Yet another Sony title in Netflix’s ever-expanding animation portfolio, this contemporary China-based fantasy boasts a charming riff on ‘Aladdin.’
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“Wish Dragon” is well aware that “Aladdin” got there first. Making his spirited feature debut, dream-big animation director Chris Appelhans pretty much assumes you’ll be thinking of Disney’s blue genie when his humble Chinese hero rubs a jade teapot and produces a fluorescent flamingo-pink dragon, ready to grant his wildest dreams — or three of them at least. And you know what? He doesn’t care, because “Wish Dragon” delivers a whole new world, a new fantastic point of view, and that’s plenty.
Technically, China’s ancient wish dragon legend predates even “Arabian Nights,” a detail that gives Appelhans license to update the folk tale for the modern world, while stripping it of so many of the tired clichés that now come with the territory in practically any wish-granting fable — like the wet-blanket “be careful what you wish for” trope, where an unlucky so-and-so’s poorly worded request inevitably backfires, teaching that person he was better off without whatever lust magic may have rustled up inside him.
The hero of “Wish Dragon” doesn’t have big ambitions. Shanghai-based Din (Jimmy Wong) may be dirt poor and desperate, but he’s unusually well-grounded as such characters go. When offered three wishes, he honestly doesn’t know what to request — whereas Long, his dutiful, all-powerful dragon (voiced by John Cho), is full of suggestions: Why not wish for piles of gold? Or his own personal army? After all, every one of Long’s previous masters wanted wealth and power. But not Din. He just wants his best friend back.
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In the film’s upbeat opening, we see young Din and neighbor Li Na bonding over all things dragons. They pinky-swear to being pals forever, then the prologue turns melancholy, as Li Na’s father moves away and the buddies are separated. Flash forward a few years, and Din still can’t get her out of his mind — and who can blame him, now that Li Na’s a successful model whose face pops up on billboards all over town (including one of the roof of the hovel where Din still lives with his pragmatic Mom, voiced by Constance Wu).
So when poof, the magic dragon shows up eager to serve, Din doesn’t covet money or power per se — although both would help him finagle his way into Li Na’s birthday party, since she’s now wealthy enough to be out of his league. To Long’s surprise, Din wishes for temporary wealth and power (but just enough dough to get through the door), trusting that they’ll be able to pick up where they left off if they can only be reunited.
The plot’s a little “have your cake and eat it too” in this regard: “Wish Dragon” presents Din as a pure, sincere soul — someone who can teach Long a lesson or two about life’s priorities — but also as a “peasant” to Li Na’s “princess.” Ergo, we’d expect him to be a little greedier in compensating for all that he lacks. But that’s not so hard to accept, since Appelhans’ aesthetic — both the quick, clever animation style (a zippy pose-to-pose technique that mirrors classic martial-arts movies) and all-around openness to Chinese culture, old and new — proves so entertaining unto itself. The exaggerated squash-and-stretch style (reminiscent of “Despicable Me” and the “Madagascar” movies) elevates otherwise familiar scenes, as when Din (who idly wishes he knew how to fight) faces off against a trio of lithe henchmen. And it’s great fun to watch Long bend and fold at right angles. (Chinese audiences benefit from producer Jackie Chan supplying his voice for the Mandarin-language version.)
Even more than last year’s Netflix original “Over the Moon,” this Sony Pictures Animation-produced pickup seems to recognize and respect the Eastern milieu in which it’s set, albeit with an appreciate outsider’s curiosity. Granted, most audiences won’t know anything about Appelhans (a gifted concept artist on films such as “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Monster House”) or where he’s coming from, but I was pretty excited to see his name on the film. I’ve been a longtime admirer of his watercolor illustrations — fantastical scenes between kids and floppy sloths, rusty robots and misshapen unicorns — and can see how such portraits of improbable friends, both real and imaginary, might translate to a teen and his trusty wish dragon.
What Appelhans and the makers of “Wish Dragon” couldn’t have known when they set out was that Disney had a kinda similar movie up its sleeve in “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Plus, they had Awkwafina on their side (she’s a lot funnier than Cho, who’s got personality, but can’t do impressions or improv the way a comedian can). “Raya” also riffed on the “Aladdin” myth, which leaves this project feeling slightly less fresh, although there’s room enough for multiple dragon-themed/wish-granting fables in this world. So go with the one streaming on whatever service you patronize — at least until we all get our wish of such movies finding their way back to the big screen.
Netflix’s Wish Dragon looks like an Aladdin knockoff, but there’s more to it
It moves the action to modern Shanghai, but keeps the sassy magic sidekick vibes
StopStop if you’ve heard this one before: a down-on-his-luck young man who wants to connect with a beautiful rich girl finds a magic item that unleashes a powerful wish-granting being. He decides to use a wish to make himself appear wealthy to impress her. Meanwhile, a mysterious villain wishes to control the wish-granter for their own evil purposes.
Netflix’s animated film Wish Dragon starts with that rags-to-riches Aladdin formula, then transports the story to modern-day Shanghai. It actually isn’t as a direct copycat as it might seem, though drawing from a similar fairytale formula means it’s bound to mimic certain tropes. But when Wish Dragon doesn’t directly lean on those familiar elements, director Chris Appelhans (illustrator on Laika’s Coraline) manages to tell an updated, modern fantasy story with unique and specific humor. A lot of the plot elements feel overly familiar, but in the few moments where the movie transcends those trappings, it’s a fun, memorable romp.
