DUMBO – “As sweet and harmless as a big-eared baby elephant”

Dumbo

RATING

DIRECTOR

Tim Burton

STARRING

SYNOPSIS

A live-action version of Walt Disney's 1941 animated film of the same name, which itself is based on the novel by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl.

Circus owner Max Medici enlists Holt Farrier to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughing stock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt's children discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V. A. Vandevere and an aerial artist named Colette Marchant swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.

REVIEW SUMMARY

Tim Burton's live action Dumbo is as sweet and harmless as a big-eared baby elephant. Yep, Dumbo checks all the Disney movie boxes, but unfortunately it never does more than that. Don’t get me wrong, the visuals are wondrous at times, but fans of the director will be hard pressed not to feel a tad disappointed with just how "safe" it all is. Performances sometimes veer toward "scenery chewing," especially when Danny Devito's morally challenged ringmaster and Keaton's devious tycoon share the screen. But then there is Colin Farrell, who rather tenderly portrays a returned soldier of war. As for Dumbo, well, he’s there too - just as more of a “supporting character” this time around. Even so, it all works in the end: the emotional moments hit (albeit not as hard as the original animated film), the humour is effective, and those big magical instances land rather well. So while Dumbo will surely send you home with a smile on your face, it just might not be as wide of one as you’d hoped.

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