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Disney's 'Wish' is Disappointing.

RJ Winter

[This review contains spoilers for Wish (2023)]

Before I watched Wish, I did something I don't normally do: I let myself read one of the (non-spoiler) reviews that was published before the movie released. I don't usually like to do that, because I feel it gives away too much of the story if I want to be surprised, but I was intrigued after talking with a friend about how the critic consensus was that it was mediocre and didn't push the boundaries of Disney.

All in all, those complaints didn't turn me off the movie. If anything, it made me look forward to it; those same reviews praised the soundtrack and the homages to Disney's history, and that's arguably the most important thing for a musical intended to celebrate the studio's centennial anniversary.

As a rule, Disney holds itself to a certain standard of quality. I thought that it would be fine, maybe a little bit boring.

Let me say this: Wish is not boring.

To follow up on that, though, it also isn't good. It's not even really mediocre. I hesitate to call it bad outright, if only because there's quite a bit of potential underneath, but I certainly can't give it the same praise I've seen others offer.

Let's start off with the things that this movie does well: the visuals are beautiful, calling back to the 2D animation that Disney was built on without directly returning to that style. Most of the character designs feel the same way. The standout song, This Wish, was the only thing from the soundtrack I let myself listen to before watching the movie (as it was the first song they released), and I'll probably continue listening to it on my own time because I do really like it. Perhaps most importantly, considering this movie's entire reason for existence, the subtle homages to Disney's history were a welcome addition and a nice touch. Also, the little star critter is adorable; as is its way of communicating, given that it can't talk.

And now that I've sufficiently praised the things I thought were good, let's address the parts where the movie falls flat: first, and most damningly, Wish is a musical comedy with jokes and songs that both tend to miss the mark. A number of the homages to Disney's history aren't the subtle ones I praised before, but instead a lot more overt in a way that's often distracting.

Its comedy is often in the same vein as something like Frozen, and while I'm in the camp that does still like that movie I have to admit that ten years on I'd like to see them try a different approach. I had hope that they would lean more into the old styles of storytelling, of something timeless, but Wish is unfortunately filled with jokes that rarely land and already feel somewhat dated. The best example of that is the goat, Valentino, whose design feels as out of place as his comedic timing.

Earlier I praised This Wish, the standout song, because it made it feel like a true return to form for Disney--feeling somewhat fresh but also calling back to the classics. However, it exemplifies some other problems with the movie: first, that the pacing in this film is outright bad. It feels like they had to squish a much longer story into their 95-minute runtime, or maybe like a handful of scripts got squished together and the final product either wasn't edited at all or went through one too many revisions.

And, similarly, the entire thing feels disjointed; none of these songs feel like they belong in the same story. A musical is only as good as its soundtrack, so let's go over each song and my personal gripes with it:

Welcome to Rosas, the opening number, is a passable opener for this movie. I actually like the first minute or so of it, before it devolves into heavy foreshadowing and jokes that don't seem to land, at least for me. It does feel the most tonally consistent overall with the rest of the movie, so there's that.

At All Costs, the duet between Asha and King Magnifico, is clearly a remnant from an older draft. The demo makes it an outright love song duet, and I've heard that an earlier version had the star be a boy and potentially had a romance between him and Asha in the script, so that's quite possibly where this came from. It feels strange and out of place, especially in the scene it's in, and the alterations to make it less overtly romantic do it a disservice. I do like the demo version, though.

This Wish is, as mentioned, the standout song; my issues with it are unrelated to the music. It's a song that belongs in a movie with more heart behind it than this one, and feels like another remnant from a different take on the storyline; the movie itself feels like it was rushing to get to this point and so the moment doesn't feel earned. Several things, such as Asha recalling her late father's lessons, would have more impact if we'd seen them more clearly beforehand. Most importantly, though, Asha hasn't gone through any real development or change at this point in the story--despite the song itself claiming that it should be a turning point for her.

I'm A Star has a lot of little bits that I like, but the focus on comedy that slowly slips in brings it down; the ending having the 'homage' to Disney's history that I found the most painful to watch. I think that with less comedic asides, I would like the overall song more. It's another one that feels like it was at least meant for this version of the movie, but I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.

This Is The Thanks I Get is just not a good villain song, which pains me to say as someone who absolutely adores the old ones. It lacks style and substance, and overall it feels like a first draft song that would benefit from some heavy rewrites; as is, it's not funny or menacing. Magnifico in general suffers from them seeming to take him from being an outright villain from the start to trying to give him a sympathetic origin but only ever committing to it halfway. A villain song about someone being corrupted by the darkness in their panic can work; but he snaps too quickly.

Knowing What I Know Now is another song that feels like a very disjointed first draft. There's potential underneath it, but it's buried in how everything is so rushed and seemingly haphazardly slapped together.

The reprise of This Wish feels even more unearned than the original song does; existing solely to serve this scene in the plot rather than for the sake of the story and the characters. I like the idea behind it, it has some of the same heart, but it feels strange and out of place in this version of the movie. It definitely doesn't hit the way it was intended to.

In the end, Wish feels like several movies, all of which have the potential to be good, but none of which were successfully realized; and that genuinely pains me to say, as someone who grew up loving Disney and its history.