Early Reviews For Disney’s “Wish” Aren’t Stellar

Disney’s latest film about their Wishing Star to celebrate their centenial anniversary isn’t winning over the critics. “Wish” is set to hit theaters for early release tomorrow, with the official release date being November 22, 2023. It seemed Disney was worried about the box office and wanted to give their film a few extra days for “previews.”

The embargo lifted today for the media and so far the reports aren’t great with the Rotten Tomatoes score coming in at 61% at the time of writing this article.

Most critics complain that Disney spends too much time hiding Easter Eggs about their other movies and pushing IP. The film is apparently a cookie cutter Disney film as well.

Here is what the 49 reviews are saying:

Fresh-

“The music in Wish has the flatness of Top 40 radio, and is ultimately the albatross around the film’s neck that prevents it from ever going supernova.” -David Crow “Den of Geek.”

“For longtime Disney fans and savvy kids, the over-abundance of hidden and overt references will likely wear out the pause button on Blu-ray players.” – Luke Y. Thompson “SuperHeroHype.”

“An appropriate tribute to Disney, by itself. It hardly breaks any ground — it’s simply there to celebrate the ground the studio was built on.” – John Nugent “Empire Magazine.”

“Disney’s Wish plays all the hits and ends up showcasing both the best and worst of what the studio’s storytelling is all about.” – Nicolás Delgadillo “Discussing Film.”

“What saves the film from being nothing but a rehash are DeBose, whose singing voice unsurprisingly shines, and Pine (who sang in “Into the Woods”), who makes an excellent villain, as well as some of the songs, most of which they’re involved in.” – Bill Goodykoontz “Arizona Republic.”

Rotten- 

“Instead of watching the new Disney animated musical Wish, you’d be better off watching any number of Disney’s actual animated classics.” – Josh Spiegel “SlashFilm”

“Wish is a strained animated musical which overtly references the company’s most beloved films, a strategy that mostly exposes how singular the studio’s productions used to be.” – Tim Grierson “Screen International.”

“Wish is a disappointment. What could have been a beautiful celebration of Disney’s past ends up being one big poorly designed Easter egg hunt. The heart is in the right place, but the pieces never add up to something more.” – Jenny Nulf “Austin Chronicle.”

“There are also a few moments where it seems like it might get weird and interesting, but then a talking bunny shows up and it feels trite. There’s a fine line between tribute and banal. Wish is not close to the line. It revels in being derivative.” – Michael Walsh “Nerdist.”

“Even during its more successful moments, Wish’s magic falls flat. The film is weighed down by its purpose: to revel in Disney nostalgia while soaring into the future.” – Lovia Gyarkye “Hollywood Reporter.”

“The strategy behind “Wish” seems to be: If we do an homage to enchantment, the audience will be enchanted. True magic, however, can’t be recycled.” – Owen Gleiberman “Variety”

Now, Disney die-hards might love it for all it’s nods to past Disney films but it isn’t winning over the critics so far. It seems to be living up to the recent complaints that Disney is just creating the same type of film over and over again.

Currently the box office projections have the film at $50 million domestically for it’s five-day total. Not three-day, but five-day. That is an important distinction and likely why Disney wanted to do an early release.

We shall see how it pans out. Disney can’t have another box office failure. “The Marvels” is going to get pummeled this weekend, likely coming in 3rd or 4th at the box office.

Time will tell.

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