Wish is the latest film to release for Disney, in celebration of their 100th anniversary.
Set in the Kingdom of Rosas, founded by King Magnifico and his wife Queen Amaya on an island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Magnifico studied magic and gained the ability to grant the wishes of his subjects. When each resident turns 18, a ceremony is held where they give their wish to Magnifico, who keeps them “safe” in his observatory.
Every month, Magnifico selects one of the residents’ and grants them their wish.
Young girl Asha, full of hopes and dreams, applies to be Magnifico’s apprentice. A highly sought after job as everybody loves and respects the King. In the process, she is disappointed to find out that most of these wishes will never be granted.
This begins her crusade to fight for what she thinks is right and out of frustration she wishes upon a star.
I appreciate that the story isn’t based on a sequel, remake or something that already exists and Disney tries to introduce new characters and settings.
You’ve got all the key character types, a cute star, quirky animal sidekick… I did pick up on the reference to classic Disney characters but didn’t feel like it added much to the film.
There were cute moments but it lacked a charm of the good old Disney princess movies which makes it pretty difficult to fully engage with emotionally or to care for. The villain came across as sudden and forced, like it was only for the purpose of having a villain.
As a 100th anniversary celebration, I don’t think it met the expectations. It’s still a decent family movie, but not something you would reach out to watch over and over.
Disney has set a pretty high standard with its past films and as much as I wanted to love this one, it just wasn’t memorable.