Pinocchio Review – There is a sense of destiny in Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio,” a version of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale that took years to complete and was inspired by the director’s longtime passion for stop-motion animation.

You can feel the director’s passion, attention to detail, and excitement for his art in every single one of del Toro’s films, even the ones that don’t quite succeed. However, the frames of “Pinocchio” exude an aura of actual magic.

From the beginning, it appears as though the wooden child and the monster-lover were destined to be together.

The intrinsic sense of dedication required to create something like a stop-motion film contributes to this sentiment.

It’s a tedious process, but when it’s done right, it can feel like magic. However, executing it well is challenging and requires dedication, experience, and a great deal of time.

In the case of “Pinocchio,” even a single scene makes you feel like the time was well spent, but this isn’t just a matter of a passionate director and a crew prepared to work long hours to create something intricate.

What stands out in “Pinocchio,” and what will continue to stand out upon repeated viewings of this handcrafted exhibition of perfection, is the film’s unadulterated, profoundly realized sense of emotion.

In portraying the classic story in this manner, with this cast and crew, del Toro and his colleagues have given a timeless tale brilliant, jaw-dropping new life, creating one of the year’s finest pictures.

A Little Wooden Boy

Everyone is familiar with the plot of “Pinocchio,” or at least the basic structure that serves as the impetus for the protagonist’s travels in the real world. Geppetto (David Bradley) is a compassionate craftsman whose life has become more lonely since the death of his kid, so he decides to carve a small wooden boy to cheer himself up.

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Through a miraculous intervention, the wooden kid (Gregory Mann) becomes Pinocchio and, with the help of a compassionate cricket (Ewan McGregor), ventures forth into the world to seek his money, his father’s praise, and, ultimately, his humanity.

The narrative by Guillermo del Toro and co-writer Patrick McHale retains this core framework but adds a great deal more turbulence along the way. The majority of Pinocchio’s trip remains the same, yet this is not the Disney version you remember.

Del Toro and McHale begin their adventure amid the horrors of war, then investigate the emergence of fascism in Italy and the looming presence of Benito Mussolini as a nefarious figure of ever-expanding corruption amidst the beautiful Italian countryside.

Mussolini’s presence enhances the significance of the characters in Pinocchio’s life — from evil monkeys to carnival barkers — who would rather exploit him than relate to him as a live being, so enhancing the tale.

Geppetto’s life as a toymaker who tries to replicate his kid is also examined in greater detail, as is Pinocchio’s basic existence as an inanimate item brought to life by forces beyond his control.

All of these factors serve to add complexity to what is, at its core, a plain tale about coming of age and growing to comprehend the world around you, even if part of that knowledge is that there are some things you will never be able to fully comprehend no matter how hard you try.

Del Toro constructs a masterwork atop this compelling, robust narrative foundation.

Handmade Wonders

The decision by Guillermo del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson to make “Pinocchio” in old-fashioned, exquisitely detailed stop-motion lends the film wit and poetry above and beyond the sense of dedication and love that has gone into its production.

Del Toro’s adaptation of the narrative addresses a variety of themes, including the essence of good and evil, the purpose of stories in society, and the transformational impact of grief, but at its foundation, it is the story of an artificial object coming to life.

It is about Pinocchio understanding that he is more than wood and nails, as well as the rest of the world learning the same lesson.

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Consequently, if the stop-motion works and we acquire the emotional content of the story at its essential level, we are learning the same lesson as the film’s characters while the film plays before us.

And the stop-motion works effectively and vividly. Del Toro and Gustafson imbue every scene and frame with awe-inspiring, immediately engrossing richness and expressiveness, while the vocal cast led by Gregory Mann, David Bradley, and Ewan McGregor gives each of these characters a vulnerable, exciting strength.

Scenes of Pinocchio performing in a touring puppet show are, of course, mesmerizing, but so are the quieter times, such as those spent beneath an old tree or in Geppetto’s workshop.

Every moment feels as though it might be touched, lived in, and experienced. So when the film asks you to believe in the heart and soul of a child who wasn’t born but was molded by human hands, you have no issue going along with it.

Guillermo del Toro has made a profession out of pushing us to trust in the realism and compassion inherent in his fantasies and monsters.

With “Pinocchio,” he has arguably achieved the cleanest distillation of this message to date, a wonderful feat that will fill you with warmth and light.

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