Disney’s Pinocchio movie review: A decent, but unneeded adaptation

The first of two feature films centered around Pinocchio is coming out this week, with the first debuting on Disney+. Is it worth checking out? Let’s dive in.

Pinocchio is the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Pinocchio, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hanks. The film is written by Chris Weitz and Robert Zemeckis, with the latter directing the film.

Honestly, heading into this movie, my expectations were relatively low because while I’ve been a fan of the ceratin live adaptation (Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin) Disney has put out, not EVERY property needs one. Also, I don’t think the trailer helped, as it didn’t look visually pleasing. So maybe, the low expectations could make this enjoyable? Maybe.

One night, Geppetto makes a wish that Pinocchio will come to life. After a night of sleep, The Blue Fairy makes it happen, and Geppetto freaks out at first but begins to be excited over it happening. After weeks of building him up, Geppetto sends Pinocchio off to school for the first time, which Jimmy Cricket freaks out because he isn’t like everyone else. However, school goes about as Cricket thought it would, and Pinocchio gets tossed out for not being real.

Pinocchio follows the same beats as the original

The story follows the same beats as the original, with Pinocchio trying to find his way in the world being a puppet. He has his ups and downs battling it out with people trying to steer him in the wrong direction, all while trying to make his way back to his Geppetto.

For me, you have overall highs and lows type of movie. There are visuals that I liked and others I didn’t. Then we have some decent emotional beats, but they aren’t strong enough to keep you interested. And as far as the acting/voice acting, I enjoyed Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jimmy Crickets, Benjamin Ainsworth as Pinocchio, and Tom Hanks as Geppetto was fine.

Overall, I thought this would be much worse than it ended up being. I believe this is tailored way more for kids than adults, so I can see the critics panning the film. However, audiences might find it as an easy watch and enjoy it. Because of that, I would slightly recommend the movie for families (or just throwing it on for your kids).

Pinocchio streams on Disney+ on September 8.