By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review is spoiler-free.
Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s interpretation of Pinocchio is easily my favourite adaption of the story to date – both visually, narratively and from a performance perspective. This movie hooked me from the first scene to the last and I felt exhausted, in a good way, as the credits started to roll. This was a truly unique viewing experience and you will struggle to find a more engrossing movie in all of 2022.
From a technical point of view, the movie is sublime and jumps straight to the top of what I would consider the best animated movies of all time. The visuals and the technical wizardry were all showcased in such a beautiful way and you can really feel every single second of captured modelling.
In terms of the story, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale and Matthew Robbins really pull from the source materials and reshape it into a very adult and mature story, one that is unlike any Pinocchio story that you have ever experienced. The brave decision-making with certain elements of the narrative deserves huge praise and really makes this movie such a stand-out offering among its peers. There were moments in this movie when I was genuinely left speechless and cannot believe theft had the bravery to take the story and characters to those places.
As for the cast, youngster Gregory Mann (Pinocchio) is a natural talent and has an incredibly bright future ahead of him. Then there is a man, who I think does not get enough credit for his acting abilities, and that is of course David Bradley (Geppetto). He made me cry as the Doctor, and he made me cry again as Geppetto. There is such a softness and purity to his performance that you feel every single second of his pain and anguish throughout the film. I also really loved Ewan McGregor’s (Sebastian J. Cricket) performance and as for Cate Blanchett (Spazzatura)… I was not expecting that – you’ll understand when you see it. Tilda Swinton (Wood Sprite & Death), Tim Blake Nelson (Black Rabbits), Christoph Waltz (Count Volpe) and Burn Gorman (Priest) were all fantastic supporting additions to the cast and really made for an incredible ensemble.
I find it amusing that this movie came out so close to the end of the year, as it could easily be, for me, a standout shout for the movie of the year – it is THAT good!
From breathtaking animation to a beautiful and powerful story, Pinocchio is without a doubt one of the greatest animated movies of all time.
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