Review of Dumbo (2019) by Compi24 — 30 Mar 2019

Admittedly, this was one of the few live action Disney remakes I was actually looking forward to. But what we ended up getting in Tim Burton's "Dumbo" is a movie that tries too hard to be different than the original animated effort.

Whether it's Michael Keaton's evil carnival tycoon character, the financial integrity of his suspiciously anachronistic amusement park, or any of the other non-animal beings associated with the title character's plight, there's simply too much going on in here that either diverts too far from the source material, fails to entertain, or does both of these things.

In fact, the only elements of this movie that do work are the few that are actually retained from the original. Dumbo is cute, you ache at the fact that he's lost his mother, and it is a joy to see him fly.

What exactly are you trying to be, movie? A faithful retelling of a beloved children's tale or a more post-modern examination of the same events? Trying to be both of these at once is unwise, yes? Yet this is the film we're given; a moderately enjoyable yet frequently baffling mishmash of ideas that amounts to what I can easily say is the weakest of Disney's live action remake catalogue.