I think that we all knew Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio had the potential to be a very special retelling of this classic story. I will admit, I was kind of shocked at just how many times Pinocchio had been made as a movie, over 20! As a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro and the Pinocchio story, I was certain this would be amazing.
How to Download Guillermo Del Torro’s Pinocchio
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check also another Pinocchio film from the same year.
The Movie Review
The first thing we have to talk about is the way the movie looks. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is made with stop motion and it is some of the best stop motion work I have ever seen. It is not just the style and personality that it gives the movie, but the attention to detail here is just staggering.
The way that the character’s facial expressions are captured, the look and feel of the town, and the various places the story takes place. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that Pinocchio is one of the best-looking movies of 2022! I legit have zero complaints about the way this movie looks.
While the story has many of the same beats that you would expect, this is a far darker and more brutal retelling of this classic tale. I love the start of the movie where we actually get to see Geppetto as a father and how crushing the loss of his son was because of the war. Of course, it is his grief and loneliness that lead him to make Pinocchio in the first place.
One thing that is very, very different from the Disney version of Pinocchio is the “blue fairy”. Instead of the Blue Fairy, we get this amazing wood sprite that looks more like a mythical beast. It is a truly amazing sight and the whole scene of Pinocchio coming to life left me in awe!
Even Jiminy Cricket is very different here, instead of what we know, he is called Sebastian J. Cricket and he is a true character. The best bits of humor in the movie comes from Sebastian, usually at Pinocchio’s expense. If you have seen any other adaptation of Pinocchio, the story here follows a similar path, but there are key differences.
We have a couple of main villains. Count Volpe is this evil guy that tries to take advantage of Pinocchio, he is like a mixture of Honest John and Stromboli from the Disney Pinocchio. He is a fantastic bad guy and there is just something very sinister and evil about his whole persona.
However, it is Podesta that really sent a shiver up my spine. Podesta is a fascist government official who after realizing Pinocchio is pretty much immortal wants to basically use him as a child soldier! It is pretty brutal stuff and Podesta has a very horrible relationship with his own son, a stark contrast to Pinocchio and Geppetto!
I do have to give special attention to the voice cast which is great. We have Gregory Mann as Pinocchio, Euan McGregor as Sebastian, and David Bradley as Geppetto. I also want to say that Ron Pearlman is perfectly cast as the evil Podesta we well. All the cast delivers big time here and it makes this such an emotionally impactful movie.
I was one of the few that really enjoyed the live-action Disney Pinocchio movie. However, this is certainly the best Pinocchio movie of 2022 and one of the best pieces of work Guillermo del Toro has delivered in quite some time. This is 100 percent a must-watch kind of movie!
