Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force – a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe - the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico - to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
18 Feb Wish (2023)
Many in One
I won’t lead this with a rebuttal to those that did not enjoy it because they thought it woke, and part of a grand conspiracy against something.
I will lead with what I think is a brilliant, effective cinematic decision. Pixar’s world is about depth, because they invented a way to do it. They move the camera in threeD space in a novel enough way for you to notice that you are in a ‘real’ world. And they render texture realistically, especially cloth and flesh. These two — plus an emphasis on story — are close to a trademark. So if Disney Animation wants its own visual brand, what to do?
The solution is striking: they render skin and fabric (and hair and water) as plastic smooth surfaces with a set single texture. Then they make up for the resulting lifelessness by varying the shape more than would be real. The effect is greater warmth than trying to be real. This is deep tradecraft. It works with the relatively flat backgrounds, which they had to use to fit the 100 year references. Good Job.
They do another clever thing. Our climax is a spherical stage on top of a cylindrical castle. How do you increase the possible drama of this before it appears? You use the form scores of times before. I noticed it early and wondered why. The form is a skinny vertical rectangle with a circle or sphere on top. Look at the architectural elements and you’ll see it. It is used for the pawns, and many compositions. This also is high tradecraft.
The songs did not impress with complexity like Lin-Manuel’s do, but that was once in a life-time, and these did the job.
Why would anyone feel less entertained by the references to and easter eggs from prior films? Do they think there is not value in referencing and building on what can be recalled? Do they imagine the past is demeaned? Myself, I noticed almost none of them while watching, and consider myself lucky to have seen not one movie, but the best bits of scores of them.
Also, I am happy enough with the people uniting against an evil, power obsessed tyrant by collectively reclaiming their desires. More, please.
Posted in 2024
Ted’s Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.
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