Pinocchio (2022): Not as magical

Yet another live-action of a classical Disney movies. Just like most other such adaptations, Pinocchio has its ups and downs.

The storyline is the same as the 1940 version: and old Italian clockmaker makes a puppet that become a boy. But that boy will get into much trouble...

Overall, the movie was decent. As some have noticed, Gepetto has a back story that gives more substance to his character (he lost his son, clockmaking was a coping mechanism). Speaking of clocks, animators went to great lenghts to make so many Disney references: Roget Rabbit, Malefiecent and even Toy Story. You can also spot the mother spanking her child, but a police officer seems to block her.

Pinocchio's animation is good enough. In this iteration, he seems to have a more developed conscience. His going to Pleasure Island is by peer pressure rather than being pushed by Honest John. When he tours the place, he feels quite uneasy when he sees children breaking clocks. That would explain why his transformation wasn't complete.

However, there are lost elements from the original version. The coachman has a rather secondary role and doesn't nearly look as evil. On Pleasure island, everything was sterilized to please woke crowds: "root" beer, no cigars but they did retain the smashing of the piano. The donkey transformation is much less dramatic, and the dark creatures are now specters. To retain the lesson against chaotic pleasure, it would have been good to see a few talking donkeys.

Finally, some annoying details just go against the movie. Why is Tom Hanks making dad jokes? Also, while the "black" blue fairy is good - it's a mythical creature, but her rhyming will be harder to understand for younger children - putting an African teacher in late 19th-century Italy is anachronistic wokeness.

In short, this version is Pinocchio is worth a shot but will disappoint fans of the original. It makes the story more credible (we see Gepetto and Pinocchio bond before he goes to school) but it's overall inferior to the original. And honestly: a CGI Figaro? How hard would it have been to have a real cat?

Final rating: 3/5