Title: Pinocchio
Year: 2022
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Country: US
Language: English
Aside from possibly The Jungle Book (2016) all these live-action Disney remakes have been varying degrees of terrible. The only way they can get a small fan-base to approve of their pictures is if they manufacture controversy via twitter trends (The Little Mermaid). The only positive response to these movies is backlash against perceived bigotry, rather than actual enjoyment of the picture. Sigh. Lets get this Pinocchio review over with!
A puppet (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is brought to life by a fairy, who assigns him to lead a virtuous life in order to become a real boy.
Recycled from the 1940 classic, Pinocchio hits all the same storyline beats yet feels incredibly hollow and without heart. Our main protagonist puppet goes through each scene without any real agency, which undermines the point of the original; to earn the ability to be a "real boy" he had to CHOOSE to do good. Pinocchio is an endearing character because he is flawed in his ethics & his hero's journey is becoming somebody who wants to do good.
In the 1940 film Pinocchio loves Pleasure Island. He indulges in gambling, beer and other addictive activities. His donkey transformation is comeuppance for his "jackass" behavior and he learns a well-deserved lesson. The Disney+ version gives us a Pinocchio who is timid and scared of Pleasure Island. This kid doesn't even want to try the more tamed down "root beer". The "lesson" (can you call it a lesson if the character already knows the action is bad?) has no emotional impact.
This Disney+ iteration of Pinocchio misses the point of the original film & ultimately feels like a pointless remake. The 1940 version still packs an emotional punch & can still serve great lessons to new generations. Watch that one instead.
No Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment