There is a lot that doesn't work in Disney Animation's latest original effort, Wish, but the main culprit is a plot that never clicks into place. The stakes never really matter, the characters never endear, and the songs never elevate anything that's happening on screen. But it's the story that's a mish-mash of messages, and that's likely caused by the fact that a committee wrote the 95-minute family film starring Ariana DeBose as Asha, a teen hoping to save her quiet little village from a king (Chris Pine) who wields his power in the form of wishes held captive. Jennifer Lee (who wrote the modern classic Frozen) and Allison Moore are credited with the screenplay, but there are no fewer than four other individuals who contributed to the story, too. A writer's room this crowded is never a good sign, usually indicating that the story proved hard to wrangle and make sense of.
Even as I write this, I'm not entirely sure the premise of Wish, directed by Chris Buck (Frozen) and Fawn Veerasunthorn, as the filmmakers never deem it necessary to spend much time world-building here. There's a brief introduction, narrated by DeBose, that harkens back to classic Disney animated features, a storybook motif that sets up how Magnifico (Pine) came to be king of the small island of Rosas, deep in the Mediterranean Sea. A wizard who discovered the ability to grant wishes, he now reigns over the town deciding which wishes to grant and which to let linger, his townspeople kept to hoping they'll be lucky enough to be chosen but having forgotten their wishes the minute they give them over to Magnifico. It's unnecessarily complicated. Then again, maybe it is necessary; if the townspeople could remember their own wishes, they'd just pursue them themselves, Magnifico wouldn't hold any power over them, and the whole reason for this movie existing would vanish, too.
As the king's apprentice, Asha learns what he's keeping from the village and decides it's up to her (and her posse of friends) to unmask his wrongdoing and return everyone's wishes, primarily her mother's and grandfather's. But things, of course, don't go according to plan, so she sends a wish up to the stars for help and the stars send back one of their own. The non-verbal star is a cute little companion, causing all kinds of trouble before ultimately helping Asha and her friends bring Magnifico down (this is Disney, after all, so that's not a spoiler). There are many more narrative threads to Wish, from a talking goat (Alan Tudyk) who cracks wise to the queen and her relationships to both her husband and her people and so on. Kids might not be able to keep up, but they'll be mesmerized by the scene with silly dancing chickens I guess.
Where a Disney film falls short on story, it can usually at least make up for in music, but Wish can't even muster that saving grace. With songs by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice (no relation, as far as I can tell, to the great Tim Rice, who wrote lyrics for many a memorable Disney song), not a one is noteworthy and some are borderline bad. The lyrics don't make sense ("throw caution to every warning sign"?! what does that even mean?), and some seem to be shoehorned into scenes for the sake of Original Song Oscar qualifying.
DeBose has come a long way since performing as "the bullet" in Hamilton, and she does an admirable job voice-acting as a rambunctious, convicted teenager determined to help her family and friends; she shines even brighter in her solos. But a beautiful voice can't overcome bad material, and what Michaels and Rice have provided here is not good. And though Chris Pine isn't new to singing in his films (see: Into the Woods), he too is encumbered by lackluster numbers that never convey just what a dastardly oppressor he really is. There's no epic villain number here.
Credit where credit is due, I'm grateful to the powers that be at Disney for taking a risk on an original story like Wish. After all, Frozen, Moana and Encanto were all narratives created out of the imaginations of storytellers with something new to say. But risks don't always come with rewards, and though the film has all the hallmarks of a Disney animated feature—plucky young female protagonist, at least one dead parent, an evil ruler, a witty sidekick, etc.—its parts don't add up to the kind of generous sum we've come to expect from this century-old studio.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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