Review
JAMIE EAST AT THE MOVIES
Tim Burton’s Dumbo will make you absolutely believe an elephant can fly
The animals are perfectly rendered, the Art Deco universe is splendorous and Eva Green elevates every scene she’s in
AFTER the roaring success of Jon Favreau’s 2017’s live action re-imaging of Jungle Book, it didn’t take Doris Stokes to guess Disney would then cast a beady eye over the rest of their catalogue.
This year we’ve got Aladdin, The Lion King yet to come, but Dumbo - Tim Burton’s update on the 78 year old classic is first out the blocks. Where Jungle Book was a facsimile of the original story, here Burton has re-written the entire story and theme - which whilst necessary in places (thankfully there are no racially stereotyped crows), it suffers largely because of one crucial factor - in Burton-land, there are no talking animals.
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This was, in my opinion, a mistake. By choosing to shun that style of Disney charm, this tends to fall into a (dare i say it) bit of a boring rut, more akin to the original Pete’s Dragon than a reimagining form one of the world’s most inventive, original and stylistic directors.
In 2019 we are looking at the story through the eyes of children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finlay Hobbins), living as part of a travelling circus, waiting for their father Holt (Colin Farrell) to return from war after the death of their mother.
He returns, badly damaged and suffering from PTSD and is unable to continue the family act of horse riding, so is allocated the elephants by circus ringmaster Medici (Danny De Vito) - one of whom is pregnant.
Dumbo is born and we know what happens there. The main antagonist arrives in the shape of V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), owner of Dreamland - a futuristic theme park looking for a centrepiece spectacle, a bill which Dumbo fits perfectly.
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His seemingly cold and fierce girlfriend Colette (Eva Green) is tasked with turning Dumbo from a circs attraction to a worldwide star - much to the distress of all involved.
A lot of what has been done is for the better - the original Dumbo had revenge as it’s theme (the young elephant wanted to punish the circus for the bad treatment of his mother) and that doesn’t really fit into a 2019 aesthetic, so instead we have one focussing on self-belief and inclusion (Dumbo’s ears a thin metaphor for disability).
It has all the darkness we expect from a Disney film - death, abuse, bigotry are all prevalent - but for me it lacks heart and left me feeling oddly flat. It’s as if Tim Burton kept forgetting to be Tim Burton and felt like he should be making The Greatest Showman 2.
Having said that - It looks utterly glorious. The animals are perfectly rendered and the Art- Deco universe is splendorous. Eva Green elevates every scene she’s in - her trapezeing really giving a glimpse into old-school magic.
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Michael Keaton does what Michael Keaton does best - projects Burton’s quirks and idiosyncrasies in a way no-one else can. The film doesn’t feel complete until he turns up - but he’s let down by a thin plot.
The set pieces are white-knuckled inter excitement and really have you on the edge of your seat - you will absolutely believe an elephant can fly and it’s here that everything on screen merges into excellence - there’s little of the average script, the humans have to resort to reaction and we’re left looking through the eyes of Tim Burton at a baby elephant on top of a burning building, willing it to flap it’s bloody ears.
Not a disaster by any stretch, but not as joyous or fulfilling as I was hoping.
Dumbo (PG)
★★★☆☆
Montage of all Disney's 2019 blockbuster movie releases
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