Well guys... this is it... the big one... the real celebration of the centennial of one of the greatest animation studios in the world! Their BIG COMEBACK AFTER STRANGE WOR- oh wait...
I'm not gonna lie people, this hurts a little... not exactly because of the movie itself (which I'll get to in a minute), but because of how this was made as a love letter to the 100 year legacy of Disney Animation, only for it to completely crumble at the box office (even getting overshadowed in North America by "Trolls Band Together" of all things! GRRR!), become one of Disney's most polarizing films yet for both critics and audiences, and hardly even get any recognition during award season, not even a single Oscar or Annie nomination!
I had so much hope that this would save them after the disastrous previous year, and even Bob Iger tried to help this film the best he could, yet it still wasn't enough...
Not to mention the RIDICULOUS hate campaign that seems to come with EVERY ONE OF THEIR new films now! I mean, I agree that Wish isn't one of their best films by any means, but COME ON! It's FAR from one of their worst, like have you SEEN films like Home on the Range or Chicken Little?! Oh, you have?... And you like them?... ok then...
But in all seriousness, regardless of what we all think of Wish, THIS amount of hate is both pathetic and a complete disaster for the animation community (as if it hadn't embarrassed itself enough)! Anyways...
The film IS rather interesting with how it references all the past Disney films (right down to the Snow White style opening and narration), in fact, I heard that the people who worked on this actually watched ALL 61 of the studio's previous films as they were making this, and it really shows.
In a way, this film is like the Disney equivalent of Illumination's recent Super Mario Bros. Movie, which I wasn't the biggest fan of tbh, but I can KINDA see the appeal among Mario fans, especially after seeing this film as a huge fan of Disney Animation. And I'll admit, it was kinda fun playing a game of "spot the reference" while watching this. I will admit though that a couple of references and "cameos" CAN feel a little odd (for example: I don't get why "Bambi" always acts like he's stoned in this movie).
And no, I unfortunately didn't catch ALL the references at first glance. But then again, who actually did? Lol
I also like however that this film still tries to be it's own standalone film, with a pretty interesting concept about wishes in general, like how the Kingdom of Rosas carries a bunch of wishes from the public and grants them one by one or how everyone's wishes are part of who they are (and in a way, they kinda feel soulless without them). And I do like how this film can also easily serve as an origin story about disney's wishing star or other aspects of classic disney like the fairy godmother (or her DESCENDENTS. At least that's the way I see it) or the magic mirror.
And on a side note, I feel some people misinterpret the themes a bit too much by saying "Oh! Granting everyone's wishes is dangerous!", because Asha's goal isn't to have everyone's wishes granted, it's to give the wishes back to them and let them try to make the wishes a reality THEMSELVES instead of just relying on a king to give them what they desire on a silver platter. Heck, even the movie itself explains it!
However, even I admit there's a bit of an issue with how the story is executed at times...
For example, while the main character, Asha and the villain, King Magnifico are pretty solid and by far the best and most developed characters in the movie (even if they both can arguably be a bit too over the top at times, even though I personally didn't mind that much) and Star and Valentino ARE cute and kinda funny in their own right, the rest of the characters (although not bad per se) are pretty much one dimensional with little to offer besides either having one old character trope or being a modern version of old disney characters like Asha's friends being a more diverse version of the seven dwarfs for example (I still like how the movie represents different races and even handicaps though). Heck, even Asha and Magnifico as likeable and entertaining as they are, aren't really enough to make this movie great.
And on top of that, you can definitely make the argument that it tries a bit too hard to honor the past disney films and not exactly enough to create new and fresh ideas, but hey, the way I see it, they still tried.
With that said though, let's talk about the protagonist and antagonist in more detail.
