If you said you wanted a Pinocchio remake, then your nose is probably 10 feet long. Going into it, I felt this movie was unnecessary, but I had some hope for it because it was directed by Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis and starred Tom Hanks. Sadly, I was still disappointed. While Pinocchio is one of Disney’s better remakes, it’s still the worst of the best by far. It’s a carbon copy of the 1940 classic and brings nothing new to the table aside from a solid performance by Tom Hanks and some cool visuals.
The cast is, without question, the best part of this film. As Geppetto, Tom Hanks is unrecognizable, and his talents are perfectly suited for this iconic role. Sadly, Geppetto does not get a lot of screen time in this iteration of the film but, every time he’s on screen, he steals the show. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is no slouch either. As Jiminy Cricket, he provides the voice of reason that gives this version of the character a nice tone and demeanor. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth’s performance as the titular character, while very derivative of Dickie Jones’ performance in the 1940 film, is still solid and full of charm. Cynthia Erivo is criminally underused in the film as the Blue Fairy but she still uses her incredible vocals to perform the classic “When You Wish Upon A Star” in a rendition that I quite enjoyed.
The visuals of the film are pretty good. Despite what others think, I loved the look of Pinocchio in this film, and I think that, for a streaming film, the effects were great across the board. The film feels very cinematic and has flashes of greatness. It’s exactly what you would expect from a director like Zemeckis but unfortunately, we only see this in sporadic segments of the film.
Sadly, this is where my praise ends. Let’s get into some of the negatives of the film.
The movie was just… unnecessary. I get that Disney wanted to remake every single IP they could for live-action, but did this one seriously need it? It’s a near carbon copy of the 1940 version and other than one new, original, unimportant character, there’s nothing significantly new in this film to distinguish itself from the original. Sure, you could say the same for other Disney live-action remakes but at least they all have something to make them unique. Maleficent and Cruella are pseudo remakes told from different perspectives and partially different timelines. The Lion King, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Aladdin are all pretty much copies as well, but they all brought something new to the table, and this one doesn’t. The script is decent enough and there were a couple of good jokes but, for the most part, it was generic and bland. In the end, this film was just flat-out boring. I found myself checking my phone to see what time it was and how much time was left. I know I am not the target audience for the film (that’s a lie, I totally am) but they seriously could have done a better job here.
Overall, this film is not going to surpass the original film in any way, but I think kids will like, not love, Pinocchio.
One Take News 