{"id":25304,"date":"2022-09-08T00:40:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T07:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25304"},"modified":"2022-09-08T00:40:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T07:40:51","slug":"pinocchio-feels-stilted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25304","title":{"rendered":"PINOCCHIO Feels Stilted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 105 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Disney+ Day premiere will launch on September 8th<\/sup>\nexclusively on Disney+.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Disney have been producing live-action adaptations of\ntheir own animated properties for decades now, in recent times there have been\nso many that it is hard to keep up with them all. Over the last three years,\nwe\u2019ve seen new editions of Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King and Mulan<\/em>, not\nto mention the Maleficent<\/em> spin-offs from Cinderella, <\/em>as well as\nCruella <\/em>from 101 Dalmatians<\/em> and more. The latest live-action redo is\nPinocchio<\/em>, which in itself was an adaptation of the beloved 1883 novel The\nAdventures of Pinocchio <\/em>by Carlo Collodi. Disney\u2019s 1940 take on the book is\nstill considered by many as their crowning cinematic achievements and one of\nthe most memorable animated features in their entire catalog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story is told by a friendly grasshopper named Jiminy Cricket\n(Joseph Gordon-Levitt provides the voice). The insect arrives at the home of a\nlonely woodworker named Geppetto (Tom Hanks), who has just finished creating an\nimpressive marionette named Pinocchio (voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth).\nAfter wishing upon a star that his creation was real, The Blue Fairy (Cynthia\nErivo) appears and brings Pinocchio to life. The title character is thrilled to\nhave Geppetto for a father, but still yearns to be an actual boy. He is told by\nthe fairy that being brave, truthful and unselfish may do the trick. Jiminy\nCricket offers to be Pinocchio\u2019s temporary conscience and help him attain his\ngoal. However, the lead soon comes into contact with shady characters like\nHonest John (Keegan-Michael Key), Stromboli (Giuseppe Battiston), and The\nCoachman (Luke Evans), all of whom attempt to con the na\u00efve wooden\npuppet.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Revising this famous tale is truly a daunting task. And\ndespite the star power of Hanks and technical skills of director Robert\nZemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Cast\nAway, The Polar Express<\/em>) behind the camera, the opening act is remarkably\nclumsy and awkward. In fact, the first half-hour is set within one room,\nforcing Hanks to sing and interact alone with Pinocchio and other CGI-characters.\nThe marionette looks convincing, but others (like pet cat Figaro) do not and\nhave a distracting effect. Early attempts at humor fall flat as well, including\na labored series of jokes which involve some of Geppetto\u2019s woodwork resembling\nDisney icons. Hanks does his best and lands a line or two. Still, it feels\nforced, with the actor seemingly encouraged to behave in an exaggerated manner\nlike the original animated character. It all comes across as artificial when\ndelivered by a live performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Things improve slightly as Pinocchio leaves home, becomes\nseparated from Geppetto and is forced to fend for himself. Zemeckis does\nattempt to tweak the story a little and a few touches are effective. This\nreviewer did appreciate that Pinocchio is forced to learn and figure out\nimportant lessons on his own, instead of being rescued by the Blue Fairy and\nhaving things explained to him. But while this change is fine, other\nalterations don\u2019t work quite as smoothly. There is a nice attempt to add a\nfemale character to the story in the form of Fabiana (Kyanne Lamaya).\nUnfortunately, she needs to be given more to do. The character isn\u2019t given much\nof a purpose other than to sing a song and relay unnecessary exposition to\nPinocchio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only when Pinocchio encounters The Coachman and befriends\nLampwick (Lewin Lloyd) does the film jolt to life. This film\u2019s depiction of\nPleasure Island is a visual treat and, amusingly enough, the locale looks like\na Disney ride gone horribly awry. While some of the vices from the original story\nhave been softened, it\u2019s still entertaining to watch. The humor and sinister\nelements featured in this section are compelling and far more exciting than\nearlier sections of the feature.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In summation, the visual effects bringing Pinocchio to life\nare impressive, the Pleasure Island section works and there are a few enjoyable\nrecreations of the original\u2019s famous tunes (alongside some competent but\notherwise forgettable new additions). But sadly, in this adaptation the heart\nof the story with Geppetto doesn\u2019t resonate at all. Instead, the film leaves\naudiences with some stiff interactions between characters and, most\nimportantly, a weak and less-than-stirring climax and finale. This version of Pinocchio<\/em>\nlooks bright and polished, but feels stilted and wooden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 105 minutes This Disney+ Day premiere will launch on September 8th exclusively on Disney+. While Disney have been producing live-action adaptations of their own animated properties for decades now, in recent times there have been so many that it is hard to keep up with them all. Over the last three years, we\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[209,3295,4236,5023,5922,7287,8359,11039,11957,12305,12786,16116,16117,16118,16119,23015],"class_list":["post-25304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-209","tag-book-adaptation","tag-childrens-film","tag-cynthia-erivo","tag-disney","tag-family-film","tag-giuseppe-battiston","tag-joseph-gordon-levitt","tag-kyanne-lamaya","tag-lewin-lloyd","tag-luke-evans","tag-pinocchio","tag-pinocchio-film-review","tag-pinocchio-movie-review","tag-pinocchio-review","tag-tom-hanks"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}