Most viewers are skeptical these days when it comes to reshaping childhood favorites. Disney’s incessant need to dabble with their magic to convert these animated classics into live-action adaptations divides their fanbase into opposite sides of pandemonium. Some are excited, hoping to receive a film like Beauty and the Beast, while others are worried that their treasured VHS flick will lose its magic once transformed. Most of their skepticism stems from one significant and valid point — the classics are still good. This notion is cemented with Disney’s latest live-action Pinocchio, helmed by director Robert Zemeckis.
To be fair, there have been more than 60 adaptations of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio. With all those reimaginings, it makes sense that not all of them would be five-star rated hits. Disney’s 1940 version is undoubtedly the most popular despite being a severely watered-down version of the original story. However, considering Disney, the OG itself, took on the live-action, viewers’ expectations were high. The animated film proved to be a gold mine of source material, so where exactly did this film go wrong?
We all know the story of Pinocchio, right? Geppetto wants a son. He carves a wooden puppet with strings and wishes on a star that the puppet could be real. A fairy brings the puppet to life and tells him that if he lives virtuously, he’ll become a real boy. Pinocchio gets into chaos and mischief because he just became alive two seconds ago and doesn’t know much about the world. He gets asked about his behavior and starts lying, making his nose grow. Ultimately, he learns right from wrong and is rewarded by becoming a boy.
Zemeckis has proven to have a vision that produces outstanding productions like his stamp on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, The Polar Express, A Christmas Carol, and more. Yet, his live-action jaunt to Pinocchio comes off as stiff, wooden, and lifeless. “All of the visual effects learning I’ve had over the years all went into making this movie,” said Zemeckis. It’s disappointing that the story itself didn’t match the same level of effort. The cautionary puppet tale couldn’t seem to cut the strings from the animated version to present a refreshed version of the story with flow, depth, and heart.
This, however, doesn’t negate the talent of the cast. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Keegan Michael-Key were particular faves amongst the top-tier talent in this film. Levitt’s voice-over work for Jiminy was so spot on that he was unrecognizable. His inflections and vocal breaks added another flex to the actor’s talent cap. Keegan Michael-Key as Honest John breathed fresh energy into the film, creating a clear highlight that the rest of the film competed with until the end.
Additional talent featured Cynthia Erivo, a small but memorable moment from Luke Evans, and Academy Award winner Tom Hanks. For some, Hanks is a big draw as his level of performance is consistent. What isn’t consistent, in this instance, is his accent. As we witnessed in The Terminal, accents are not his strong suit. It didn’t help that other actors in the film presented a stronger Italian accent. While it may not be a big deal to some, his inability to master that aspect of Gepetto weakened his on-screen character.
There was a huge opportunity missed to invigorate this story. It would’ve been great for this story to have reverted back to some of the original plot points in The Adventures of Pinocchio. Originally, Gepetto carved a marionette to make money as a puppeteer, and he carved one out of magic wood and named it Pinocchio. When Pinocchio comes to life, he basically goes ham, starts abusing Gepetto, and kills Jiminy. We definitely didn’t have to go that dark, but expanding the story to embrace more of his origins would’ve infused the tale with something more tangible to connect to.
Each isolated element of Pinocchio worked. All the ingredients were there — visionary director, stellar cast, fun songs and yet, these things didn’t meld cohesively. Its lack of continuity and haphazard plot stifled the magic. Kids might enjoy the spectacle, but anyone with a connection to the animated version won’t experience much beyond a bit of disappointment. Whether you should watch it or not — let your conscience be your guide.
Pinocchio is now streaming on Disney+.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
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