Director Tim Burton remakes the beloved animated Disney classic in ‘Dumbo’ (2019). A live-action reimagining that shifts the focus from the animal characters to the human ones while losing much of the charm of the 1941 original.
Beginning at the once glorious Medici Brothers circus where Danny DeVito’s Max Medici is selling off chunks of his extravaganza to make ends meet, the film introduces our CGI star amidst a parade of thinly wrought characters who initially laugh at what is clearly the most interesting looking animal in the place.
Eventually seeing Dumbo’s worth which attracts the attention of Michael Keaton’s V A Vandevere, a big money type and the owner of an amusement park, Medici packs up his band of misfits to enter the era of slick, steampunk amusement park where the flying elephant will be a central attraction.
A take on the perils of selling out to big business that will inevitably crush the heart and soul of a thing, ‘Dumbo’ is a Disney critique within a Disney movie but even that is half-hearted.
Vivid with Burton’s visual flair and starring Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins and Alan Arkin – despite the individually exciting elements of cast, director and an elephant with ears so large they’re practically wings – ‘Dumbo’ plays soulless, scattershot and forgettable.
– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com
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