I was very excited about Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. I believed that Del Toro’s artistic vision would bring new life to this ancient fairy tale, but sadly I was mistaken. This movie ended up being a huge disappointment that I struggled to finish.
There is no real need for a synopsis. This movie is the story of Pinocchio set against the backdrop of WWI-era Italy voiced by British actors.
I wish this movie was voiced in Italian because I was not a fan of any of the voices. The singing would have been more tolerable in Italian. If the voices don’t turn you off this movie, the singing sure will. Admittedly, I am not a fan of musicals, but I at least expect the singing to be good and the songs to be catchy. This version of the fairy tale chooses to be a musical without any talented singers or catchy songs to alleviate you from the boring narrative.
The story may have been well-intentioned as it touches on an important moment in history, but it unravels much too slowly. With the added musical numbers, this movie feels longer than it is. This felt like someone was trying to tell in Guillermo Del Toro’s style, but it was an attempt that fails miserably.
This adaptation may look pretty, but it lacks any real substance. I was not impressed. Once again I am disappointed by another of Guillermo Del Toro’s projects, and it is becoming difficult to remain supportive.
You can stream Pinocchio on Netflix, but I wouldn’t bother. I understand that this movie is in select theaters, but that would be a waste of your money.
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I only made it to the part where he discovers that the puppet is alive. Definitely turned it off once they started singing the first song. Sadly your review is quite accurate. I don’t even know if children can sit through this.
That’s funny. My wife was very excited for this movie and even had plans to watch it in theaters, but that’s where she stopped too. She has a much higher tolerance for musicals too. I had to finish it on my own with headphones. There is no way kids have the attention span to sit through this.
Seemed muddled in purpose and too cluttered – I thought the original purpose of the Pinocchio story was to show the way being a bad kid and rejecting education led you astray. That was cut out of this story and the Pinocchio character, even when he saves Gepetto, just comes across as a unidimensional character with little social value. I did enjoy the cricket, though. And the card-playing rabbits.
Yeah it felt like a different story and like you said, not as effective. I liked the art and I agree that the cricket was great, but everything else was rough. Oh well. Thanks for reading!
I really liked this movie. I read your review first and since I almost always agree with your reviews, I decided not to see it, but then a friend of my boyfriend’s said he really liked it so I agreed to watch it…but with low expectations. That sometimes helps. I liked almost all of it – the story, the characters, the stop-motion animation, the songs…I bought into almost all of it. The one thing I will agree with you on is why were the voices British? That didn’t make much sense to me and was a little distracting.
I appreciate your insight. I am glad you liked the movie. I love the art and the setting, but it just wasn’t for me. I have talked to a few people about this movie already and it seems like the deciding factor of whether or not people like this movie comes down to the singing. I didn’t like the singing.