2023 is the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Pictures and
Wish is the movie that celebrates the studio's centennial. In their latest animated project, Ariana DeBose voices a young girl named Asha who lives in a kingdom whose king grants a wish from one of his subjects once a month with the caveat that all other desires are forgotten by those he hasn't fulfilled. When she is given the chance to be King Magnifico's apprentice Asha learns that he only grants desires that won't risk his rule, including her grandfather's long awaited wish to become a musician. Unable to fight back against Magnifico, Asha's wish towards a shooting star leads to the star to become alive and leads to the two and Asha's friends to rebel against Magnifico who starts to use dark magic when he feels threatened. As Disney is well known for adapting old fairy tale stories, its animation style is a pretty good, though not perfect, combination of traditional and computer generated animation. It gives it a very storybook feel that would often open the early Disney films like
Snow White and
Pinocchio. One flaw is that some of the movement by the characters at the start does feel a bit stiff, but does improve as it goes. But the designs, look, lighting, color, and backgrounds do look incredibly stunning thanks to cinematographers Rob Dressel and Adolph Lusinsky. The initial story is perfect for celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary, and Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore do a great job at showcasing the studio's legacy through many great references, but it feels very cliche. Magnifico's turn to villainy felt like it needed more time, certain aspects of Asha's journey are a bit bland, and often certain choices the characters make are done just to reference Disney's past. However, Lee and Lusinsky do manage to make the characters likable enough to at least not make them boring and keep them endearing. Normally, Disney animated films excel best with the music, and while Dave Metzger's score is good, sadly the songs from Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice aren't the strongest. The opening song where Asha welcomes new people to Rosas isn't too strong and Magnifico's villain song is just okay but not highly memorable. The best one is definitely Asha's "This Wish", which gets a reprise with the other cast members, and manages to be highly memorable but also feeling like it needed more. But if there's one thing that you can't take away from this movie are the strong performances from its cast. Alongside DeBose you have Chris Pine having a fun time as a villain, Victor Garber giving a lot of warmth as Asha's grandfather, and Alan Tudyk stealing the movie as Asha's goat. While
Wish may not be the best film to celebrate its parent company's centennial, that shouldn't take away from what is a wonderful looking, but very flawed, movie. Over all: 84%
2023 top list so far:
1. Oppenheimer
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Godzilla Minus One
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
5. Asteroid City
6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
7. Blue Beetle
8. Barbie
9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1
10. Elemental
11. Air
12. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
13. Creed III
14. John Wick: Chapter 4
15. Scream VI
16. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
17. Killers of the Flower Moon
18. M3GAN
19. Dumb Money
20. The Marvels
21. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
22. Cocaine Bear
23. Knock at the Cabin
24. The Flash
25. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
26. Wish
27. Renfield
28. Fast X
29. The Little Mermaid 2023
30. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
31. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
32. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
