Pinocchio

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is exactly that, a beautiful and unique interpretation of a classic that explores death and grief in ways that are often emotional and heartbreaking whilst still delivering a fun adventure with gorgeous animation against a classically disturbing Del Toro backdrop.

Gregory Mann gives an incredible lead performance, imbuing Pinocchio with a boundless warmth and naivety that thankfully never becomes annoying. Ewan McGregor makes for a terrific comic relief and is an absolute joy to hear whenever he's on screen.

David Bradley is so good as Geppetto, subtly bringing so much pain to his character that breaks your heart and makes his moments of happiness all the better to experience. Rounding out the cast is Christoph Waltz, on point as usual with another truly evil character.

Guillermo Del Toro's and Mark Gustafson's direction is absolutely phenomenal, everything from the movement of the characters, to their designs and the vibrant colour palette is gorgeous and endlessly watchable. The music by Alexandre Desplat is amazing, giving the film a perfect sense of whimsy for a fairytale.

Geppetto's carved and chiselled a new son, replacing Carlo who was tragically taken, made from fine Italian pine, dovetailed, screwed and fixed with twine, just imagine his surprise when he awakens; as a Wood Sprite's taken pity on this fellow, who's sorrow, grief and sadness make him bellow, taken all internal strife, the grain now imbued full of life, though he won't age, he might just season, but never grow (except for an inbuilt polygraph). A cricket helps, to make sharp edges round, untying knots that seek to limit and to bound, but there's danger in the town, someone else would like to own, it's not too long before Pinocchio's has gone; whisked away, by the unscrupulous Count Volpe, who's recognised a fortuitous, new pay day, a puppet without strings, will make his tills ka-ching and ring, with some swindling alongside a small betray.

A dark and tenebrous retelling of the tale of the wooden boy that introduces some additional tangents and places it during the turbulent times of war and conflict. Great animation, some great dialogue, only tarnished by the fact that it's a perpetually told story, and you know what familiarity invariably brings (if you're of a certain age).

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) follows a father's wish that magically brings a wooden boy to life. Unfortunately, I don't like this film as much as others do. It's a good film to put on in the background but I found it incredibly hard to pay consistent attention to.

Where this film really stands out is in its animation, the stop motion is done very well and the movie has such a unique look to it. The visuals are very dark and fit the gritty tone of the story. There's also some nice colour palettes at times.

The film includes a lot of songs, and for the most part I found them fairly forgettable. The voices also sound way too auto-tuned which gets quite annoying. However, the score itself is pretty decent and there's some good sound design, especially at the end where it really adds a lot of emotion to the story.

The voice acting from everyone was impressive, but unfortunately I found a lot of the characters to be fairly unlikeable. Ewan McGregor is great as the cricket, and probably my favourite character. Also, Tilda Swinton is perfect and I can't imagine anyone else doing better in her roles. Pinocchio, for me, comes across as very annoying, so it's hard to route for him at times. Additionally, I wasn't keen on Geppetto.

The film starts off with a sad and gripping first act, but I slowly lost my interest as the film progressed. I just don't find it entirely engaging and I feel it tries to balance way too many subplots at once, it completely lost me on more than one occasion. Unfortunately for me, I feel this movie drags a lot.

This dark version of the Pinocchio story is exquisitely crafted. Del Toro's vision of a fascist Italy is richly detailed and filled with powerful imagery. The story is deeply moving as Pinocchio, voiced by David Bradley, struggles to stay true to his father Gepetto's wishes while also trying to find his path in life.

The animation style is unique for a del Toro film, blending elements from his other works to create something entirely new. The colours and visuals are stunning, giving justice to the grim world of 1940s Italy.

The characters are distinct and memorable, each brought to life with the help of excellent vocal performances. While Gepetto and Pinocchio take centre stage, their relationship is the true star of the film. The relationship between this father and son is both heart-warming and heartbreaking as Pinocchio wrestles with his conscience and emotions.

The music also adds to the atmosphere, creating an additional layer of emotion that helps bring the story together.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO is a remarkable piece of art that captures the horrors of fascism and celebrates the bond between father and son. The animation, music, and storytelling are all top-notch, making this an unforgettable cinematic experience. Highly recommended! (NOTE: Parents, take care. This might not be the most suitable movie for young children.)

This film is NOT meant to have the light-hearted happy-go-lucky vibes of Disney's 1940 Pinocchio movie, but rather a modernised take praising the wonders of childhood, faith and friendship; up against the all-consuming tyranny of fascism (its take on Mussolini is hilarious), deceptive show-business tactics; and the double-edged sword of Time (and Life) itself.

Pinocchio is a conceptually HEAVY film that doesn't condescend on its younger audiences nor it's older ones: it respects all the age groups equally and without compromising the story and fairytale-qualities of the Pinocchio story at its core. It's like a hard-boiled folktale that knows when to be optimistic and when to be cautionary in equal measures; and that's the magic Guillermo Del Toro does so goddamn well in SPADES.

This is 2022's best animated feature film, and one of Netflix's best film offerings in years. And it was worth the wait on Del Toro's part too.

All in all, Pinocchio was WORTH IT; big time! And hella better than Disney's 2022 live-action turd too.

It's a 5/5 star experience.