Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) Review

"Everything is new to me,"

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I didn't really care for the release of this movie when it was announced, even though I love Guillermo del Toro's movies, as I have never found much interest in the story of Pinocchio. However, this creative and dark take on such a well-known classic captured my attention immediately, as we begin to see Pinocchio understand the 'not-so-magical' side of being a real boy.

Throughout the movie, del Toro explores this dark theme through war, using the death of Carlo (Geppetto’s son) to show the impact war has on those who have no involvement, and how many children suffer as a result of this conflict (which is also shown through the character of Candlewick, as his father forces him to join the National Fascist Party at such a young age). Even the involvement of the National Fascist Party, a very common antisemitic-based political group in Italy in the early 1900s, already demonstrates a more sinister side to a classic that is usually portrayed to be more wholesome. This story follows Pinocchio as he is forced to endure all sorts of trials, including having his mortality challenged in order to save his father, thus forcing him to deal with death at such a young age. The movie follows a bittersweet theme as it shows how a child’s innocence can never be kept once they encounter the corruption of the real world.

This amazing story is carried by such an amazing cast. I didn’t do any research on this movie and therefore went in not knowing who was involved, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover Ewan McGregor as the narrator, who is also known as Sebastian J. Cricket. McGregor managed to create so much raw emotion for a small cricket to carry, which is something I love about him in every character he plays. Another actor who was incredible in this movie was Gregory Mann, who played the title character Pinocchio. Mann had very few big roles before this, and his passion and ability to create a puppet to be so human-like was excellent, making me believe that he has a great future in film. Of course, I cannot finish talking about the cast members without mentioning David Bradley, who played Geppetto, and was amazing as usual, being able to show how unstable his character became after his son’s death simply through his voice. Finally, I believe an honourable mention should be given to Cate Blanchett, who admitted she was so desperate to be part of this film that she agreed to voicing a monkey, who had very few English-speaking parts, and yet she still managed to do a great job within the film.

This brilliant story and cast was complimented by the beautiful stop-motion animation of the movie. Stop-motion animation is something I have always been fascinated and obsessed with, so may potentially bias my view of this movie, but I hold a strong belief that stop-motion movies deserve much more recognition than they receive. The amount of time, effort and hard work that is required for each scene and each small detail is very clearly shown throughout this movie, with every shot being so perfect and capturing every aspect of this movie flawlessly.

Overall, del Toro created a movie that pulled at my heart strings in ways I did not expect. He took a darker turn on what is widely known as a Disney classic and used it to demonstrate a cruel world through heart-warming music and heart-breaking scenes so efficiently. Using themes of self-acceptance and family, and the struggles of balancing both in life, he created such a glorious movie that it was impossible to find a single fault. I don’t think I can express in words how much I genuinely enjoyed this film. It was so wholesome yet bittersweet, and just everything that is needed for a retelling of a classic. It took my breath away.

If you enjoyed this movie as much as I did, I would definitely recommend watching ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema’ on Netflix. It shines so much insight into the making of this movie, and honesty just makes me love it even more, knowing how much love and effort went into making this film perfect.