Today, the live-action adaptation of “Pinocchio” starring Tom Hanks, Joseph-Gordon Levit, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Netflix’s “The Sandman”), Cynthia Erivo (2021’s “Needle in a Timestack”), and Sheila Atim (“Doctor Strange:Multiverse of Madness”). This movie is an Adventure/Comedy/Drama/Family/Fantasy.
This movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis (2021’s “Finch”).
This movie was rated PG-13 for Profanity, rude material and some language.
Onto the premise: A live-action adaptation of Disney’s ‘Pinocchio’.
He is easily one of my all-time favorite characters. Watching this movie really brought me back to my childhood.
I really liked the voice actors, like Joseph-Gordon Levit aha Robin from “The Dark Knight” trilogy, is prolly my favorite character from this movie, along with Tom Hanks.
The Voice cast was very good and did an amazing job with the introduction of the characters in my opinion. But same goes for the acting of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the Pinocchio was very good, capturing the joy and innocence of the aspiring boy and really selling it for the whole film.
This movie made this version of Pinocchio even more special and emotional because of its story with Tom Hanks’ character’s mission to create Pinocchio.
Speaking of Tom Hanks, I will be talking about him later, but let’s go to Robin aka Joseph-Gordon Levitt. The talented actor did a great job as the cricket, finding the traditional way for the character and adding his little style to the mix without breaking the bug, see what I did there… 😉 . He was great in this role and I feel he was perfect for the part and my favorite actor. The rest of the voice cast did fine, with a shout out to Keegan-Michael Key for a very entertaining and robust Honest Jon portrayal, and that one joke about a certain actor , made me giggle so much. I would liked to see more of his character.
Some of the New Angles: Like many things in the modern era, Disney+ had to take new twists and directions to make a timeless classic fresh and new.
Some of these new additions were fine, like adding a puppeteer character to the first act of trouble, who was very sweet and a nice plot point they introduced him to us, the audience.
Another was helping elevate the performance of the puppet show and making it a little more fun to watch it. Even adding a few connecting scenes and a few little nods to the political moments I could appreciate when they naturally integrated were fine additions.
This movie tried to connect a lot of the vague background pieces in the long run, helping to smooth out the jumps from scene to scene…
Fans of the old school should have the timeline that guides you through his journey and appreciate Zemeckis honoring the timeless tale for about 70-75% of the story. At least in terms of the historical context of Pinocchio, the movie honors by putting in a scene from the movie from every major point. So, at least there is a general context and not completely putting the tale in the blender for no apparent reason.
The Setting Is Very Nice: Disney’s budget and imagineer team really get props for the designing of the world for this film. I think my absolute favorite scene is the Bullard scene like that was too hypnotic to not like it! It reminded me of Las Vegas.
The town is adorable, really feeling like the Italian fairy tale villa where crooked streets and cramped spaces form a quaint maze. They made the setting feel very old timey, and that helps with the atmosphere of the movie. I also loved the stage they performed at, at the show on, very reminiscent of the classic setting from the cartoon, but again, nicely optimized to real life to have fun and feel like the classic art of the puppeteering, including a nice backstage that felt very technical of the stage that entertained so many. Of course, the theme park of madness on Pleasure Island succeeded in so many endeavors for bringing the land to life.
The CGI of the characters looked so good, like I was a bit anxious about them, Jen e Marvel’s “She-Hulk” but thanks to the trailers , I’ve seen thus far, my anxiety went away, when I actually watched the movie yesterday.
Because Disney has been on a successful mission of making everyone look realistic in their live-action adaptations the past few years ( “The Lion King).
This often gets rid of the magic of the Disney cartoons and takes away the fun and energy of the classics.
Jiminy hops and skips like a cricket, but then adds the human qualities to be the clumsy and spastic conscience you love to see. Cleo swims beautifully, but still has the emotional portrayal of the little flirt she often acts as. And as for Figaro, this little guy was my favorite with Pinocchio as they scampered, moved, and reenacted the famous moments from the movies to a level that really felt like the source material.
Overall this movie was so much fun and brought me so much joy and happiness and was truly an escape from a very difficult week.
Therefore it was truly magical and “worth a watch”. I would highly recommend this movie. I honestly can’t wait for Guillermo del Toro’s version of “Pinocchio” for Netflix on December 9th 2022 because that one’s supposed to be darker and horror-esque.
Stay tuned for more reviews and listen to this week’s podcast episode on Sunday!
Movie reviews with ceren 