Movie Review - Wish Dragon

Director: Chris Appelhans
Genre: Animation/ Fantasy/ Adventure/ Family
Runtime: 98 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: John Cho, Constance Wu, Bobby Lee, Jimmy Wong, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Aaron Yoo, Ronny Chieng

Description: Determined teen Din (Jimmy Wong) is longing to reconnect with his childhood best friend (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) when he meets a wish-granting dragon (John Cho) who shows him the magic of possibilities.

Review: It’s almost a deadly sin to compare this film to a Disney classic. It’s unfair too, because most other studios lose out to Disney. But I’m doing it anyway: “Wish Dragon” feels an awful lot like “Aladdin”.
Like “Aladdin”, the main character in “Wish Dragon” is a simple guy, who grew up in a small home with not much money. He wants to impress a girl who lives a better life in terms of wealth. Din, our hero, gets the help of the Long, a wacky pink and purple dragon who can grant wishes. Three to be exact.
Din is hopelessly naïve. He doesn’t want to show off Rolexes, sports cars or an expensive tailored suit, he just wants to give a present to his childhood friend Li Na. Friend, not sweetheart. This is where “Wish Dragon” differs from the other story. There is no romance involved. I loved that about this film. And it works well.
Given the many similarities with “Aladdin”, “Wish Dragon” is not likely to win the originality award. But it doesn’t matter, because it is still a catch adventure with beautiful animations. I’m not a fan of “Aladdin” anyway (one of the many unpopular opinions I have :D )

Rating: 3,5/ 5