While others may or may not watch another animated family feature with "Wish" in the title around now, I opted for something a little more popular if less discussed. Mainly I chose it because it was one of the few movies on my Netflix list that promised to be both cheerful enough for the season and not too insipid. A 98-minute runtime isn't bad either.
In a modern Shanghai slum, Din Song (Jimmy Wong) has been working in food delivery -- at the expense of his education, to the outrage of his mom (Constance Wu) -- in order to afford an appearance upper-class enough to gain entrance to the 19th birthday party of aristocrat Li Na Wang (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), who was his best friend before her father (Will Yun Lee) forced her to move away so he could chase his economic dream. One day, an eccentric customer (Ronny Chieng) pays Din with a jade teapot, which turns out to contain a dragon, Long (John Cho), who's obligated to grant the bearer three wishes. Din has a fair idea of how to spend one wish, but he'll have to watch out for some thugs hired to grab the teapot.
I certainly wasn't the only one who thought of Disney's Aladdin. Long even has similar constraints on what wishes he can grant. That said, there are a few key differences besides setting. First, for all his goofiness, Long doesn't know the future like Robin Williams' genie; in fact, his knowledge of culture is millennia out of date. Second, only someone holding the teapot can see or hear him at any given moment, unless he transforms into something mundane-looking. Third, for most of the story, he doesn't try to convince his master that he's a friend; he just wants the three wishes over with ASAP.
Indeed, the lesson for more than one character is that friendship matters more than wealth. The delivery is a bit heavy-handed, but I don't mind. This kind of story doesn't lend itself to subtlety.
Since Din is so obsessed with reconnecting with a girl he hasn't seen in a decade, his insistence that he wants her only as a friend may not ring true to you. IMDb does include "romance" among the genre tags, so I have too. But like so many other family movies nowadays, it's left open to interpretation.
Another similarity to Aladdin: The wish granter, though spotlighted, is not the only source of comedy. This being a Jackie Chan production, you can expect wacky martial art scenes. Din makes an interesting combination of graceful and gawky. Even the most threatening villain (Aaron Yoo) is almost as tickling as he is scary, what with his habit of using his feet for everything. When his hands finally come out of his pockets, you know he means business.
I find the results sufficiently tasteful and intelligent. Also, while Long is no Toothless, what he lacks in cuteness, he eventually makes up for in heartwarming. I understand why the Academy didn't nominate WD for Best Animated Feature, but I like it better than some of the nominees that year. So might you.
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