Why I was utterly disappointed by the “Pinocchio” 2022 live action film

The live-action “Pinocchio” premiered on Disney+ on Thursday. I nestled into my couch with my piping hot bowl of vegetable soup to watch the classic. I recently watched the original “Pinocchio” in preparation and honestly, I was disappointed with the remake.

I’ve loved other live-action movies by Disney, especially “Cinderella” and “Beauty and the Beast,” but “Pinocchio” didn’t strike me as a film on par with either one of them. The mix of animated and live-action doesn’t serve this film well. The titular character clearly looked fake and the film suffers massively in the aesthetic department because of the inharmonious blending of these elements.

Review of “Pinocchio” on Disney+

Sadly, Figaro, Gepetto’s beloved cat, looks suspiciously like a CGI creation, too. The mix of animation and human characters did very little to bring it to life. Even another cat in the film named Gideon isn’t really real.

The plot itself is basic. The lonely, childless Gepetto, played by Tom Hanks, wood carves a puppet named Pinocchio, voiced by Ben Ainsworth. Since Gepetto has lost his own son, he makes a wish upon a star that Pinocchio will come to life. The Blue Fairy, Cynthia Ervio in this adaptation, grants this wish on the condition of Pinocchio’s good character. This coming-of-age film traces Pinocchio’s development as he receives help from characters like Jiminy Cricket, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Cynthia Ervio gave the best performance in the film. Tom Hanks was not exactly the right choice for Gepetto in my opinion.

While there are a couple new characters and a couple twists, especially towards the end, this remake does not stray very far from the original Pinocchio. Having just rewatched the original Pinocchio, I thought the two films were much too close. This adaption does not really adapt much and isn’t visually interesting enough to compensate for that fact.

Take for example, the live-action “Beauty and the Beast.” Even though the plot is very similar, the dialogue is different and beyond that, Disney created an absolutely beautiful film. The music is passable and even great at times, but not particularly special. What made that remake magical was the way that it brought the setting to life.

I can’t say the same for the setting of Pinocchio. The would-be charming Italian town that Gepetto lives in loses its charm because of the mediocre CGI. While certain settings like the workshop are real, most of the buildings and settings seem to be CGI. It doesn’t blend seamlessly with the real people who act in the film.

I was also disappointed by the music.

It would be hard to redo “When You Wish Upon a Star” in any capacity that matched the prowess of the original, but this version missed the mark too much.

Can I watch “Pinocchio” with my family?

Yes, you can. The film is rated PG and is minimally different than the first Pinocchio, but I’m unsure if watching this movie is worth your time. I thought the original was significantly better and that the new movie was overall mediocre. If I were to give it a grade while feeling generous, it would be a C-.