After stumbling upon a teapot containing a magic, smart-talking Wish Dragon named Long (John Cho), college student Din (Jimmy Wong) uses his three wishes to try and reconnect with his childhood friend, Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Din hasn’t seen her in 10 years, since her father’s company made it big and she started living a life of luxury. After using a wish to get into her swanky birthday party, Din realizes they’re now residing in two completely different worlds. Oh, and also three mysterious henchmen are trying to steal the teapot to bring to a shady figure.
Everywhere it feels like Wish Dragon is going to go plotwise, it mostly does — except in the few instances where Appelhans puts a more modern spin on a well-trodden fairytale. The movie’s greatest offensive is its villainous figures, who are basically just there to add superfluous fight and chase scenes. The three henchmen and the leader they follow feel like obligatory threats to shove in some punching and kicking, but the actual conflict of Din, Long, and Li Na vs. society’s fundamental inequalities is more interesting. The fight scenes add some slapstick gags, but it’s more compelling to see Din feel out of place at a fancy restaurant.
Unfortunately, the movie’s third act is bogged down by more superfluous physical conflict. The plot twists about who the henchmen serve and who becomes the villain are both predictable. The final fight has some clever physical-comedy moments, as one of the henchmen wishes for a Midas-like ability to turn everything he touches into gold, among other things. But the conflict still feels shoehorned in to give Din and Long a more concrete adversary than the nebulous evils of economic inequity.
Visually, the movie paints a cartoony sheen onto modern-day Shanghai to highlight the difference between the wealthy and everyone else. It’s a lot of rounded edges and soft colors, giving Din’s less-affluent neighborhood a particularly warm look, especially in contrast to the stark whites of Li Na’s mansion. Li Na and Din aren’t super interesting in terms of character design, even though Long’s fluffy pink serpentine design lends itself to hijinks. No one can see him except for the bearer of the teapot, which means when he squishes himself into a taxi with Din, the taxi driver is confused about how one young man completely threw off the car’s weight distribution.
As for the rest of the jokes, some of them are genuinely funny, but Wish Dragon relies a lot on bathroom humor (literally, in some instances), which does the actual specific jokes some disservice. Long drinking from a bidet like it’s a water fountain might elicit chuckles from 10-year-olds who happen to know what bidets are, but Long watching a Chinese soap opera with Din’s neighbors and gasping at the wild plot twists while snacking on shrimp crackers (his new favorite food) is uniquely hilarious. Thankfully, the movie carries enough of these distinct jokes to save it from the toilet-humor doldrums.
Cho’s performance as Long gives the movie its life. He starts out with a smart-talking sidekick schtick that’s reminiscent of Aladdin’s Genie, but it becomes evident that Long isn’t just a sassy companion: He’s a deeply flawed and selfish character who goes on his own journey of discovery. In fact, he gets more intense character evolution than Din, who suffers a few moments of insecurity, but remains a wide-eyed, idealistic young man. Long, however, grows from a cynic into someone who learns the value of friendship and human connection. Sure, it’s a pretty standard lesson when it comes to family-friendly films, but making it the evolution of the comic relief instead of the main character gives Wish Dragon an interesting edge.
Overall, Wish Dragon doesn’t go particular far beyond predictable parameters, but that isn’t necessarily bad. It can be enough to see what well-worn fairytale plot elements look like in an entirely new setting, one that gives them new resonance and relevance. Sure, the lowbrow gags and rote combat drags the film down, but in the moments where Appelhans breathes contemporary specifics into the story, Wish Dragon is a quirky, appealing ride.
‘Wish Dragon’ Review: ‘Aladdin’ Goes to Shanghai, Sort Of
John Cho, as Long the dragon, does his best Robin Williams impression in this film animation about a teenage boy who releases him from a magic teapot
In the engaging animated feature “Wish Dragon,” a teenage boy comes into possession of a magic teapot containing a world-weary dragon who’s obliged to grant him three wishes.
The movie is geared toward children, but for anyone old enough to remember the Disney Renaissance, there should be a déjà vu warning: Netflix’s newest animation effort is essentially Disney’s “Aladdin” transposed to Shanghai. John Cho, who voices Long, the dragon, does his best impression of Robin Williams, who lent his voice to the fast-talking Genie in the 1992 Disney animation. But without the catchy songs and intergenerational appeal, this movie can only wish to measure up to that classic.
When the story begins, Din (Jimmy Wong) is a genial, imaginative child who soon befriends Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a fellow troublemaker in school. The pair is shown cavorting in a best-friend montage that screeches to a halt when Li Na’s father moves her out of their humble neighborhood, saying, “We’re off to a better life, and we have to leave this one behind.”
Fast-forward by a decade: A chic Li Na appears on billboards around town, while Din lives in the same cramped apartment with his mother (Constance Wu), and works as a food delivery boy, all the while yearning to win back his partner in crime. If only a magical dragon could help Din bluff his way into Li Na’s moneyed circle.
Here, the movie goes full folk tale. Some moments, such as when Long’s voice turns squeaky-high as he squeezes back into his itty-bitty teapot space, seem to explicitly quote “Aladdin,” not to mention the airborne date Din and Li Na have on a flying dragon.
The biggest break from formula arrives through Long, the wish granter. Unlike the Genie, Long possesses a compelling human back story and follows a defined character arc. Absent a razzle-dazzle production number akin to “Friend Like Me,” endowing the dragon with some emotional depth is the least this movie, directed by Chris Appelhans, could do. “Wish Dragon” is a transporting experience, but it’s far from a whole new world.
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