Movie Review: Pinocchio Streaming on Disney Plus
The clockmaker who wants a real son is back in the live-action remake of Disney’s Pinocchio. Read on for a review of the movie Pinocchio, streaming on Disney Plus!
Screener provided by Disney+ however all thoughts and opinions my own.
Clockmaker Geppetto (Tom Hanks) creates a little puppet named Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) who is made into a real boy with some magic. Immediately afterward Pinnochhio goes out to explore the world with Jiminy Cricket (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as his conscious. His day is filled with interesting characters but he is particularly drawn toward a marionette that works for the evil Stromboli. After escaping Stromboli and a tense experience at a carnival for wicked kids, Pinocchio works to make things right and be reunited with Geppetto.
In Pinocchio Tom Hanks’ performance is so over the top and not funny at all. His accent is loud and borders on the almost rude characterization of Italian grandfathers. Actually, all of the performances are over the top except for Cynthia Ervio who has a lovely tun and solo song as the Blue Fairy.
The movie doesn’t follow the animated movie as closely as say Beauty and the Beast, instead bringing in a more sinister vibe of the adults that try to take advantage of Pinocchio. The carnival scenes are particularly dark both literally and figuratively, as there are smoke monsters that chase the children towards the end of the scene.
Some visuals are beautiful, especially the scene with the Blue Fairy and when Pinocchio and Jiminy walk through the village. Even the sinister carnival has some striking visuals to see that you almost forget that the new character called the Coachman (Luke Evans) can’t be trusted. But don’t worry, it’s not cigars and beer that make the kids wild, it’s all the sugar they can handle that makes them want to destroy property. The updates are necessary but ultimately don’t add anything else to the scenes that should convey that entitled kids will act wild if left to themselves.
Pinocchio isn’t the first movie I’d play on Disney Plus and what could have been an updated story just falls flat with the overly cheesy performances.
