Film Review - "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Directed by...yeah him and Mark Gustafson

Starring Gregory Mann, David Bradley, and Ewan McGregor

I'm still in disbelief that in the year of our lord 2022 we got THREE Pinocchio films. There was no doubt in mind that the Disney live-action remake, and that meme-fuel from Luminescence starring...Pauly Shore, would be terrible though. Conversely, I had no doubt that this would be the best Pinocchio film of the year by a long shot.

It's nice to say we've got another great film adaptation of Pinocchio after eighty-years, and my god is it beautiful.

Del Toro puts his own unique spin on the classic tale by Carlo Collodi. During the first World War, the son of woodcarver Gepetto (Bradley) is killed during an air strike on their small village in Italy. Twenty years later, in a drunken, emotional rage, Gepetto cuts down a pine tree in the hopes of "making" his son again. The magical Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) sees this and grants life to the wooden boy, named Pinocchio (Mann).

Naturally, and frankly more realistically, Gepetto is very hesitant to accept this sentient puppet as his new son...in fact he's kind of freaked out by him, as is most of their village. Nevertheless Pinocchio goes off on the usual adventures. He's tricked into skipping school and joining a carnival, is drafted into war, struggles with his own mortality-wait...

Again, Del Toro puts his own unique spin on Pinocchio, and it works so well. The idea of a grieving Gepetto creating Pinocchio in a drunken stupor like some kind of Italian Doctor Frankenstein is just so beautifully GDT. But there's so much depth here that we don't see in other adaptations of the Pinocchio story. The original story is dark and the film leans into that (The opening sequence is like Up turned up to eleven). This isn't an animated film manufactured to babysit children. It has lessons for them but for adults, too.

There's heavy themes about faith, war, morality, and loss. There is life after death. Death is what gives life meaning. It's hard to believe Pinocchio is teaching us about this. Brilliantly I might add. I'm a big cryer when it comes to films. This was the first time where the film ended, I sat with it, and after really digesting what the film was saying to me, that is when the tears began to flow. 

The idea of telling the story of Pinocchio in stop-motion is genius, particularly because stop-motion is called animation, but it's photographed just like regular filmmaking. It's not drawn on paper or rendered in a computer. It's animation, but it's real, like Pinocchio himself. The animation is gorgeous. The characters have so much beautiful, intricate details. The depth of field in the shots are breathtaking. The sets and sweeping backgrounds of the Italian countryside look as real as can be. The lighting is amazing. Guillermo del Toro is a firm believer that animation is cinema. It is not a genre or just for children, it is a medium that deserves the industry's respect. He says it with his full heart and soul in this film.

The voice-acting is stellar. Young Gregory Mann is wonderful as Pinocchio. He's a brat but there's enough innocence and heart in the character that you still root for him. Which is nice because at his core, the character of Pinocchio is a little $h*t! Caretaker of Hogwarts Argus Filch, aka David Bradley, plays Gepetto with the perfect balance of gruff and empathy. At the expense of another Up parallel, it's like an Italian Carl Fredericksen. This story is just as much his as it is Pinocchio's, and Bradley sells it.

Ewan McGregor is charming as always as Sebastian Cricket. Christoph Waltz is wonderfully despicable as Count Volpe. Ron Perlman is his usual best self as the Podesta. Finally, Cate Blanchett gives the performance of her career as Spazzatura (In your face Lydia Tár!).

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio just took home the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and it was more than well deserved. This film is a beautiful labor of love from a man who loves animation and filmmaking, with a wonderful story that can resonate with all ages. It may just be my favorite film of last year, and that's no lie.

...I still need to put my Top Films of 2022 in writing...as well as my Top Films of 2021. I can never get those rankings out on time...

Film Review - "Christopher Robin"

Christopher Robin
Directed by Marc Forster
Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, and Jim Cummings

Winnie The Pooh was one Disney property I spent a lot of time with in my youth. I had all the original shorts and The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh tv series on VHS, and getting the chance to rent Welcome to Pooh Corner from the local Blockbuster, or just watch it on the Disney Channel while home sick from school was a treat. A set of rubber figurines from the Disney Store (the old school Disney Store, not what it is today) was one of my prized possessions. When I met Jim Cummings at a Comic Con a few years ago, I asked if he could say my name in Tigger's voice, which he replied, in Tigger's voice, "Chris Flaherty?? Don't be ridicurous!!". I wish I recorded that...

