REVIEW: Disney drops the ball with forgettable ‘Wish’

And I thought “Strange World” was underwhelming.

“Wish” is the latest animated feature from Disney and centers on Asha (Ariana DeBose), a young woman who lives in the kingdom Rosas, which is ruled by king and sorcerer Magnifico (Chris Pine). The land’s ruler has garnered a lot of support by taking wishes from his subjects and keeping them safe until he can later grant them.

Asha’s main goal is to become Magnifico’s apprentice, but during her interview process, she finds out Magnifico has rather nefarious motives with the wishes. Disillusioned, she makes her own wish on a star, and it actually works as a magical star does come down to help. With the aid of the star, Asha sets out to set things right in the kingdom.

It’s upsetting how by-the-books “Wish” feels. For more than a decade, Disney was able to put out refreshing takes on woman-led films set during historic eras with magical elements, with entries such as “Princess and the Frog,” “Tangled,” “Frozen,” “Moana” and even “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

Each of those movies were able to take familiar Disney elements and repurposed them with new ideas, compelling characters and passionate story-telling. “Wish,” meanwhile, feels entirely hollow, with Asha’s adventure, the supporting characters and vague themes all underwhelming.

It’s like the whole movie was undercooked. Asha’s quest is so generically boring, and the main conflict comes across as not entirely thought out. There’s little suspense or entertainment value as things unfold, either. At the very least, “Strange World” had a couple thrills and an environmental message.

It doesn’t help that the humor in “Wish” falls awfully flat in almost every attempt. A lot of the botched comedy comes from the talking goat character, Valentino. Disney has made talking animal characters work in the past, from Mushu in “Mulan” to Ray in “Princess and the Frog.” Even Olaf in “Frozen” was a variant of this. 

The writing was often much better for these characters, though, and they also were much more endearing for their involvement in the narrative. With Valentino, there seems to be one joke, which is that he has a deep voice despite being a little goat. He offers little beyond this, and becomes grating as time goes on.

Ariana DeBose, who made a big career step forward with her work in “West Side Story,” does well enough in lending her vocal abilities to the protagonist. The character is underwritten overall, but DeBose tries to give some life and energy to Asha to help her stand out.

The main villain, on the other hand, doesn’t have a particularly great voice. Pine has proven himself as an actor many times but he is definitely miscast here.

Villains in Disney animated features can sound so dastardly sometimes, with standouts like Jafar and Scar showing how it’s done. Pine never comes close to that level of malice. He sounds angry at times, but not evil and menacing.

Even visually, ‘Wish” is disappointing, as it tried for a mix of 3D and traditional art, which has been used to greater success in films like “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” However, with “Wish,” none of the imagery stands out and there’s little that dazzles the eyes.

Also not standing out was the music, which was supposed to be the selling point of the whole movie. The music featured, though, is rarely memorable and doesn’t feel as personal or inspired when compared to songs in other Disney entries. At the end of the day, this one is a low point for the animation studio overall, and is easily skippable. 1 out of 5.