16 voeux

16 Wishes is a very fun and lighthearted movie. It's aimed to entertain teen girls, which it definitely succeeded in doing so.

The movie is about a teenage girl who just turned 16 and looking forward for her best birthday ever. She gets a box of 16 candles which correlate to her 16 wishes she made for when she was a little girl. Every time she lit up a candle, a wish would come true. It's a very nice concept and I enjoyed the movie a lot. It teaches many things to teenagers and kids watching this movie yet entertaining them at all times.

However, there are some flaws. First of all, the characters, especially the main character, don't seem to act as a teenagers would regularly act. The dialogue is sometimes odd and makes it very clear to the audience that the script was written by a 40 year old. The plot and concept are very good and I was definitely hyped to watch this movie when I heard the concept, however the story is very predictable and cliché. But this is a Disney teen movie, what do you expect?

Nonetheless, 16 Wishes is a great movie for people who just want to enjoy a lighthearted film with their family or friends.

As an older brother to a younger sibling who frequents Disney Channel fare, I often sit down with her to watch certain Disney movies/shows. Some I enjoy, while others (like this one) are just a bit too contrived/silly to draw in anyone but the youngest of viewers.

For a basic plot summary, "16 Wishes" tells the 16th birthday story of Abby Jenson (Debby Ryan). When her big day gets off on the wrong foot, Abby is granted 16 b-day wishes by a magical being. As the wishes mount, Abby begins to realize what a 16th birthday really SHOULD be all about.

In pretty much all cases, current Disney fare walks the fine line between charming and cheesy. The good stuff (e.g. High School Musical, Wizards of Waverly Place) stay charming, while the others descent into contrived silliness. In this case, the storyline is just too predictable to ever really suck you in.

On a more positive note, the acting in this film is very watchable. Ryan may just be the next big Disney star (for better or worse), while Jean-Luc Bilodeau (of Kyle XY fame) nearly steals the show as Abby's best friend. The "villain" of the story is way too over-the-top, but other than that the characters are quite well done.

Basically, this is a flick for younger children (no questionable material) and the earliest of pre- teens. Viewers of any older age will realize the silliness and tune out before reaching the finale.

"People will stop treating me like a kid" is one of the 16 wishes that Abby Jensen has been collecting and writing on a highly decorated piece of paper for eight years now, when she was half the age she is today, on her sweet 16th birthday's morning. Magics worked quite well for other wishes, that day: she meets her favourite pop star, she gets a new fabulous dress, and even a car and a driving license, she wins school elections, and so on. But with this particular wish magic shows a glitch: not only she is not more "treated like a kid", she actually isn't a kid anymore! (22, not so much). Misinterpretation. And she is suddenly projected into a new existence. Her parents send her to a new apartment, which she is expected to pay for with the gains of her (unexistent) job; worse: even her bff, Jay, doesn't recognize her, at the beginning. Sad. And - much worse - when he eventually remembers, she is still, for him and everybody else, an older person. Sadder. Unexplainable.

A final magic trick restores her to the morning of her birthday, and her life, to her relievement, starts again, in a new way, not like the gloomy picture acquired when she was an adult. But - hark - not even like the first start: her relationships with people, and the course of action is radically changed. Third time around, a third future (or present?), sure. There's no magic without logic.

I really enjoyed this film and it's makes you wish you got candles on your 16 birthday that you could make wishes. I think it's a must see Disney film I enjoyed Debby Ryan acting in the film and found her funny to watch. Rate this a great film.

With an all north of the border cast, The Suite Life On Deck's Debby Ryan gets to star in a Disney Studio production of 16 Wishes. The number of course is to correspond with the sweet 16 she has become. Though the sweet sixteen experience is a female one, I think even the male of the species could come up with sixteen things that could be considered pretty frivolous that one might have wished for at sixteen. Somethings you wouldn't wish for at even 26, let alone 66.

Which is the lesson Ryan learns. She's planned out her sixteenth birthday party and even though the day starts out horribly when wasps are discovered to be making a nest in the unused attic of her home, she gets those 16 candles from a 'magical person' played by Anna Mae Routledge. Sure enough as is the usual way of things in film and life, granting those wishes that she's laid out for herself doesn't make her a happier camper.

16 Wishes is a charming fantasy from that fantasy factory the Magic Kingdom. Debby Ryan is a sweet and talented young lady and she really does hold the film together. Nothing spectacular, but a nice family comedy and it does once again reinforce the old adage about being careful what you wish for.