Wish (2023)

The story: there's a land created by a powerful wizard. When residents turn 18, they "give" their greatest wish to the king (forgetting what it was in the process, which makes them a little less "them"). Then, periodically, he gathers everyone together and grants one of the wishes in a kind of wish lottery -- only there's no chance about it as he's deciding which are safe to grant, i.e. which have no possibility of challenging his authority. Asha, the resident spunky not-yet-18 girl, wishes on a star and the star comes out of the sky to help, which pisses off the wizard because he's got a monopoly on magic. There's way more story and it only gets more convoluted. What child could understand the plot? What non-child would want to watch this? Who the hell is this movie for?

Generally, the songs would be the saving grace in this type of head-scratching animated movie but that's not the case here. They're unnecessarily complex and Dubose makes sure the phrasing isn't easy to sing along with (even if the lyrics were more easily accessible). It's just such a messy bore.

D