#okay-- but i'm also not over how amaya legitimately did not age. move over immortal magnifico

[ringaroundaroses]

BIG BIG DISNEY'S 'WISH' SPOILERS!

So. About King Magnifico...

Does anyone else feel like the filmmakers went in two contradictory directions with him? On one hand, he certainly has some issues *prior* to becoming a power-hungry megalomaniac, but on the other hand, him becoming a power-hungry megalomaniac genuinely doesn't seem like his fault? Now, that's not to say Magnifico didn't have issues. He's full of himself. He's a narcissist. Based on what Amaya said at the beginning ('don't you dare ever ask about the wishes, what a sorcerer does isn't your concern'), he may or may not be passive-aggressive to his wife-- and he's definitely passive-aggressive to his would-be apprentices. He's become complacent, he's egocentric, he's everything that would be bad in a leader-- --except Rosas genuinely doesn't seem bad under his rule? Asha only knows differently because she saw what wishes *could've* been granted, and granted, he shouldn't be the sole controller of who can fulfill the wishes, but I do feel like he would've been a lower-stakes political villain if Star didn't rush in and cause him to have a mental breakdown. Consider: Magnifico only got to the point of wanting to use the forbidden magic because Dahlia incited the crowd to annoy him. Significantly. He ignored what his wife said, and was in a bad mental state when he turned to the book. Prior to that, when he was more clear-headed, he *did* listen to Amaya and left the forbidden magic behind. This man is clearly hyped up on forbidden magic drugs and no one seems to be concerned by this? They're all saying he was always bad and all the good in him disappeared? Well yeah, technically true, except all the good melted away a day or two after he touched the no-no book that specifically was a danger to everyone. This reads like a possession/corruption plot point? Not a villain that's purely evil and can't be redeemed at all? He hadn't even *considered* breaking a wish up until touching the book, he was definitely not a good person but he only went comedically, scene-chewing evil after his magic corruption. I don't get the need to make him 'fall' *and* to have him get corrupted by a book, because one of the two makes him significantly less at fault than the other, and blending the two of them while treating him as a total lost cause feels... wrong? In some way? I've seen it done before, but those are usually played as a tragedy, and the tone used with Magnifico feels more like 'revel in how bad he is!' instead of 'he could've recovered from this if he didn't choose the obviously evil route.' Not to mention, he has a tragic backstory that's implied and... never brought up again? What was the point of that? If Disney wanted to do a homage to classical villains, giving them a random tragic backstory and then backtracking to add 'actually he's evil all along and super evil and super bad and not at all hyped on magic green bad juice' is a ... bizarre way to make a throwback villain. I like the performance. I honestly like Magnifico's scenes. I just... don't understand why he was written that way.

#disney wish #disney movies #wish 2023 #king magnifico #wish disney #wish spoilers #to be honest i don't think i'll get over magnifico's whole fall being because of an evil green evil book #even typing it out i can't quite accept the concept #i *wish* we had more scenes of him and amaya because that was genuinely one of the more complicated relationships of the movie #i feel like he might've loved her more than the kingdom? it's hard to tell-- but he at least seems to tone himself down a little near her #just a giant rant #okay-- but i'm also not over how amaya legitimately did not age. move over immortal magnifico #immortal amaya is on the scene