Anyway, so when Christopher Robin was announced amidst several of Disney's other live-action remakes, sequels, and "re-imaginings" of their animated classics, it was one I had more interest in over others. It was easily one of the more original films in development, and the concept sounded really intriguing, like a Winnie The Pooh version of Ted with a splash of Hook. Christopher Robin finally hit theaters this weekend, and it is a very simple, wonderful little film.

Acting as sort of a sequel to 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, the film opens on a Goodbye Party for Christopher Robin (played in this sequence by child actor Orton O'Brie, very stiffly I might add.) who is preparing to go away to school. It plays out as a live-action recreation of that film's final scene, and it is rather nice (Despite poor child acting). We then flash-forward through Christopher Robin's life and glimpse the many ups and down he faces, from getting married and becoming a father, to losing his own father at a young age, and serving in World War II.

In the present day we now find Christopher (McGregor) a workaholic at a luggage company, and neglectful of his wife Evelyn (Atwell) and daughter Madelyn (Bronte Charmichael), whom he's sending off to boarding school by the end of the summer. When his superiors task him with cutting 20% of expenditures, Christopher must stay home and work the weekend, when he promised to travel with Evelyn and Madelyn to their countryside cottage.

Not soon after he's left alone does Winnie The Pooh (Cummings) appear at his home in London, asking Christopher Robin to help find his missing friends. Christopher reluctantly returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with Pooh to look for Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Tigger (Cummings) and the rest of the gang, rediscovering his youth, and who he used to be.

It is very similar to Hook, in which the main character returns to his childhood fantasies, thus getting a reminder of who they are and what's important to life. Christopher Robin doesn't go super in-depth to the themes of growing up, and staying true to yourself, but it's a Winnie The Pooh film, it's going to keep it simple. The story-line is fairly predictable and you could surely guess the resolution. Their's no real sense of urgency to the story, save for a "race against time" motif in third act, but even then it's tame. Again though, this is a Winnie The Pooh film, and we shouldn't expect loads of drama.

Christopher Robin's strengths lie in the heart and humor of its characters. Pooh and company are just as the same as they were years ago. They haven't been modernized or updated for today's audiences. Their brand of humor ensures plenty of smiles throughout the film. Pooh's fish-out-of-water antics and Eeyore's gloominess definitely steal the show. The film definitely has some bleaker moments, but they're heavily balanced out with the jovial, innocent nature of its cast and overall message.

Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job playing off his imaginary co-stars. He brings a lot of heart and charm to the role, and he's clearly having fun with it. Hayley Atwell is radiant and shines every moment she's on screen as Evelyn, but sadly is used sparingly. Bronte Charmichael is adorable as little Madleyn, as does more to hold her own with her human and non-human co-stars.

Disney/voice-acting legend Jim Cummings hasn't missed a beat as Pooh, or Tigger. He flawlessly brings these characters to life once again. Obviously his Pooh is the one that stands out the most here, with a lot of funny and emotional moments, but Tigger has plenty of fun here. Brad Garrett gives a great performance at Eeyore. It's perfect casting. Nick Mohammed also makes a perfect Piglet, capturing his sweetness and cowardice. Finally, Mark Gatiss plays Christopher Robin's boss, and he's fine, but he's just playing Mycroft from Sherlock again.

The look of the film is pretty spot-on. Instead of trying to recreate the look of the animated films, it harks back to the original illustrations from the A.A. Milne books, and the scenery does in fact look like a storybook come to life. The music is very sweet, and it's also nice to hear some new songs from legendary composer Richard Sherman through the end credits.

If you grew up with these characters like I did, you'll find it hard to take issue with Christopher Robin. It doesn't go for the emotional jugular like say Toy Story 3, but it doesn't really have to. The Winnie The Pooh stories are very simple, and this a very simple film. There will still be plenty of moments for you to reach for tissues. Trust me. Christopher Robin is a very fun, kind-hearted, film that will resonate with adults and children. It's sure to become another Disney classic.

That's the end of this review. TTFN. Ta-Ta For Now.