Wish Upon - Movie Review
Wish I would've went to see War for the Planet of the Apes again. But anyway, here's my take on the summer newest horror flick, WISH UPON.
Wish Upon is directed by John R. Leonetti and is about Claire Shannon, an unpopular high schooler that is presented with a mysterious, chinese music box that turns out to be granting Claire's every wish. Claire's wishes seem to be benefiting her private and social life until she realizes each wish has a terrible price.
Didn't Goosebumps do an episode like this before?
Jokes aside, last July gave us Lights Out, a small budget horror flick that delivered a simplistic story, but with effective scarefest to match. Did this July follow suit?
Let's just say I wish 2017 could produce a good horror film already. I've come to the conclusion that Wish Upon is essentially the perfect 6th grader's horror movie: a predictable, scary movie. Minus the tension and the scares.
Nobody is made to look good in this film and it's not necessarily the fault of the actors and actresses. It's poor writing and direction that made these character portrayals very typical.
Joey King in particular, while doing her best, just didn't have enough to work with to make the character of Claire remotely interesting. In fact, the script practically makes her character unlikable by the end. Meaning the audience can't find any aspect to sympathize with her or her dilemmas.
The reason I say Wish Upon is the ideal 6th grader's horror movie is because it's the kind of film to get their feet wet in terms of horror. This film is basically one big tease after another. Sequences will cut right when a potential scary moment is about to happen. Granted it is PG-13, but films have gotten away with more despite the same rating.
The message of Wish Upon is "be careful what you wish for and be thankful for what you have." However, the message becomes bogged down with multiple "final destination" type deaths that happen on a whim, virtually giving the film no emotional weight since the characters have no impact on the story. The message is just never explored like it could have been.
Final Take
At the end of the day, Wish Upon is what an episode of Goosebumps would look like with a bigger budget and an hour and a half runtime. However, that doesn't make it better. Wish Upon does no favors for anyone, characters and audience alike. It's not scary enough to recommend, nor original enough to commend.
I'm going to give Wish Upon an "F" on the movie grading scale. Hopefully, Annabelle: Creation is good.
Please be good.
As always, thanks so much for reading and make sure to stay posted to Frank’s Takes for more reviews. Until next time, keep it 100.
