GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO (2022)

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO (2022)

Tagline: Nope.

(Stop Motion Animation, Family, The Living Puppet) [PG]

Oh the pain, life, it’s such hideous pain.

In this one, Geppetto loses his son Carlo due to a bombing of Italy. Over the years he becomes steeped in sorrow and prays to God to restore his son. God doesn’t bring his son back to life but sends an angel to bring a wood boy that Geppetto makes to life instead. The angel recruits Sebastian J. Cricket to assist the wooden boy named Pinocchio to be good. However various forces in the area have other ideas for Pinocchio when they realize he can’t die.

First off, that opening description might have caught a few people’s attention. Even though the “angel” is called a “wood sprite” in all the references I’ve seen, it does have four wings covered in eyes, matching the description of the cherubim from the book of Ezekiel. Clearly, this was the intention of the designers, but perhaps with the Godophobic world we live in, some people took issue with that. The movie also depicts Geppetto carving crucifixes for the church and praying as stated in my intro. I mention this because even some of the trivia points on various websites ignore the “faith” aspect of the film or downplay it to the point of flat-out lying.

This movie does a lot of things right and the biggest stand out is probably Del Toro’s meticulous attention to detail and design. The stop-motion animation is incredible and every emotion is vibrant and telling. They even put some little mistakes in the animation like missing trying to pick things up or kicking things and missing. This was intentional to make this thing feel more like it might in real life. The movie also takes place during the 1930s when Italy when Benito Mussolini was in charge which is a drastic shift from other adaptations. Another significant difference you can see from the previews is that Pinocchio isn’t painted or anything. He’s literally just a little wood dude.

 The voice cast is outstanding involving the likes of Ewan McGregor (BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) as Sebastian J. Cricket, David Bradley (JOLT) as Geppetto,  Cate Blanchett (THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS) as Spazzatura, Tilda Swinton (THE DEAD DON’T DIE) as Wood Sprite (the angel), Finn Wolfhard (GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE) as Candlewick and more. Everyone in this thing does an amazing job from the modelers to the camera guys to just freakin everything. The effort is outstanding.

Not all of this movie is mind-blowing though. After the initial intro, this thing slows way the heck down and we get nearly an hour of not a ton really happening. The dark tone of the film is lightened up by Pinocchio’s antics and a few funny moments involving Sebastian J. Cricket do help out, but this isn’t a comedy by any stretch. The contrasts are there for most of the movie, but the entire thing feels like what you would see walking into a candle-lit antique shop run by a traveling circus. This flick also feels pretty long. Apparently, it is actually the long stop-motion animation film to date.

Director Guillermo del Toro has a specific look to most of his films that are distinctly his, kind of like Tim Burton does for most of his films. However, sometimes it’s not always great and can come across as creative but visually dull at the same time. For its lulls and so-so storyline, I can only give this a 4 out of 7. Having said that, if audience reactions can be relied on, it is the best of the 3 recent adaptations of Pinocchio. The Disney version is the bottom of the barrel and Matteo Garrone’s version is amazing but doesn't have enough soul.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE JIM HENSON COMPANY AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.