Wish, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Wonka, and Migration: This is your family-friendly holiday movie guide

Not sure what movie to take the kids to see? Let us help. (Disney, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, ABC)

It’s the end of the year and everyone is exhausted and ready for rest — except for the kids, who are hyped up on candy cane sugar and the prospect of the long days of summer stretching out before them.

Fear not! There are a host of kid-friendly films coming out, which you can plonk the kids in front of while you sit in silence, and which you might actually enjoy yourself.

Wish

• Starring the voices of: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Ramy Youssef, Angelique Cabral, Victor Gerber.
• Directors: Chris Buck (Frozen; Frozen II), Fawn Veerasunthorn.
• See it with: Kids, Disney adults.
• Likely to make you feel: Charmed.
• Where to watch it: In cinemas from December 26.

Our critic Luke Goodsell says:

Disney’s latest animated feature marks the studio’s 100th year in the business, so it’s probably fitting that it’s defined by a strong feeling of familiarity — though whether that breeds comfort or contempt among audiences is another matter entirely. (The movie flopped in the US, if that’s anything to go by.)

A grab bag of storytelling tropes, generic characters and musical styles from the well-thumbed Disney playbook, Wish unfolds in a one-size-fits-all fairytale land ruled by the sorcerer king Magnifico (a comedically underutilised Chris Pine).

Magnifico’s benevolent dream of nurturing and granting the wishes of his constituency has curdled into selfish tyranny: He’s keeping all the wishes in the kingdom’s mystical vault, to be handed out whenever he deems one of his citizens worthwhile.

But when plucky teenager Asha (Ariana DeBose, doing the thing) wishes upon a star — which looks like a Miyazaki sprite reconfigured as a corporate emoji — she sets in motion a challenge to the sorcerer’s supremacy, championing a humanist utopia where the dreams are reclaimed for the people.

No points for guessing that this analogy for the dangers of monopolising dreams is drenched in irony, coming from the corporation with a stranglehold on the childhood fantasies of generations.That’s just business as usual for the Mouse House (“When it comes to the universe, we’re all shareholders,” is an actual lyric in one of the new songs here).

Set that aside and there are sprinklings of the old Disney magic to be found — including an amusing chorus of chickens, a talking goat who might have sprung from Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island and a forest full of animals that even features a cameo from Bambi.

The showtunes — primarily penned by singer Julia Michaels and songwriter Benjamin Rice — are a little forgettable, though on occasion (This Wish; I’m a Star) they generate sparks. (Plus, it’s hard to resist when the refrain from When You Wish Upon A Star is threaded into parts of the score.) Wish isn’t about to challenge Frozen for kids’ repeat-viewing supremacy, but you could do worse for a pre-teen movie diversion this summer holidays.

Wonka

• Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Hugh Grant.
• Director: Paul King.
• See it with: Your favourite candy fiends and/or Paddington fans — be they young or old.
• Likely to make you feel: A gentle sugar rush.
• Where to watch it: In cinemas now.

Our critic Keva York says:

The impulse to account for how some fictional freak (complimentary) got to be the way they are — especially tempting when wading into that most cash-grabby of genres, the origin story — is one usually best avoided. As with a magic trick, to ‘explain’ this is to reduce a character to less than the sum of their parts – to sub out a tantalising mystery for a game of connect the dots.

It’s rather a relief to be introduced to a young Wonka who, as incarnated by Timothée Chalamet, is already a fully formed chocolate wizard (slash magician slash inventor). He’s just arrived in a new city after seven years at sea, ready to launch his confectionary career — even if the money-grubbing members of the local “chocolate cartel” (Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Mathew Baynton) are less than welcoming.

Director Paul King (Paddington, Paddington 2) applies a fairly light touch when it comes to psychoanalysing his protagonist’s obsession – unlike Tim Burton’s 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with its flashback to Willy’s childhood under the thumb of a sugar-hating dentist.

King preserves and, in fact, amplifies Wonka’s magic. What does gets muted in the translation, however, is the unnerving weirdness of Roald Dahl’s character – his darkness, his off-putting humour.

The misadventures of the bratty Golden Ticket winners in the Wonka factory, as recounted in Dahl’s 1964 book, reveal a candy man with a truly warped sense of “just desserts”. Chalamet’s Wonka, meanwhile, is willing to abandon his calling for the sake of new pal Noodle (Calah Lane).

