Review: 'Wish' a heart-warming movie

Four and a Half out of Five Stars

By Kaitlyn Delaney
Associate Editor/Photo Editor

The movie “Wish” is currently available to stream on Disney+. “Wish” was released in theaters in November 2023, but only became available on Disney+ earlier this month.

As someone who has a tendency to cry at the end of just about any animated Disney movie, I put off watching “Wish” for quite a while, expecting it to make me emotional. And now I kind of wish I had watched it sooner.

Disney basically took its age-old song “When You Wish Upon a Star” and ran with the idea. The movie is about a girl, Asha, on the verge of turning 18, learning that her beloved king may not actually be as amazing as everyone believes.

The movie stars Chris Pine as King Magnifico, and Ariana DeBose as Asha, amongst many others I recognized when looking up the cast. I had never heard Chris Pine sing before this, but I must say, he absolutely nailed playing the villain.

The story follows Asha after she learns that King Magnifico is lying to the people about their wishes, which he claims to protect. Asha makes her own wish, unbeknownst to the king, and suddenly she’s on a path that leads her to saving her entire kingdom, with the help of friends, of course.

The movie pays homage to many, many other movies that came before it. There are little references to other movies in lines, or the wishes of some of the people. There were also a couple of not-so-hidden Mickeys in the movie.

“Wish” is even complete with singing and talking animals, and the most adorable sentient star you will ever meet. The message of the movie was also fantastic in my opinion: you can’t make a wish come true just by hoping it will, you actually have to put in work, too.

I didn’t actually cry at the end like I thought I was going to, but I was definitely a little misty-eyed. What actually made a couple of tears fall was the little scene hidden at the end of the credits.

I greatly recommend watching “Wish,” it’s funny, cute, and absolutely heart-warming.