Wish Upon

Wish Upon is your typical PG-13 horror movie with typical ideas, tropes and cliches. While watching it, it does enough to keep you interested in it but not enough for you to actually care about anything. There aren't really any scares that come along with this movie so the most it can become is a immature thriller with thoughts of grandeur and excitement.

John R. Leonetti creates the tone for the movie right at the very beginning showing a mother hanging herself in the attic and then having her young daughter find her. Now I will say this movie does have all the right elements, even though most of them have already been played out. It follows a high school girl Clare (Joey King) who after the fallout of her mothers suicide is having a difficult time in school and life. She is one of the "nerds" with her two friends and gets picked on by the popular group whom she has a crush on one the jocks. Sounds pretty familiar? Thats because you already saw this movie back in 1996 with The Craft. Her father played by Ryan Phillippe (who is always fun to watch) is a dumpster diver and eventually comes across this mystic sound box. Well it just so happens that this cursed sound box will deliver you seven wishes but upon each wish that you ask for, someone in your life is going to die.

Now I will not fault this movie completely for all of its cliches. It is adequately done. The acting isn't really there yet but what can you ultimately expect. The deaths are pretty interesting and well done but the real problem with this movie is the character development. The main character just becomes so detestable that the viewer does not even care what happens to them. She becomes so selfish that she is willing to put everyone she knows and loves at risk. It is ridiculous. Let alone the totally predictable ending but if you choose to watch this movie you will know whats going to happen before it gets there.

This movie at the end of the day is trying to say "enjoy what you have because when its gone you will miss it. Just enjoy life. Do not take your life for granted." Now there are plenty of other movies that are competent enough to get this point across but I guess for the young generation now, this is the way. You have to throw stereotypes at them and shove it in their faces. I may be getting preachy but this film brings nothing to the table and all I was waiting was for the next death during its 90 minute runtime. I can honestly say that is one of the positives of this movie. Overall it's just a boring movie that the viewer has seen before. I know I had.

Grade: D

Genre: Horror

Cast: Joey King, Ryan Phillippe, Ki Hong Lee

Rated: PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic elements and language.

Director: John R. Leonetti