Wish Upon

Broad Green Pictures | Release Date: July 14, 2017

7.6	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 205 Ratings

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BITESCREENOct 4, 2017

Highschool-Outsider Clare (Fargo-Tochter Joey King) bekommt von Papa Ryan Phillippe eine uralte chinesische Spieluhr geschenkt – die ihr prompt sieben Wünsche gewährt. Klar, dass der egoistische Teen sich statt dem Weltfrieden nur Boys, MoneyHighschool-Outsider Clare (Fargo-Tochter Joey King) bekommt von Papa Ryan Phillippe eine uralte chinesische Spieluhr geschenkt – die ihr prompt sieben Wünsche gewährt. Klar, dass der egoistische Teen sich statt dem Weltfrieden nur Boys, Money und Fame herbeiwispert. Die Quittung kommt schnell – denn pro Wunsch stirbt laut AGB eine Person aus Clares Umgebung auf unnatürliche Weise. Doof – aber für Final Destination– und The Ring-Fans im Idealfall eine lustige bis spannende Sache. Wish Upon jedoch hat ein ziemlich schlechtes Drehbuch – und der Film dahinter ist noch viel mieser: Der völlig vorhersehbare Plot ist vom Reißbrett und nahezu alle Figuren sind strunzdumm und nerven mit ständigem Smartphone-Gezücke. Viel schlimmer jedoch: Während die großen Vorbilder in puncto Ableben mit jedem Teil kreativer wurden, startet Wish Upon wieder bei Null – und bietet Genrefans lediglich unspektakuläre und dank 16er-Siegel auch noch unblutige Tode.… Expand

1 of 8 users found this helpful17

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DirigiblePulpDec 1, 2017

The most recent incarnation of the classic Djinni premise, though this one eschews that entirely in favor of a magic Chinese box with a backstory all its own not involving Djinn. I'm not sure why the locality and myth had to change or whereThe most recent incarnation of the classic Djinni premise, though this one eschews that entirely in favor of a magic Chinese box with a backstory all its own not involving Djinn. I'm not sure why the locality and myth had to change or where this story even comes from - it's not nearly interesting enough to warrant changing up the formula
and it's not like anyone cares all that much anyway. Just get to the mangling of wishes already!

Then again, as a result of the changing of the mythology, there are now 7(!) wishes to be granted - 4 more for your guilty watching pleasure. Except that this time, wishes aren't always twisted around. They're applied strongly but hardly in a completely backwards way. The twist is that someone dies every time a wish is granted. That's it. It takes a lot of the fun out of the classic granted wishes premise. The PG-13 rating neuters it (I watched it unrated but it still felt PG- 13). It's just alright with a solid, interesting cast led by the natural and unassuming Joey King, an unrecognizable Ryan Phillippe and Sherilyn Fenn just for ****… Expand

0 of 24 users found this helpful024

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TheQuietGamerOct 26, 2018

If there's one thing this movie gets right it's the cast. Shannon Purser, Ki Hong Lee, Ryan Phillippe, Sydney Park and more. All very charismatic. Towering high of above each and every one of them though is the star of the show, Joey King. NoIf there's one thing this movie gets right it's the cast. Shannon Purser, Ki Hong Lee, Ryan Phillippe, Sydney Park and more. All very charismatic. Towering high of above each and every one of them though is the star of the show, Joey King. No longer the ridiculously talented little girl we once knew, she's grown into an incredibly gifted young actress. So much so that I wish there was a better movie around her.

Wish Upon puts a gruesome spin on a typical high-school movie formula. The protagonist finds a means of making all her wildest fantasies come true. Popularity, her dream crush, a lavish lifestyle, and a cooler dad all become hers in the blink of an eye. Only rather than finding out all of these things she thought she wanted don't actually bring her happiness, she instead must deal with the fact that getting everything she's ever wanted is causing people to die.

The deaths themselves are rather tepid. As if director John R. Leonetti was afraid to do anything really gruesome because he knew we don't actually want to see most of these people meet a violent end. The thing that's allowed gory horror series like Final Destination to succeed is that we don't really care about anyone onscreen. We may not necessarily dislike them, but there's a certain detachment that makes it easy to revel in their inevitable demise. When someone gets killed here it's just disappointing to see them go.

I would have preferred this had it not been a horror movie, but instead a traditional teen flick. It would have been derivative as heck, but at least the better portion of this film would have been front and center. It's kind of fun to watch King awkwardly navigate high school with familiar tropes. She and the rest of the cast almost make this worth watching. Of course I may be a little biased. Ever since she scared the crap out of me in The Conjuring by telling me about the man behind the door I became something of a Joey King fan boy. I don't really think you can deny that the girl can act though. The movie may be mediocre, but she's just as fantastic as ever.… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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RalfbergsJul 11, 2018

As a horror movie it was quite poor as there were actually nothing much of anything scary, even though I watched it not because of that, but because I thought the idea might be promising - a ''box'' that makes your wishes come true, but itAs a horror movie it was quite poor as there were actually nothing much of anything scary, even though I watched it not because of that, but because I thought the idea might be promising - a ''box'' that makes your wishes come true, but it has a blood price etc. But they mashed in things which are basically from movies for teens (I mean of course main characters are teens, but still, it is quite bland) and along with that comes so many stupid decisions that main character makes, just to have her wishes granted etc. It is not completely awful, it is still watchable, but only if you have nothing better to do.… Expand

0 of 22 users found this helpful022

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johnem95Aug 16, 2017

You may wish you were watching a better movie, but honestly, if you're looking for a movie to laugh at, look no further than this PG-13 cousin of "Final Destination" and straight-faced distant relative of "Drag Me to Hell".

0 of 23 users found this helpful023

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panslabyrinthSep 28, 2017

(Unrated Edition) Wish Upon has an interesting premise and a surprisingly fulfilling dramatic heft to it. Nevertheless, the film exihbits mere plot twists and execution style that you cannot help it but feel contradiction between its(Unrated Edition) Wish Upon has an interesting premise and a surprisingly fulfilling dramatic heft to it. Nevertheless, the film exihbits mere plot twists and execution style that you cannot help it but feel contradiction between its excruciating simplicity against its rather smart premise. Therefore, the end result is another PG-13 horror flick that will give its tween audience some appropriate scares, and that is it.… Expand

0 of 8 users found this helpful08

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Movie3Jul 15, 2018

This wasn't really a horror movie, since they kept mixing teen drama into the mix which didn't feel right to me. And I hate how this movie ended. But it's not the worst movie in the world either...

0 of 10 users found this helpful010

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JLauNov 10, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Girls get a cursed Chinese version of Aladdin's lamp that kills someone for every wish she makes and after a series of terrible wishes, she dies.… Expand

0 of 7 users found this helpful07

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