Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-spoiler-free-review
"Pinocchio retells the famous tale of the wooden puppet through visually lovely stop-motion animation, featuring several bold narrative changes that make this remake more human, emotional, and thematically profound than so many other adaptations.
Unforgettable dialogues about loss, love, and being the best version of ourselves elevate an adventure of self-discovery. The voice cast couldn't have been better, while the (new) music manages to be both playful and lyrically rich.
Guillermo del Toro simply cannot fail."
Rating: B+

More true to the original vibe of the story than the Disney version but the parallels of the Italian fascists could have had more of an impact. The family tragedy did have an impact though which was very moving. The idea of 'Love will give you life' is great but as we all know, isn't true which hindered any inspiration. It would be great if there were good and (fairly) evil spirits (and if there were I'd like mine played by Tilda Swinton please) but there aren't - that shouldn't take away from the story but it doesn't work as a life lesson. The darkness was great but needed more fascism (not a phrase I use that often!)
I liked the film but it seemed to evade all age groups; too scary for under 12s, too slow for 12 - 15, not gripping enough for 15-18 and not enough parallelling with the rise of fascism or Tilda Swinton for over 40s. Lovely score, lovely stop motion which we don't see enough of nowadays. Lots of potential not quite reached in terms of Ewan McGregor and plot.
Cutting room floor: inside the whale and (unless you're going to do it as a main theme), the fascist element.
Lovely score, lovely animation.