Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
OK, if this film came from any other director, I would be much harsher in my assessment of it. It's about an hour too long, made up of random life moments that don't really have any connective tissue tying them together, and is so caught up in trying to convince the audience how magical and wondrous movies are that it almost becomes a parody of itself at times...
But then again, this film doesn't come from any other director, does it? It comes from Steven Spielberg. And when you're the guy who directed some treasured cornerstones of American cinema like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., the Indiana Jones trilogy, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln, and the West Side Story remake, then I say you've more than earned the right to make a film like this.
Besides, the performances are really strong - the standouts being Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen (yes, really), and Gabriel LaBelle in what's sure to be a starmaking role - John Williams's stripped-down score is wonderfully crafted, and overall, the film just gave me a creative spark after seeing the titular character pursue his passion against all odds. Also, the ending gives a wonderful, to-the-point tip for any filmmaker.
So, if you can look past the flaws I mentioned, I think you'll be charmed!
Anyways, onto del Toro's Pinocchio!
Who decided that 2022 should be the year of Pinocchio movies? I mean, there was that one from the Ukraine starring Pauly Shore (so guess how good it is), the Disney/Zemeckis one from October that most everyone hates, and now we have this one from Guillermo del Toro and stop-motion veteran Mark Gustafson.
And surprising absolutely no one, it's the best out of the three, and probably one of the better animated films I've seen in a while.
The story contains pretty much all the same beats you remember from the Disney film - or the Carlo Collodi book, if you've read it - though there are a few new twists this time around. In 1930's Fascist Italy, an old man named Gepetto (played by Argus Filch himself, David Bradley) loses his son Carlo during an air raid. Wracked with grief, he drunkenly builds himself a little wooden boy who's brought to life by the Wood Spirte (Tilda Swinton). The next morning, Gepetto finds the little wooden boy (voiced by relative newcomer Gregory Mann) walking around, names him Pinocchio, and decides to take care of him, along with the help of a small blue cricket named Sebastian (Ewan McGregor).
From there, things get weird. Pinocchio meets up with the ringmaster Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and tours around the world with him, even (minor spoiler) performing a show for Mussolini himself in a performance so funny I dare not spoil it here. Then, there's a small stretch of time where he participates in a Fascist training youth camp headed up by Ron Perlman as an officer known as the Podesta. Also, there's some business in the afterlife where we meet some black rabbits playing poker and Death (also voiced by Swinton), who looks like a cross between a panther and the Faun from Pan's Labyrinth.
...yep, this is a Guillermo del Toro movie, alright. But in all the best ways, I assure you. For a story as strange and episodic as Pinocchio, you need somebody with the same artistic tendencies as the mad genius behind Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies. And by updating the setting to Fascist Italy, the script by del Toro and animation writer Patrick McHale (Adventure Time; Over the Garden Wall) - working from a story by del Toro and screenwriting veteran Matthew Robbins (Dragonslayer; Batteries Not Included) - brings in some much-needed moral grayness that contrasts with the original story's 19th century moralism. Like sure, in this one, they still stress that Pinocchio go to school, but what if one of the people pushing that message is part of a fascist government, who wants you to go so you can be indoctrinated? And the film's biggest strength in making this point is by not drawing too much attention to it, allowing it to be shown to us through Pinocchio's misadventures.
Everyone in the cast is perfectly chosen for their characters, with David Bradley standing out in his turn as Gepetto, giving the character much needed gravitas. Gregory Mann's performance as Pinocchio really plays up the annoying factor of this character, having him walk around constantly breaking things and asking Gepetto an endless amount of questions...y'know, like a normal little kid would do. But thankfully, it never gets to the point where we start to dislike him. Ron Perlman is intimidating as the Podesta, Tilda Swinton is ethereal as both Death and the Wood Sprite, and Ewan McGregor is magnificent as Sebastian. The stop motion animation looks wonderfully crafted, and Alexandre Desplat's musical score is great. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, there is one downside. This film takes the form of an animated musical, and sadly, the songs are somewhat forgettable to the point of being superfluous. Example: there's a song Pinocchio sings when we first meet that's all about his curiosity about this new world and constantly asking Gepetto what certain object are. It's cute, but I think it would have been more effectively communicated if presented normally rather than with a musical number. That said, this format does lead to one of the film's funniest running jokes, i.e. Sebastian trying to sing a song his father taught him and getting comically interrupted.
But aside from that, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is wonderfully dark and strange, so of course I enjoyed it! I think it's one of those family films where adults will get slightly more out of it than kids. Check it out in theaters or when it drops December 9 on Netflix!
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