The Dune star gamely gives Willy his all, and proves endearing in the role, convincing even, but he hasn’t got a madcap bone in his body. He looks like he belongs in a pre-Raphaelite painting, not a zany sweet shop.

If the film isn’t quite up to the preternaturally scrumdiddlyumptious standard of its namesake, then it would certainly still pass muster at any of Wonka’s rival chocolate companies.

Migration

• Starring the voices of: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, Danny De Vito, Keegan-Michael Key, Carol Kane.
• Directors: Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine), Guylo Homsy.
• See it with: Young kids.
• Likely to make you feel: Amused.
• Where to watch it: In cinemas from December 26.

Our critic Luke Goodsell says:

It’s ducks amuck in this animated adventure from family-friendly hitmakers Illumination Studios (Minions; Sing; The Super Mario Bros. Movie), as a flock of New England mallards find their feathers ruffled on an unexpected trip to the frightening big pond of New York City.

Convinced by his wife (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) and ducklings (Caspar Jennings and Tresi Gazal) to take a break from the winter doldrums, a beleaguered drake (Kumail Nanjiani) gathers up the family — and a tagalong deadbeat uncle (Danny DeVito) — and heads south for the warmer climes of Jamaica.

Best laid eggs soon go awry when a cloud of fog sends them off course and tumbling into Manhattan — where the mallard-justed skein run a-fowl of a deranged but resourceful pigeon (Awkwafina, channelling Natasha Lyonne), and fall into the clutches of a dastardly restaurant with Duck à l’Orange on the menu.

Much like their Minions and Sing series, Illumination’s latest feature is bright and bouncy and largely pitched to audiences who’ve only recently learned to waddle, with plenty of sight gags that will quack up undemanding audiences.

Screenwriter Mike White (The White Lotus) lands a few serviceable jokes amid the standard-issue story beats, while French director Benjamin Renner (who was Oscar-nominated for 2012’s Ernest & Celestine), garnishes the farce with the occasional visual grace note (there’s a shot of the ducks cruising across the New York skyline that really is quite poetic).

Keegan-Michael Key, meanwhile, does an amusingly over-the-top accent as a caged Jamaican parrot who longs for his tropical homeland, and — proving it’s been a banner year for heron representation — the legendary Carol Kane lends her voice to a trickster bird that gives Robert Pattinson a run for his squawking money.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

• Starring: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Amber Heard, Temuera Morrison.
• Director: James Wan (Aquaman; Saw; The Conjuring).
• See it with: Older kids; comic-book fans.
• Likely to make you feel: Soaked.
• Where to watch it: In cinemas from December 26.

Our critic Luke Goodsell says:

Despite being a sequel to the biggest hit in DC’s Extended Universe, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arrives as the ignominious end of the line for Warner Bros’ troubled superhero franchise, with new bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran having officially announced the end for Jason Momoa’s underwater beefcake.

On the strength of this action-packed but mechanical new adventure, it’s pretty hard to mourn the loss.

Having ascended to the throne of Atlantis, Aquaman (Momoa) is dividing his time between regal duties and raising his new baby with Queen Mera (a barely present Amber Heard, not exactly dispelling those wild behind-the-scenes rumours.)

That is until David Kane (Candyman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) — hell-bent on avenging the death of his father in the first movie — happens upon an ancient, all-powerful trident and summons the dark magic of a fabled lost kingdom to wreak havoc upon Atlantis.

To protect his people, Aquaman must team up on a quest with his exiled brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), make a whole bunch of lazily written wisecracks and pound a few six-packs of Guinness with his dad (Temuera Morrison). (Let’s just try and ignore the fact that they’re drinking them straight outta the can.)

There’s also a plot about global warming and an impending climate catastrophe, which has something to do with the villain burning chunks of a mythical substance called Orichalcum (stop sniggering, it’s a thing).

In theory, any movie teeming with fantastical ocean creatures, neon-streaked underwater metropolises and Nicole Kidman riding a freakin’ cybernetic shark should be a no-brainer blast of escapism.

But, for all its visual splurges, the Lost Kingdom never transcends the tedium of its green screen action.

The film borrows liberally from The Lord of the Rings, Jules Verne, Avatar and Star Wars (Martin Short voices a Jabba the Hutt-like gangster fish, bless), among others, yet can’t summon much in the way of its own personality.

On the plus side, hopefully this means we’ll see more of director James Wan in Malignant mode.