Review: “Wishmaster”
- Scott
- Oct 25, 2021
- 3 min read
The simplicity of the evilness of Wishmaster is pretty devious. I wish I could put my finger on what bothers me about it.
In the twelfth century, a Persian Emporer attempts to save his people from the hell that he has created for them. He has been seduced by a Djinn and been given three wishes. The Emporer’s previous wish was for his people to see many wonders. Unfortunately granting that wish his people saw themselves mutilated and tortured before his eyes. The Djinn tells the Emporer that all he has to do is wish the pain away and they will be free. Knowing full well that upon granting this third wish the Djinn and his kind will be free themselves to enslave and destroy the world. A sorcerer denies the Djinn this final request and ensnares him into a magical fire opal where he can no longer tempt anyone with his sinister power.
In present-day America, Raymond Beaumont is overseeing the delivery of an ancient statue he has been pursuing for years and was finally able to purchase. The statue is being offloaded from a shipping vessel when it meets with an incompetent dock worker who accidentally lets the container fall from the deck. Not only does it shatter the statue but it crushes Mr. Beaumont’s assistant in the process. When the workers rush to clear the broken pieces of the huge statue from the injured man, one of the workers spots a large red jewel, and when no one is looking, he pockets it and continues on with his business.
Inside a high-value auction house, a man brings the very same jewel to be evaluated for sale. The owner asks his best appraiser, Alex, to look the gem over and give him a value for it. She takes it to a friend of hers, Josh, for further examination because she sees something in the jewel that just doesn’t seem right. When Josh uses a special laser to further examine the item it explodes and from within a slimy withered Djinn emerges. Injured in the explosion Josh writhes in pain. The Djinn tells him that he can end his suffering, all he has to do is ask. He does, and his wish is granted.
I really do love the simplistic premise behind the Wishmaster. Think about how many times a day you say the phrase “I wish ___.” Take an evil force that has lived lifetimes waiting to take over the planet and put them into a world like that and it’s like a kid in a candy shop. It’s a story that practically writes itself. They even carefully wrote throwaway lines so as to write themselves out of loopholes. The level of pun play in this movie is off the charts as well. Violent, gruesome, and sometimes bloody deaths fill the movie from end to end. There’s even a SLEW of cameo appearances throughout. However, even with all that, Wishmaster did nothing for me, and I really don’t know why.
Maybe if I watch the rest of the movies that came out about every two years since 1997 I can better appreciate the original. I still think it is probably a movie worth watching. I will, as I said, watch the rest of them at some point as well. It’s just not a movie that I was itching to watch the sequels to or even go back and watch this one any time soon. I really wish I liked it more than I did.
Comments