Pinocchio: what reviews for the live action film with Tom Hanks on Disney+?

news culture Pinocchio: what reviews for the live action film with Tom Hanks on Disney+?

A golden casting for a wooden puppet

The brand new adaptation of Pinocchio had everything to talk about. Like all other live-action versions of Disney animated classics, it was already facing some criticism when the project was announced. In effect, some viewers struggle to understand the point of telling exactly the same stories when the originals are already timeless classics. These criticisms had already surfaced for the adaptations of the jungle bookof Peter and Elliot the DragonofAlice through the looking glass or even Lion King and D’Aladdinbefore ringing once more for this Pinocchio.

To overcome this problem, Disney decided to put the small dishes in the big ones and to entrust the film to a casting four stars. Indeed, we find for example the large Robert Zemeckis (Back to the future, Forrest Gump) to the realization, but also famous actors like Tom Hanks in the role of Gepetto, Luke Evans in the role of Coachman, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in that of Jiminy Cricket. Enough to arouse the curiosity of the most resistant to giving this new adaptation a chance.

When we pray to the lucky star…

Despite Disney’s best efforts, critics don’t seem convinced by Pinocchio, far from it. It must be said that the bar was high, as the classic animation was deemed excellent. According to experts on the subject, Zemeckis’ adaptation suffers from the same problems as the previous ones: the film lacks soul, is either too similar to the original, or completely disrespectful, and leaves a taste of scam at the end of viewing. Courtney Howardreviewer at LA Film Critics and Variety, notably posted a particularly salty tweet about the Disney film:

Robert Zemeckis’ Pinocchio is disastrous. One of Disney’s worst live action remakes. Draft, bland and aesthetically repulsive, it is one of the worst films of the year that disgraces the animators who worked on the original 1940 version.

You will understand, this new Pinocchio is not likely to be remembered, at least not in the best way. In addition to a disastrous aesthetic, some critics also note several distasteful references to contemporary pop culture. The character of Grand Coquin, for example, mentions Pinocchio’s potential talent as an influencer, and suggests nicknaming him “Chris Pine” in the original version (in reference to the actor whose name means “pin” in French).

If you want to form your own opinion on the matter, Pinocchio has been available since yesterday on Disney +.