I still need to check this out but I'll stream it before purchasing it. I'm a fan of some del Toro movies but he's a little inconsistent to me. I adore Pan's Labyrinth. I saw it several times in theaters. But he has a few movies that I don't feel like I need to own or rewatch. I appreciate him more as a film fan and as an advocate for physical media than as a filmmaker at this point. His movies always look amazing though and I'm glad he's in a position where he can make passion projects.
Hunter, yes, Guillermo del Toro’s visionary style is special, and his Pinocchio project is an example. He is hit or miss for me as well. Shape of Water wasn’t my cup of tea but I can appreciate the great work that went into it. I too appreciate his love for cinema and physical media.
It's simply amazing, I'm a big Pans fan and this is up there with that film. It's deeply layered and moving. His most personal film, he mentions the connection with his mother and the film in interviews. It's a masterpiece for me. His second best work after Pans Labyrinth.
This is in all honesty my #1 most anticipated criterion release of 2023. And it kills me knowing Criterion is releasing it after the November sale had concluded. Del Toro's Pinocchio for me is easily my favorite adaptation of the story by a mile. The stopmotion work paired with visual effects are just absolutely gorgeous and I cannot wait to see what it looks like on the 4K UHD format. For me, my favorite film of Del Toro's is Pans Labyrinth, but Pinocchio is not far after it. It's a very special film for me and is easily my favorite animated film of the entire 2020s thus far and among my favorite films of 2022.
Great review ! I've not seen this one but I'm definitely keen to watch it now ! I didn't like "Hellboy", "Blade II" or "Pacific Rim" much but I did enjoy "The Shape of Water" and "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" and I really loved "Pan's Labyrinth" (that one is superb !).
You are so right that this movie should be watched without comparing it to the Disney movie. I thought it was incredibly depressing and offbeat when compared to the Disney movie - which I did - and maybe that could have been why I didn’t like the “remake” at all. I should watch it again as a standalone movie rather than from a remake angle
Good question, Tim. I have not seen the Netflix stream but considering compression and buffering I would expect the video and audio presentation to be superior on the physical disc. Not sure what the audio is on the Netflix stream is but again would guess that the physical would deliver a better experience as it would be uncompressed.
I really wanted to like this film and it’s beautiful but the film overall felt a bit off… It certainly wasn’t an enjoyable watch. The nihilistic tone and lack of any redeeming emotional arcs makes it tough to want to revisit. I think Wolfwalkers or Klaus are better choices.
