Review | Wonder Park film review: power of imagination can’t save mediocre animated feature about adventure, illness and depression
- Young June seemingly has an endless imagination and a talent for mechanics. She’s so talented she builds a roller coaster and mini amusement park
- But when her mum gets sick, June finds herself trying to save a ‘real’ amusement park that is in a state of decay
2.5/5 stars
Although Wonder Park has its heart in the right place – the story is a metaphor for dealing with depression, and it delivers a positive message about girls and technology – the film is hampered by a wafer-thin storyline and some pedestrian animation.
The strong emphasis on female empowerment is diminished by the knowledge that Paramount, the production company, fired director Dylan Brown during the shoot following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. As the firing took place near the end of shooting, Brown was not replaced, and Paramount took the highly unusual step of releasing Wonder Park with no director credit.
June (voiced by Sofia Mali and Brianna Denski) is a young girl with a talent for mechanics – she’s an inventor, and can effortlessly fix the broken toys of her inept young boy friends. After an attempt to build an amusement-park ride in her garden goes horribly wrong, June and her mum (Jennifer Garner) make a miniature amusement park, called Wonderland, inside her house.
When her mum is diagnosed with an illness – probably cancer, although it’s never named – and disappears into hospital for some long-term treatment, a sad June disassembles the little theme park as it reminds her of the good times they shared.
Then June discovers – you guessed it – a life-size version of Wonderland hidden in a remote forest, complete with talking animals and endless rides. But the amusement park is in a state of decay, and a dark, evil cloud hangs over it. Can June use her technological skills to get a giant clockwork motor working to bring the park back to life?
The set-up of Wonder Park is good enough, though the film quickly devolves into mundanity. Things unexpectedly fall to pieces when the more fantastical strands of the story take hold, and the filmmakers waste many good opportunities to stretch their imaginations.
The decrepit theme park and the dark cloud, rather obviously, form a metaphor for the depression that envelops June after her mother is taken in to hospital; although, it’s never made explicit, adults will quickly realise that Wonderland only exists in June’s imagination.
The way that June works through her depression as she restores the park to its former glory provides a message about keeping a positive outlook, and simply keeping going, during times of extreme stress. But the complexities of depression ultimately defeat this commendable aim, and the psychological points become muddled.
Animated films stand or fall on the quality of their animation, and Wonder Park offers nothing new. The bar has been raised very high recently with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Ralph Breaks the Internet , and Wonder Park pales in comparison.
