Movie Thoughts: Wish (2023)

• Released: November 8, 2023
  
• Directed by: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
• Running time: 1h 35min
• Rating 2.5/5

Synopsis

A young woman sets out on a quest so rescue a kingdom's wishes from the evil king hoarding them.

My Thoughts

This one I did not see in cinemas when it came out but now that I've finally watched it...eh? I'm not sure what to think. I don't think it's explicitly bad but to call it good would be an overstatement. It's...just kind of a movie. It just exists, but it elicits no real response from me. Most Disney movies at least make me feel something, whether it be positive or negative, when I feel I got absolutely nothing out of this film. 

The story is basic and nothing groundbreaking, but it's really the execution for me that fails. There's other Disney films that have simple stories but great execution. That I just didn't find here at all. I found it be a very bland execution of the concept, with similarly bland characters and especially bland songs. I know I am not always one for musicals, I'll say that much, but the songs in this movie especially didn't do it for me. These don't sound like they belong in a Disney movie, these sound like they belong on a generic radio station. None of these were catchy or memorable and they just don't fit all fit nicely into the story. Even the villain song, something I was glad we were getting, just sounds like another generic pop-y song with no real impact or oomph to it. 

I also gotta say that the goat is an annoying comic relief and I wish he just didn't talk. He was a cute animal sidekick while he didn't, but then as soon as he started speaking he started to annoy me, especially with a few butt jokes he makes. The movie in general wasn't fun or funny to me, again with it really leaving no emotional impact on me whatsoever. 

The visuals, while I like the idea they were going for, also don't look completely realized and at times look a bit unfinished. It's a nice idea for a visual look, but I think they should've fully committed to it and made the unique style really look good, or they just should've gone the 2D route in general, since that's clearly the style they were inspired by for this film. Because right now it just kind of looks...generic. Like your average Disney movie but with a slight filter applied. So it's a nice idea but it just doesn't look fully realized.

Overall this wasn't one of my favorite Disney films from recent years. I still don't think it's explicitly bad or anything, but sometimes being extremely bland and forgettable is worse than being bad.