Directed by the legendary Robert Zemeckis (check out his Beowulf, The Polar Express, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, Forrest Gump, or Back to the Future), Pinocchio is the latest Disney Classic to be given the live-action treatment. Pinocchio was the big release for 2022’s Disney Plus Day which happened on the 8th of September. I loved Pinocchio as a kid, it was one of my favorites and this movie did not disappoint. It is actually one of the best live-action adaptations of a Disney Classic they have done so far!
How to Download Pinocchio (2022 live-action film)
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The Movie Review
What I think the movie did really well was the aspect of being faithful to the original movie, but making a few key changes to also make it stand out on its own. One change that was quite heartbreaking was the very start where we meet Geppetto. Geppetto is played by Tom Hanks and he is wonderful (as he always is in this role).
It is touched upon in the original movie, but here we actually get to hear more about Geppetto’s backstory. We get confirmation that the old craftsman had a wife and also a son that he lost. He makes a wooden puppet and makes a wish upon a star and this is where the Blue Fairy comes and brings the puppet to life.
The movie is narrated by Jiminy Cricket (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and he like in the original gets the job of being Pinocchio’s conscious. I really liked how we got more of a sense of the passing of time with Geppetto and Pinocchio getting to know each other, bond, and so on. In the original, it is like Pinocchio comes alive and Geppetto ships him off to school the next day!
Of course, if you know the Pinocchio story, you know that he gets stopped by Honest John and Gideon who see dollar signs. Now, Pinocchio is not swayed as easily by Honest John as he is in the original. Actually, this Pinocchio has a bit more of a moral compass than the original one does and he seems to want to make Geppetto proud of him and not want to disappoint him.
We get much of the same stuff as the original with Stromboli, Pleasure Island, and so on. However, the “changes” that were made were for the better. Pleasure Island for example is much better thanks to the incredible performance by Luke Evans who plays the Coachman. We also have a couple of new characters in the seagull Sofia and most interesting of all, Fabiana who has a puppet called Sabine.
We get the fantastic showdown with Pinocchio having to go and find Geppetto and that is where we also get to see Monstro. Monstro is quite different in this movie and I think that is the aspect that will really divide fans. I thought the new design of Monstro was cool, but I would be lying if I said I preferred it over the original.
The whole presentation of the movie certainly has that Disney and Robert Zemeckis charm to it. Right from the start when we see those amazing Disney clocks that Geppetto made, you know this is a live-action adaptation that is going to be done right. The CG of Pinocchio is incredible and he could not look any closer to his 1940s counterpart in my opinion.
I thought that Pinocchio was a fantastic movie! I liked how it kept the spirit and much of the original, but the changes that were made make this different enough that it well and truly stands out on its own. The whole family enjoyed this one and I think that this movie will probably be my pick for family movie of the year.
