Saw the new Disney "Wish" yesterday (german dub). Am not a huge fan (but also not a hater!) of Disney's last features, but even then this felt very, very underwhelming. Undercooked.
(No Spoilers)
Story and characters are not only paperthin, but also bland and derivative. It feels like going through the motions, as the movie tries to vaguely ape some story/character beats from certain Disney classics, but never actually puts in enough of its own emotional honesty and characterization and dramatic storytelling, to make it work on itself.
Worldbuilding is bland and feels incredibly small. There is little _dramatic_ clarity in its storytelling , the decisions the characters make, why they have to make them but most importantly WHY WE ARE SUPPOSED TO CARE. There's no logic or rule to the random magic in the film, and all of this makes the climax competely fall flat. I was baffled.
Visually esp. the first half of the film was just bland, which was the thing that shocked me the most. It's like Disney forgot how to create interesting shots, create images with contrast and structure and drama. The environment design in the central city is so bland, the camera work lazy, the lighting flat. Somehow, in the process of developing their water color stylization and its characteristic, slight de-saturation, they didn't take care enough of the colors and contrast. The first half looks flat and grey. The second half gets better, but only to an average degree.
Songs in German didn't work for me, but I'm willing to re-evaluate if I watch in English.
What I loved was the FX animation in the second half! It feels like a Sleeping Beauty Hommage that actually looks great. Also the character animation was okay (I'm not a fan of excessive Disney overacting).
But all in all, a disappointment. Shame.
Sidenote, a baffling decision on Disney's part: the film is celebrating 100 years of Disney, and somehow they thought it was a good idea to put character drawings of their previous, OTHER FILMS into the credits instead of, you know, the CHARACTERS FROM THIS ONE! So I'm sitting there reading the credits, being CONSTANTLY reminded of all these other great movies like Snow White, Pinocchio, the Lion King etcpp, that were so much better than what I just watched. WHY DISNEY? Way to show confidence in your current film.
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