Wish Dragon is about a poor boy who discovers a dragon in a teapot who will grant three wishes. Sounds familiar, right? Director Chris Appelhans is definitely aware of the similarities with Disney’s Aladdin. He focuses instead on the world this story takes place in and the lore surrounding the titular dragon.
Din (Jimmy Wong) has been working as a delivery guy in secret to earn enough money to buy himself a suit. With it, he plans to gatecrash the birthday party of his former best friend, Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). The two of them used to live in the same neighborhood and were inseparable, until Lina and her family moved away to greener pastures. Don’s fortunes take a turn for the better once he is handed the teapot by a god in disguise and he ends up meeting the dragon Long (John Cho), though he is soon pursued by a trio of hired goons.
If you are looking for an entirely original experience, you may be disappointed.
Wish Dragon’s plot is predictable, but there are some great sequences of action and whimsy that keeps the story flowing at a brisk pace.
Din gets expert fighting skills early on in the film, and there are some clever set pieces that utilize verticality.
The visuals are effective as well, although the character designs are a little too round, except for Long, whose pink fluffiness makes for an interesting contrast with the other designs on screen. The humor can be hit and miss, especially with some jokes that go for easy pickings.
Long starts out as an alternate Genie, but you soon find out that he’s a complex person who used to only care about himself but is starting to care for Din.
Unfortunately, the villains get the short end of the stick, and the final conflict also feels shoehorned in. It’s only there to give Din and Long a physical threat to deal with, which is unfortunate since, at the start of the film, the main enemy seems to be economic inequality.
Wish Dragon is nothing spectacular, but it’s competently made and an entertaining one time watch on Netflix.
If you have kids, they might like it even more and have it on repeat. At least it’s not Frozen, so you won’t have an earworm stuck inside your head for weeks.
