Dumbo
Action/adventure/fantasy
Rating: 4/5
Director: Tim Burton (PG)
Synopsis
Born to a circus performing mother, little Asiatic Elephant ‘Baby Jumbo’ has extra large ears. So large are they he is able to fly, much to the delight of struggling circus owner Max (Danny DeVito) who spots a PR opportunity to reinvigorate his loyal but finance-strapped troupe.
Separated from his mother, the baby is outwardly glum and ungainly when walking and is quickly nicknamed Dumbo.
When the more successful theme park owner V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton) see Dumbo in the air, he quickly makes Max an offer he can’t refuse and buys him out, merging the two companies.
Dumbo is teamed with beautiful French high-wire act Colette (Eva Green), but as he becomes more comfortable with his human owners, his longing for his mother increases and the humans must team up to reunite them.
Review by @Reelreviewer
It takes a brave director to take on classic movies and 'reimagine' them for a new generation.
So if that director tackles a timeless classic beloved by all such as, say Disney's 1941 beauty, it follows that not only are they brave but quite possibly fool-hardy as well.
If anyone was going to have a go at making the baby elephant with big ears fly again it should be Tim Burton and fly that elephant does. At times, this movie actually soars.
Of course, new Dumbo doesn't cast much shade on its predecessor but, as a sparkly and new companion piece, it runs alongside quite nicely. This is thanks to the splendid visuals, the cute kids as Dumbo's 'trainers' and some rollicking panto villains in Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito, both 'Burtonian' cinema alumni enjoying a reunion.
Cast & credits
1hr 52 mins (112mins). Walt Disney Pictures/Tim Burton Productions/Infinite Detective/Secret Machine Entertainment/MPC.
Producers: Katterli Frauenfelder, Derek Frey, Ehren Kruger, Justin Springer.
Writer: Ehren Kruger.
Camera: Ben Davis.
Music: Danny Elfman.
Sets: Rick Heinrichs.
Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Roshan Seth, Lars Eidinger, Deobia Operai, Joseph Gatt
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