Wish (Disney Animation) (2023) (1 Viewer)

[Jason_V]

My local theater just added a surprise single showtime in their premium auditorium for Tuesday night. It appears that Wish will be alternating in that room with Napoleon. So it actually worked out that I didn't buy a ticket in advance. Now I can go in the premium auditorium without having to refund and rebuy. I had expected Hunger Games to keep the premium room for a second weekend, but apparently not.

Thanks, Jake! We got tix for Saturday in the Dolby theater...hubby and I are taking our two nieces to give their Mom and Dad a little break.

 

[Malcolm R]

Instead of an exciting plot or engaging characters, we get a parade of references to various other films in the Disney canon. I cringed multiple times at cheap one liners that exist for no reason other than to say to the audience, "Hey, remember this other thing you love?" I understand that the studio wanted to honor its historical anniversary, but the filmmakers seem to have forgotten to make this story compelling on its own merits.

I've seen similar reviews that seem to indicate this is more of a feature-length advertisement for the Disney "brand" rather than a cohesive story/film.

 

[Jake Lipson]

this is more of a feature-length advertisement for the Disney "brand"

The problem is that the new characters who are put forth here are just not fleshed out in a compelling way, so all you're left with are the references.

References to past Disney films can work in certain contexts if they are carefully curated and well-integrated into a new story. The best example I can think of is in Aladdin when the Genie turns into Pinocchio when he thinks Aladdin is lying about wanting to set him free. That is hilarious. The choice to do that feels entirely consistent for the character of the Genie and it works to support the emotional beat of the moment.

But in Wish, the references exist for their own sake, rather than because they support the new story, and there are entirely too many of them. They serve to distract from this story instead of supporting it. This puts a priority on references and nowhere near enough on its own construction.

 

[TonyD]

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they launched a new cruise ship names Wish and then almost immediately a new movie named Wish.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The wishing star concept they are working with here has been a central Disney idea going all the way back to Pinocchio. It significantly predated the existence of the cruise ship. I'm not sure if the two are connected or not, but the cruise ship is not referenced in the movie.

 

[benbess]

I'm going to agree with Jake that Wish is a major disappointment. Almost didn't see it after his review, but because I have A-list I've already paid to see most movies, and so I gave it a shot in 3D. The animation is good, but I was even less entertained than I was with the mediocre singing Troll movie. My rating for Wish: C

 

[Jason_V]

Reviews from an 8 and 6 year old:

8 year old says good but scary; 6 year old says funny and not scary. The 6 year old was transfixed.

Hubby and I both liked it. I’m not gonna sit here and pick it apart. It did what we expected it to.

 

[Malcolm R]

Doesn't appear to be off to a great start, probably coming in third or even fourth for the weekend (if Trolls 3 has a good weekend boost).

Reportedly another film costing around $200 million. It'll need good legs like Elemental (which I believe was still not really profitable, but managed to escape "bomb" status).

Both this and Napoleon were released on Tuesday and Napoleon is leading at the box office through Friday despite being on 400 fewer screens and closer to double the running time.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'll go see it for myself, but it is sounding like this generations "The Black Cauldron".

 

[Edwin-S]

Both this and Napoleon were released on Tuesday and Napoleon is leading at the box office through Friday despite being on 400 fewer screens and closer to double the running time.

The reviews for Napoleon haven't been all that good either.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'm going to agree with Jake that Wish is a major disappointment. Almost didn't see it after his review, but because I have A-list I've already paid to see most movies, and so I gave it a shot in 3D. The animation is good, but I was even less entertained than I was with the mediocre singing Troll movie. My rating for Wish: C

Sounds about right.

I didn't actively dislike "Wish", but it seemed paint-by-numbers, like someone asked AI to make a Disney animated film.

There's precious little creativity, fun or charm here.

The film lurches from one banal production number to another without any real momentum or life.

It all feels cobbled from pieces of prior films and never threatens to become an engaging experience.

It also just makes no damned sense too much of the time. Plot holes abound and the film fails to connect in a logical manner.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Theoretical spoilers here, so skip if you want to avoid:

So Asha's 100-year-old grandpa's wish is to be a good musician.

It's unclear - at least in my memory - how long Magnifico's been in the wish-fulfillment business, but since he looks like he's supposed to be 50s or so, we'll be generous and say he's been at it about 30 years.

So Sabino made his wish around 70.

If the dude wanted to learn to play, why in the heck didn't he do so before he turned 70?

And at the end, he fulfills his wish all on his own - and really quickly, it appears! Yet at no point in his long life did he take time to learn to play.

What the wocka???

 

[Edwin-S]

Lately, there have been zero films interesting me enough to bother going to my shitty Cineplex to watch.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'll go see it for myself, but it is sounding like this generations "The Black Cauldron".

I have given Wish the worst comments of anyone in this thread so far. But in terms of box office, it is at least outpacing Strange World from last year. That's really damning it with faint praise, but I'm not sure I would apply The Black Cauldron label here.

Creatively, The Black Cauldron attempted to do something ambitious and different for Disney. Most audiences didn't want that kind of movie from Disney, which is why it bombed. But at least it tried. Wish isn't trying anything, just recycling a weaker version of something we've sen Disney do before.

 

[Jake Lipson]