's palace to become one of his assistance but then she's told about the wishes kept there and then realises he's never going to grant her grandfather's wish because he think it could start a rebellion to take over Rosas and that's all what starts this whole thing. This is what I meant, that whole part went by so fast. I don't even think the first 20 minutes had gone by and we were immediately thrown into the main plot. Also, the whole idea of Magnifico getting worried about something like that about a wish like that was really weird and, while I do kinda get it, it was still really weird and the fact that that's what starts it makes it weirder. I just feel like there were better alternatives and better ways of convincing Asha that Magnifico was crazy. And, again, the fact that Asha then has that blow up with her family also felt really forced and quick. That did however lead to the This Wish song, which might be my favourite in the whole movie. And then, this whole thing leads to Asha making that wish and making a living star come down to her to help her. That part was actually kinda cool, though I don't really know how I feel about Star as a character because it felt like Disney was trying to make him out to be this huge standout character, kinda like Baymax, but I didn't really feel the same and Star doesn't really do anything that special as a character. He wasn't annoying and has some nice moments, but he's nowhere near as big of a standout character as Baymax was. This also then starts that other big problem I had, which was when the film began to become extremely cheesy and over the top and I'm talking about when Magnifico begins to go crazy after using the dark magic. The whole plot of him going crazier and crazier the more he uses it and begins to use the wishes as a means to get stronger is also a part that felt really insane and not really in a good way. This is also where the acting felt kinda off too. I usually love Chris Pine in everything I see him in, but something about his acting here felt really campy and cheesy like I was saying already. This is also what I meant by some things feeling kinda forced. The whole plot point of him getting crazier and crazier was what I meant by that with it feeling like it came out of nowhere and not being properly built up or developed. I also really didn't like the whole thing about one of Asha's friends betraying her and selling her out, that also was another aspect that felt like it was out of nowhere and was just there so it could be there and at the end when he has his redemption is what I meant by it being forced and unnatural and not earned. And all this eventually leads to the finale where Magnifico captures all of Rosas and tries to capture Star and the rest of the Wishes. Honestly, seeing as I already wasn't liking the direction of Magnifico's character and the fact that some other elements throughout were feeling kinda forced, it made it hard to get invested in this part. Speaking of the ending, this is the other thing I mentioned about how the climax was kinda dumb and cheesy, and I was referring to the fact that all of Rosas basically just all believe together to use against him as they're singing and all this eventually overpowers Magnifico and he's then trapped inside the staff he made. This is what I'm talking about, that whole part just felt really over the top and too cheesy, even if I feel like it was trying to invoke some special Disney feelings in the audience, but I don't think it really succeeded. Anyway, after he's defeated, we get the queen trying to fix everything and Asha watching as the citizens begin to do what they wanted and it looked like Star also supposedly made Asha a fairy godmother. I dunno how I feel about that. I guess that's kinda cool, but, again, just another kinda weird moment that I'm not entirely sure how I feel about. But that last scene is also when we get a whole bunch of other Disney references like the whole Peter Pan thing and, again, references like that felt kinda forced and not well executed. The last shot where we see the kingdom like the Cinederella castle opening thing for Disney was actually cool and I liked that one, though maybe because of the other references I wasn't a fan of, that part was kinda dampened for me a bit. However, I did absolutely adore the end credits where they show characters from every Disney Classic up to that point, that was really cool and I loved guessing which one they would pick for each film. So, yeah, that's pretty much it. Again, I just had so many problems with this film and was really expecting it to be spectacular, but it wasn't and am fairly saddened by how much I didn't like it in the end, even if I do strangely want to see it again. I'm curious to know what the next Disney Classic will be and whatever it is, I hope it's better and does better as well. So everyone, that's my review of Wish. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.