Dumbo (2019)

So far, with the exception of Pete's Dragon, I have liked every Disney live-action remake, and in most cases thought they actually improved on the original. This is not the case here. This movie is very inconsistent.  It tries to bring a new narrative, while at the same time, trying to be the original. I know the original is only an hour long, so they needed a new story, but that story is a mess. One minute it's saying "Hey, remember that scene you liked in the original? Here it is again in live-action." and then goes off the rails to become a completely different film. I wouldn't be surprised if they just greenlit the first draft of the script and called it a day. I was expecting more from Tim Burton. Burton has a certain style, and that style, is sadly not recognized here. If I was channel surfing and saw "Beetlejuice" or "1989 Batman" I would recognize it as a Tim Burton film. With this...anyone could have made it. In addition to plot and tone inconsistencies, the dialogue is also very clunky and stilted. Both the writing, and the delivery could have been drastically improved. It is a visual spectacular, the CGI is pretty impressive, but other than the visuals and Danny Elfman's score, there isn't much to appreciate here. "Dumbo" gets ready for liftoff, but never quite makes it all the way off the ground.

Grade: C      7/10     2.5/5 stars