Asha for example, may be a little cliched with how she's kinda the typical quirky disney protagonist that even I admit has been done better in other films, but even then, I love how she has such a strong care for the people of Rosas and their wishes (especially her grandfather's, whom like Disney itself, has turned 100 years old. Lol) even if it means changing the status quo. And for those who like to say Asha was a spoiled brat and Magnifico was actually a good guy and yadda yadda, I didn't see that at ANY POINT in the film with the former, I mean yeah, you can definitely argue she made mistakes, but NONE of her actions suggested to me that she was selfish, and yeah you can argue that nothing bad would've happened if she didn't do anything, but I still don't blame her too much for wanting her grandfather's wish granted AND for wanting the absolute best for her people rather than sticking with the status quo, and even if she arguably made her mistakes, she still owed up to them I feel, and I find it honorable that she still wants to help the rest of the city once Magnifico shows his true colors.
And on top of that, I do think it gives a good message that I think a LOT of people (especially rich people and people in power) need to hear, which is that you DON'T ALWAYS have to stick with old beliefs and traditions or kick the can down the road! You CAN make changes! And you CAN take risks! You just gotta be careful with how you do it.
As for King Magnifico, again, even I admit he's not one of the very best disney villains, but I'm still grateful that we FINALLY got a straightforward entertaining villain from disney for the first time in 13 YEARS! And with that said, I do think he stands out fine on his own with his narcassism and dictator's mentality. And maybe he DID care about his people and their wishes in a way when he first built his kingdom, but I feel he most likely already became consumed with power and greed along the way BEFORE he opened the book (either that or he was just lying about what type of person he was the whole time, I don't know. Lol).
And with that said, Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine do help make these two characters enjoyable as well with their performances. (Also, I still find it kinda funny how Chris Pine went from voicing a DreamWorks hero in Rise of the Guardians to voicing a Disney villain in this film)
Then there's the highly polarizing animation.
Now admittedly in hindsight, It's not the best 2D looking computer animation I've seen, but I still think it looks beautiful in it's own right (at least 98% of the time), especially with how the backgrounds and some of the effects look EXACTLY like they were made in 2D or with watercolors!
And btw, PLEASE stop with the AI accusations!
Anyways, there is also the songs made by pop singers/songwriters, Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice.
Again, I admit it's not among my Top 10 disney soundtracks, and perhaps most of them don't exactly have the best lyrics... but again, I still enjoy them for what they are.
"Welcome to Rosas", "At All Costs", "This Wish" (that's probably my favorite one, which also comes with a powerful reprise btw), "I'm a Star", "Knowing What We Know How", you name it!
Heck, I even like "This is the Thanks I Get?!"! Yeah, I don't care if it's not one of the best or the most evil sounding of disney villain songs, I still think it's enjoyable and catchy as heck! I even like this song better than "Mother Knows Best" from Tangled. Yeah, I said it! And on another side note, I sometimes wonder if this song is actually how Disney themselves feel about their haters. XD
Even the end credits song sang by Julia Michaels herself "A Wish Worth Making" grew on me a little, and admittedly I shed tears a lot of the times I listen to it for multiple reasons, whether it be while watching the credits themselves that *SPOILER* beautifully highlights most of their filmmography by showing one character or two from each film in star form, or while watching the music video that is an equally beautiful tribute to Disney Animation.
So yeah, overall it may not be one of Disney's best efforts (especially in recent years), I do think there's more they could've done with it, and maybe it works better as a tribute to Disney Animation than a standalone film, but I still think it's a solid and enjoyable film, and that it definitely doesn't deserve most of the ridicule it's getting. Heck, I'd say this film is another prime example of how we shouldn't fully depend on critics and that we should decide for OURSELVES whether it's worth seeing in theaters and whether we actually like it or not! (It's kinda like Rosas' relationship with their king funny enough.)
Another thing that made it's disappointing box office numbers and reception so sad for me is that when I saw the film in theaters myself, everybody (or at least most) in the theater actually gave it a STANDING OVATION once the credits rolled! Something I don't think I ever saw with any other film I've seen in theaters, which made my hopes a bit too high in hindsight. But still, seeing that DID tell me that this film has an audience, just not enough for it to break even at the box office or get recognized by most of the big award shows sadly. (But again, to paraphraise Lightning McQueen and Doc Hudson, they're just tiny statues)
So I ask of you all now to stop setting your standards towards Disney Animation or Pixar ridiculously high, acknowledge that their employees are people like us and aren't always gonna make masterpieces, STOP CALLING PEOPLE LIKE ME SHILLS BECAUSE DISNEY NEVER PAID ME A DANG PENNY OR NICKEL, and give films like this a second chance, and whether your opinion changes or not, that's alright with me (unless you continue to be disrespectful and condescending of course).
