While I am not really agreeing with Disney's current trend remaking their own classics into live action films I do appreciate some of the ones that have been produced. Specifically The Jungle Book. That one rocked big time. Not only did it manage to recreate the classic moments it also added something fresh and creative. I had hoped Dumbo would do the same.
Unfortunately Dumbo is one big disaster of a film. Not only did it fail to recreate the same magic from the classic animated film. It also screwed up to add something special or unique. And that is quite strange since that is one of the things Tim Burton excels in. Actually it felt like Tim Burton couldn't be bothered this time to add anything of his own. If he did then most likely he has lost it's touch. There are only a few moments that resonated with me. Those all included Dumbo and his mother.
This brings me to another complaint. Dumbo is not the main character. Let this sink in for a minute. Dumbo whose name is in the title is not the main character! The baby elephant is so incredibly cute and cuddly. Very easily steals the show. But in their infinite wisdom thought it was a good idea to discard all the elements that made the original Dumbo a classic in the first place. How is that even possible? The original had a duration of 64 minutes. This one was 112 minutes and had less substance and drama.
To be fair if this live action version had offered something else that was noteworthy or remarkable I definitely would have appreciated it a lot more. But like I said there is nothing remarkable in this film. Dumbo is so amazingly dull that I couldn't wait for it to end. Not even the big names involved managed to make the film more compelling or interesting. Colin Farrel, Eva Green, Danny DeVito and bloody Michael Keaton all failed to make a mark on this film and emote to the audience. Then why have them in the film in the first place? It just doesn't make any sense!
Perhaps they can't be blamed since they also are pushed to the side to have two kids take center stage. Or actually have Thandie Newton's daughter called Nico Parker be the star. I would have been fine with this if this girl could act. However the way she says her lines is monotonous and without emotion. Her facial expressions didn't match the way she spoke which in itself could be considered quite hilarious. Except it had the opposite effect. I read that she said that she didn't want any advice from her mother on her acting because it made her nervous. Well, tough. The movie business is unforgivable. And you should take all the advice you can get especially if you have zero acting experience and do a poor job of it.
My advice is to forget this ever being made and re watch the original over and over again.
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