Pinocchio: Movie Review

Cast: Tom Hanks, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth
Director: Robert Zemeckis

There's no denying the fact Disney+'s Pinocchio wants to be the broad family version of the classic Disney story.

Whilst Guillermo del Toro's version is due on Netflix in December, this first release, put out in time for Disney+ day is more one that plays up the shyster carny angle of the story and thrusts the boy made of wood squarely into a more latter day setting.

Hanks is clock-repairer Geppetto, who lives his days wrapped in sadness at the loss of his son, and constructing a wooden boy with which to help him deal with his grief. One night, Gepetto makes a wish on the wishing star, and it's granted - and in the morning, Pinocchio has sprung to life.

Wanting to be nothing more than a normal boy, Pinocchio heads to school, but falls in the thrall of Honest John (a rambunctious Keegan Michael Key), a fast-talking fox who sells Pinocchio the idea of fame over hard work.

Despite the protestations of his conscience Jiminy Cricket (Gordon Levitt, in a Bob Cratchit-style role), Pinocchio finds himself swept into a world he doesn't know - and his innocence and naivete may be his only key to surviving.

There's no doubt this take on Pinocchio is as broad as they come.

While initially a doleful meditation on grief and loss, chiefly sold by Hanks' subdued and muted performance, the film soon becomes a cautionary episodic tale of how children need to have moral guidance growing up.

It's hard to shake the somewhat formulaic structure as the tale spreads out, but while Hanks has the top billing, he soon fades as Gordon-Levitt and a perky Ainsworth come to the fore. They make for an amiable pair, and it's Ainsworth's energy that makes the film compelling for its journey.

There are a few moments when the film's CGI creaks a little and certain scenes don't quite hold together as well as they perhaps could in the final third of the movie. Certainly a jaunt to Pleasure Island and a ragtag bunch of ruffians seems like a narratively weak idea and it's more about anarchy than anything strong story-wise.

Once again, there's an argument that Disney doesn't need to mine its own back catalogue, and there's nothing wrong with the animated original. (There are even hints here of a Pinocchio franchise as the film splutters to a somewhat abrupt end). It may be bastardising its own back catalogue and doing it up with bells and whistles, but you may struggle to banish your Jiminy Cricket conscience that picks at you, wondering why this needed to be made.

In the final wash, Disney+'s Pinocchio is the kind of old fashioned family film you rarely get these days - one specifically aimed at younger kids and their parents. For the older and slightly more aware, there are wobbles in the film and the magic of the innocence may have weakened, but for younger audiences, this is a solid piece of family entertainment that can easily be left on on a Saturday afternoon with no worries.