Pinocchio movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Pinocchio

This Disney live-action movie is now available to stream exlusively on Disney+ Premium.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 45 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: C+

IN A NUTSHELL:

This musical remake features a puppet that is brought to life by a blue fairy, who challenges him to lead a virtuous life in order to become a real boy. The film was directed by Robert Zameckis. He also wrote it with Chris Weitz.

As an interesting side note, Guillermo del Toro will present his darker, stop-motion version of the Pinocchio story on Netflix digital streaming on December 9, 2022.

THINGS I LIKED:

Who doesn’t love Tom Hanks? He’s not a great singer, but he is full of charm and other talents.
I love details in movies. Take a close look at the designs of all the cuckoo clocks in Gepetto’s workshop. They all feature famous Disney movies! The Sleeping Beauty castle in the 1959 movie is the one painted on the backdrop for Stromboli’s puppet show. Keep watching for more Easter egg movie references.
This is Lorraine Bracco’s first Disney movie! She plays a feisty, but friendly seagull.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Purists of the original Disney movie will notice a few changes to the story. One of the things that completely surprised me was that the whale that swallows Gepetto and Pinocchio is a strange hybrid of a whale with octopus tentacles.
Even though this is a musical remake, several of the movie’s original songs were not used in this version.

Sadly, this remake has been getting bad reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, down as low as 36%. I didn’t think it was THAT terrible! In fact, it’s not terrible at all, yet many viewers are calling it the worse live-action remake EVER. The original animated musical of 1940 was adored by audiences with a 100% score by fans and critics at the time. This is the modern, woke version of the story.
Some of the CGI looks pretty fake. In fact, the movie is being advertised as live-action, yet there are a ton of CGI characters in it.
Ultimately, Disney appears to be on a mission to remake all of its popular animated classics into live-action updates. Unfortunately, this remake doesn’t offer anything new and has less charm than the original.
Pleasure Island is extremely chaotic.
SPOILER: Pinocchio doesn’t actually look like a real boy in the end. Why not, especially if this is a live-action movie? He’s still a wooden puppet, but he’s told he’s a human now. What the what?

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Scenes involving cigars, smoke, and alcohol in the original animation have been removed in this remake.
People make terrible decisions.
Bullying
Characters in dangerous situations
Kidnapping and child abuse
Child exploitation
You “almost” see people swear
Subtle comment about sexuality that only adults will notice (Jiminy Cricket says, “There are other ways to make a boy.”)
Kids are seen behaving very badly in Pleasure Island
There’s no profanity, but Jiminy Cricket says, “What the cuss is that all about?” umm…