Mr. Movie review: ‘Wish Upon’ an awful, predictable horror movie
Budding teen star Joey King (Independence Day: Insurgence) stars in an insipid horror movie of the ilk produced in bunches these days. No predictable ghost in this one, but it is a twist on the genie in the bottle and has a demon in a music box who grants wishes. The granting comes at a high cost, which means predictable, dragged-out and highly manipulative deaths for this character and that.
Horror movies have always been more miss than hit. Pack in teens and add cliche teen characters to the mix and the miss factor increases exponentially. King’s high school geek wishes for all kinds of important stuff like a boy falling in love with her, money and everlasting popularity. You know, empty, self-absorbed teen stuff in an empty, totally self-absorbed teen-oriented movie.
This isn’t a film that I’d — pun intended — wish upon anyone.
Movie name: Wish Upon
Director: John R. Leonetti
Stars: Joey King, Ryan Phillippe, Hi Hong Lee, Mitchell Slaggert, Sydney Park, Shannon Purser, Elizabeth Rohm, Josephine Langford, Sherilyn Fenn
Mr. Movie rating: 1 star
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and violence. It’s playing at Fairchild’s Pasco 12, AMC Kennewick 12 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘Wish Upon’ an awful, predictable horror movie."