REVIEW: ‘All Wishes Come True!’ Is An Adventure Worthy of the Gods

Directed and written by Mu Zhengyang,  All Wishes Come True! (Bāxiān) breathes new life into the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea tale. Blending mythos and adventure with an incredibly entertaining heist scheme, a scheme that seems destined to fail the longer it persists, this animated film moves briskly. With all manner of things happening, the film might be a bit overwhelming, particularly with its runtime. As an introduction and reimagining of these legendary immortals (xiān), however, there’s no better way to experience these characters.

Opening with a legend surrounding the Lantern and its Keeper, whose loss launches the world into a giant storm, the setting beautifully transitions from the tempestuous sea to the legendary floating realm of Penglai, where the sword-wielding Lü Dongbin (Li Shaozhe) finds himself. The land itself is bright and colorful, and the Gods that occupy the realm are cut above the rest of the humans who have found refuge in this sacred land. As the film flits back and forth between Penglai and the human realm, the differences in color and tone are telling.

Dongbin, however, is on the hunt for a man who can help him enter a vault in Penglai that contains something he needs. This man is the notorious thief Zhongli Quan (Chen Hao). When the two meet, it is a hilarious, action-filled introduction that not only highlights different parts of Penglai as they run throughout the land, but also, from the jump, showcases how equally skilled the two men are. And once things settle down between the two, a scheme eventually arises on how to get into the vault. Cue heist time!

Penglai may be the land of the Gods, but its colorful and shiny surface hides something darker.

Except the actual heist itself takes some time to build up to. All Wishes Come True! takes its time to introduce the audience to those who will make up the inevitable Eight Immortals, with some characters getting more screentime than others once they enter the picture. The thing is, the vault can only be entered by immortals, and everyone in this group is human. This conundrum is solved by a great workaround that Mu Zhengyang leans into, one that also expands the world of the film. 

In a realm where all wishes must come true, or gods themselves face consequences, the second half of All Wishes Come True! expounds on the lengths to which one goes to live up to promises made. The shift in antagonist hammers home how far gone the gods are, even if said god’s actions are driven by an extreme act of filial piety. The stark difference and the willingness to sacrifice all ultimately is what sparks what will surely become everyone’s favorite motley crew to spring into action and defend those who’ve come to believe in them.

And by this point in All Wishes Come True! the heart and soul of these characters is what drives us to cheer for them. None of them are what one would consider good, but together, they bring out the best in one another, and the line reads punctuate this kinetic energy. Their actions bring the film’s many themes into focus.

What defines a good person from a bad person? Who is worthy of worship? When given power, what does one do with it? The answers are drawn between god and man, with the gods paling in comparison to humanity in the end and for good reason. They’ve lost their way.

The band of misfits in All Wishes Come True! are what make the film so fun.

A developing theme of brotherhood and camaraderie also emerges in All Wishes Come True! Dongbin and Zhongli find themselves at odds, yet steadily the two grow closer. Each can and does learn from one another, with Zhongli finding a renewed sense of purpose after spending his life adrift. And while each of the members of the Eight Immortals would be best described as solitary, their teamwork ultimately does save them and can potentially serve the world as well (with the right instruments to accompany them). 

With animation studios Huameng Chengzhen and Pearl Studio working in tandem to bring these characters to life, what emerges in All Wishes Come True! is slick and eye-catching. The Eight Immortals each have a distinct design, with the descriptions of the characters’ appearances in traditional texts serving as a creative jumping-off point for the animators. The characters’ movements also add an extra dimension to their personalities, and Su Hang’s attention to action design intensifies the fast-paced action on screen.

While the up-close animation is captivating, there are several instances throughout All Wishes Come True! where the camera pans back to reveal the backdrop the characters are interacting in, which is truly breathtaking. The transitional shot of the boat floating in midair toward Penglai is one such moment when you wish you had a camera to capture it. It heightens the sense of the otherworldly that this world exists in, where everything is suspended yet trapped in time.

The details matter in All Wishes Come True! So keep your eyes out.

These details accumulate down to the tiniest bits to tell a story. For example, there are specific touches of modernity sprinkled across Penglai that also lean into the godlike nature of these residents.

This is most apparent within the temples the gods operate in, where their access to what looks to be higher tech hints at the higher level of being they represent. In contrast, once our Eight Immortals take residence in their own temple, even at its peak popularity, it never quite ascends beyond its more grounded, earthy aesthetic compared to the other temples.

Unfortunately, not all details add up or make sense. Despite its epic boss-style animation during the battle between the group and the film’s primary antagonist, the actual East Sea portion of the film is the weakest. The antagonist is an odd choice and an interesting change from the tale, but it doesn’t entirely work in execution. However, he does look epically evil with his cooler purple tones, and the inclusion of his familiar nemesis as a cameo makes sense in that context.

Some heroes emerge from the unlikeliest of places, and All Wishes Come True! shows that.

Even so, once the battle concludes and the story shifts back to the real world, it becomes clear that the transition to this bigger-picture world-ending scenario could have been handled a little more smoothly. As it appears, one could argue that it’s almost a story within a story, given where the story goes after the battle concludes and how All Wishes Come True! ultimately ends. Well, that is until you get to the mid-credits scene. You’ll want to stick around for that. 

All Wishes Come True! is a fun reimagining of classic legendary characters who come by their immortality by just being their cool, slightly dysfunctional selves. While the transition from its original heist to their famous journey across the sea doesn’t entirely sync up, what emerges is still a high-octane fantasy adventure that is worthy of gods and humans alike. And maybe, in the end, it’ll spark viewers’ interest in learning more about the vast mythos and folklore these Eight Immortals emerged from. 

All Wishes Come True! is now playing in theaters in the United States and Canada.