Movie Review: Pinocchio

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Entertaining second half.

Cons: The movie takes way too long to get going.

The Bottom Line:

Story rambles some

Still all the classic moments

Make it worth watching

Yes, This DisNerd Doesn't Love Pinocchio

I really have a mixed reaction to Pinocchio. There are parts I like, but overall, it just strikes me as an ok film.

The story is about a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who is brought to life to fulfill the wish of Geppetto. But to become a real boy, he must learn to be brave and truthful on his own. Aided by Jiminy Cricket, he heads off into a world filled with temptation.

For me, this movie seems slow. While Geppetto's shop is richly detailed, too much time is spent playing around with the clocks and music boxes. For someone famous for cutting out extraneous footage in his other movies, Disney could have done better here.

I do get into the movie in the middle and find it easy to care about the characters. The scene where Lampwick turns into a donkey still creeps me out. The underwater footage is amazing. And the ending brings a tear my eye (not that it's hard).

It is interesting to note how the animation had progressed in the 3 years since Snow White. All the humans are more realistic, even the background people. It really looks like something done 10 years after Snow White.

I realize many people consider Pinocchio Walt Disney's ultimate masterpiece. For me, however, this is a good movie but doesn't live up to some of his others.