Pinocchio (2022)

Matt Roush says...

“I’m not one to pass judgment on what’s real,” quips a CGI Jiminy Cricket (voiced by a folksy Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in a new version of the classic about a wooden puppet’s journey toward becoming a real boy. Robert Zemeckis (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) directs this charming live action/CGI-animated remake of the 1940 Disney favorite, with Tom Hanks perfectly sympathetic as the lonely woodcarver Geppetto. (Freeze the frame to catch all the Disney easter eggs amid his wall of prized cuckoo clocks.) Benjamin Evan Ainsworth provides the voice of the adorable Pinocchio, with Cynthia Erivo warbling “When You Wish Upon a Star” as the magical Blue Fairy. (Several new songs were written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard.) The cast also includes a robust Keegan-Michael Key as the theatrically foxy “Honest” John, Luke Evans as the fearsome Coachman and Lorraine Bracco as a newly created character, the trusty seagull Sofia. Because Pinocchio needs all the help he can get to be the “brave, truthful and unselfish” boy he was meant to be.

What's Worth Watching (Sep 8)