PINOCCHIO

The idea of Guillermo del Toro doing a Pinocchio film is one that should fill anyone with an immense sense of anticipation. Then you learn it will be a stop-motion animated film and expectations go through the roof. After Disney butchered their own animated classic with a live action version earlier in the year that felt so soulless, del Toro delivers something quite spectacular to show taking a risk really does pay off.

Mourning the loss of his son, Geppetto (David Bradley) builds a wooden puppet in a drunken rage to fill the void in his life. Coming to life as Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) as a result of magic, Geppetto must try and teach him to obey and be good. Pinocchio's curious nature leads him down a path that will change both their lives forever.

Opening with a sequence of such emotional heft, it's clear as day that this take on Pinocchio is going to be a lot darker than ones we've seen before. We see Geppetto visiting his son's grave, lost during an accidental bombing in Facist Italy, Matthew Robbins' adaptation of Carlo Collodi's classic tale narratively rich, having plenty of fun in the process but not afraid to dip into a morbid nature when required. There are no horrifying donkey sequences to be seen yet this may feature something a lot more terrifying, Italian children being forced to train for war under Mussolini's reign.

It explores grief and fatherhood rather beautifully, del Toro and Patrick McHale's screenplay leaning into Pinocchio's boisterous side while others try to teach him valuable life lessons. If the opening of the film doesn't move you to tears I'm pretty sure they'll come as the film culminates with one hell of an emotional crescendo, fitting for a film that wears its heart on its sleeve. It's all brought to life through some wondrous stop-motion animation, Mark Gustafson sharing director duties with del Toro having had major success in this particular field of animation beforehand, and the hard work that must have gone into it all shines through on the screen. It's work the animators should be immensely proud of and it feels such a shame most people won't get to experience it on the big screen.

This Pinocchio does come with songs too, just not quite the songs you'd expect from the Disney version. There's no When You Wish Upon a Star or I've Got No Strings but there is a song to defy Mussolini that features poo so we know which version sounds more appealing, even if a gripe of mine is that none of the songs live long in the memory. There's stellar work from Alexandre Desplat on the score too, aptly dream-like and magical to sweep the audience up in it all.

It certainly doesn't come as a surprise that the chance to work with del Toro brings with it a stellar cast and they all deliver vocal performances of a decent level, Ewan McGregor's Sebastian J. Cricket a scene-stealer if ever I've seen one. The likes of David Bradley, Christoph Waltz and Cate Blanchett join in the fun while Ron Perlman is the least convincing Italian facist you'll ever hear.

Featuring a truly stunning world created by such dedicated and hard-working filmmakers, Pinocchio is a film that will equal parts thrill and educate. One for families to experience together and love forever.

Verdict: ★★★★★