Continuing the recent trend of bringing animated Disney classics to live action movies comes the remake of Dumbo which was first released in 1941. The film begins strong with a solid plot and great quips by Max Medici (Danny Devito), but it is quickly overshadowed by the dark and moody Tim Burton touch. A good ninety percent of the film looks and feels dark.
Where Disney movies tend to follow a hero and a villain format to some degree, there is always a warmth to the films which Tim Burton snuffed out in this adaptation. It feels more like Nightmare Before Christmas than any Disney movie, but lacks the lovable multidimensional characters that at least Nightmare Before Christmas had.
Moviegoer and Disney fanatic Teresa shares her disappointment, “I thought it was kind of cheesy. I didn’t know that it was a Tim Burton movie, not one of his finest films. There was a small amount of Disney but they tried to include old school circus acts with current animal rights and it just felt like they were trying to do too much.”
Actress Nico Parker, who plays Milly and befriends Dumbo, shows promise to be the next Miranda Cosgrove. But aside from her and DeVito, the rest of the cast falls short; which is especially disappointing considering some of the other big names.
There is a romance brewing in the film but it feels out of place and certainly not enough attention is put into it for something worthy to bloom. This attempt at a love story line seems from left field and reinforces Teresa’s observation that the movie is trying to do so much that they fail to do anything really well.
Here’s hoping for better luck for live action Aladdin and Lion King coming out later this year!
Movie times: click here
Genre: Family, Adventure
Run Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes
Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito
Rating: PG for peril/action, some thematic elements, and brief mild language
