Synopsis:
Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland. Dumbo soars to new heights alongside a charming and spectacular aerial artist, Colette Marchant (Eva Green), until Holt learns that beneath its shiny veneer, Dreamland is full of dark secrets.
Review:
While Walt Disney is on board to carry on making their live-action Disney films, Dumbo has managed to fly into theatres with its very own tale stemming from its original animated counter part. Burton’s Dumbo is as dark and weirdly wonderful as his other movies such as Frankenweenie and Beetlejuice. It is, however, Burton’s safest route he has ever taken. With the animated version of Dumbo being an all-round marvel, it is hard to imagine that this movie is a apart of something new.
As I was snuggling in with my popcorn, ready to have my mind bedazzled, I was already under the impression that this might be just as good as the original. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Yes, I am still very impressed. Tim Burton, being one of my favorite directors, gave a strange new feel to the movie with, what I felt, came a strong performance from Danny DeVito. With Burton hiring Michael Keaton for the role of Dumbo’s villian, it was all too evident of some overacting from Keaton’s part. Don’t get me wrong, Keaton was good, but a bit better in Batman.
Enter Eva Green (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), as Miss Colette Marchant; a beautiful aerialist who flies into the arm of Holt Farrier and sees herself in little Dumbo, who manages to leave the clutches of Vandevere and leave that life behind her. The charm and wit of Eva’s character was so undeniably real that it shows that the best people can be held against something that they believe in.
What I also really did like about Dumbo was how Burton pushed to light how it really is for animals in the circus: I felt Dumbo’s pain and I teared up with mamma Jumbo. If I were to be brutally honest about this film, I feel that the introduction could have been worked on a tad more and the overacting from both Keaton and Alan Arkin made it difficult to want to understand their characters. Tim Burton knows how to bring the dark into his movies, and I am sure he enjoyed working on this film. However, with little reference to some of the original characters such as Dumbo’s little mouse friend, and the most amazing Mr Stork scene, I tend to gravitate towards the original.
The restriction of this film as PG is definitely there for a reason. So parents, be aware of that, as some of the scenes could be quite dark for your little ones.
My overall rating:
Fantastic state-of-the-art visual effects and beautiful music – of which the song ‘Baby Mine’, was nominated for best original song.