Anyways, regardless of where they are now or where they'll go in the next 100 years, Disney Animation will always have a special place in my heart!
8/10 (Good)
(And now for the aforementioned beautiful tribute to play us out!)
I like to start off by saying that over the past weekend, I actually went and did something that I considered unthinkable for me to do for more than a decade now...
I saw the Twilight films...
And yes... they're pretty bad... they're stupid, a lot of the decisions the main characters (Bella, Edward and Jacob) make are baffling, they have horrible CG effects, they really give the impression that they were mostly made as eye candy for vampire loving teenage girls to get them in theater seats, and I'm still a tad salty that the whole franchise overshadowed good or even great films like Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, and Rise of the Guardians at the box office, but... I wouldn't say watching them at least once was a COMPLETE waste of time.
As boring as I found the first two (Twilight and New Moon) for the most part, I did get a bit of enjoyment out of Eclipse for how self-aware it was, and the franchise definitely had it's fair share of moments that were so dumb they actually made me burst into laughter, especially the sex scene in Breaking Dawn Part 1 and several moments in Breaking Dawn Part 2.
But strangely enough, as much as I loved poking fun at these movies as much as the next person, I also see how the entire franchise actually could've been a good story... as I did kinda like some it's concepts, and I thought most of the supporting cast was OK. it's just too bad that the whole franchise was poorly executed with poor writing and (at least mostly) poor acting, at least in my humblest of opinions. Heck, I even came up with MULTIPLE ideas of my own that could've made these films stronger (at least in my eyes) as I was watching them! And while I do think some of the messages these films are apparently trying to get across are pretty bad, I can still somewhat see how this franchise has a special place in some people's hearts (heck, even my ex likes these films although she likes the books better) almost the same way I highly enjoy Disney films, heck, much like how a bunch of teen girls got suckered in by these films, I TOO got suckered in by the Transformers films as a teenage boy around the same time (Even then though, only the first film is still a guilty pleasure for me while even I got bored by the sequels as I got older). Lol
Also... Breaking Dawn Part 2 for me might actually be both a "so bad it's good" film AND a guilty pleasure, since I actually also found certain moments kinda cool to an extent. Lol
But with all that said though, after watching these films, I was once again kinda shocked by how forgiving I can be towards certain films nowadays compared to when I was younger where I was a lot more cynical and harsh, I even went as far as somewhat defending one plot detail that another non-Twilight fan questioned (More specifically, he questioned why the volturi wanted to kill the child, and even I was well informed that it was because they feared the unknown AND because they didn't have a good history with vampire children).
Moments like that are what I think are a testament to how I believe nowadays that if you're going to legitimately judge ANY film (maybe except for something like "Where the Dead Go To Die", where I actually kinda question the legality of some of the things that film apparently showed...), you should still give it a fair shot and you should watch it IN FULL, YOURSELF! Even if you probably won't enjoy it! Don't just watch it through reaction videos or Nostalgia Critic type reviews thinking you'll know what the movie is like or what it's about just from that alone! (Believe me, I made that mistake plenty of times in the past.)
Oh, and one more thing. Say what you all want about the Twilight films, but I think we can all agree on one thing.
They have killer soundtracks! And dare I say... I think these songs actually tell the story of the Twilight saga better than the movies themselves. Lol (these are my favorite songs from them)
While Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel are still good in my eyes, my appreciation for them is a bit tainted unfortunately. I can't exactly look at them the same way anymore cause I kinda got into an argument with Vivziepop on Twitter a while back after she criticized Disney when they announced the closing of Blue Sky (Which I thought was unfair cause I always thought the closing of Blue Sky wasn't entirely Disney's fault), I may have went a little too far with it, and she blocked me...
I'm trying not to let it get to my head, but it's kinda hard not to think about the incident whenever I watch her stuff or hear someone else talk about her, knowing that she probably hates me now...