Wonder Park (2019)

A little imagination never hut anybody, right? Well, what if that imagination became real? That's the premise of the new film “Wonder Park” from Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies. The end result: this is something that you don't want to ride on. The movie feels bored throughout its 85 minute run time, as well as being predictable and easy to follow. Sure, the movie does look creative enough, but aside from that, there is little that this film has to offer audiences. “Wonder Park” feels like a run down attraction that the owners of the park are trying very hard to get people's attention.

The story involves a young girl named June (Brianna Denski) who comes up with an imaginative amusement park called Wonderland with her mom (Jennifer Garner). However, once June's mom gets sick, and leaves the picture for a while, June starts to realize that that Wonderland is nothing more than a fantasy. With her mind now super serious, June soon ventures out in the woods, and stumbles upon the actual Wonderland park that is now in despair. With the help of her animal friends, June must try and restore the park back to its former glory.

You see the above paragraph? The story may seem simple enough, for sure, but when watching the movie, it's a mess.

The story is the biggest problem that the movie offers up. Plot points are disregarded, and the pacing is a disarray of scenes and elements that go nowhere. We see June come back to the park once her mother gets sick, but you know what would have been a better plot element? Had she returned as an adult, and remembered her childhood innocence, then that would make for great storytelling.

Then there's pacing, which is the second biggest issue that the movie brings up. As stated before, the film runs at around 85 minutes, and it goes way too fast. If the movie tried to slow down, and take its time, then we wouldn't have the mess of a movie that we have already.

Then there's the tone of the film. One look, and someone might see “Wonder Park” as a friendly and fun entertaining movie for families to enjoy. But when actually watching it, there are some serious issues being brought up like abandoning the past for one. One minute, the film is super serious, the next it's wacky and goofy. See what I”m getting at here?

The cast does an okay job with what they are given, and that's all I have to say about that.

The only saving grace that the movie delivers is with the animation. The backgrounds and designs made for this movie are pretty to look at. The film is definitely eye candy, for sure. And the character designs are good, and compliment the colorful world that the film is portraying. The only downside to this is that everything moves so fast, one cannot take it all in.

“Wonder Park” is a confusion of a bunch of creative ideas that turns out to be mishmash of lame and predictable concepts that we have seen before. Imagination is a big creative tool, but when it's used here, it makes you want to get off the ride, and go somewhere else in the park.