DUMBO review by Mark Walters – Tim Burton brings humanity to a classic animal story

DUMBO review by Mark Walters – Tim Burton brings humanity to a classic animal story

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In an age where the only animated movies being made are all CGI, Disney seems determined to make all of their classics into live action blockbusters with big names. And so far it’s worked out pretty well, even smashingly so in the case of CINDERELLA and BEAUTY & THE BEAST. Tim Burton previously helmed the live action update of ALICE IN WONDERLAND for the Mouse House, which was a huge success and even spawned a sequel. Now he’s helping deliver DUMBO into the live action realm, and it’s also filled with Burton alumni like Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, and Eva Green, plus Colin Farrell, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins and Alan Arkin. While the 1941 animated classic may feel pretty dated by today’s standards, there are still scenes in there that get to me emotionally, and resonate with me on a personal level. I hoped Burton could capture that feel and magic in his version, especially since I was not a fan of his ALICE IN WONDERLAND adaptation. I was also a little concerned as the screenplay is by Ehren Krueger, who penned the last three TRANSFORMERS movies, and the live action GHOST IN THE SHELL (which bombed). The trailers all looked ridiculously sweet and wonderful, doing a great job of selling the idea of this reboot, but does the end result satisfy?

The year is 1919, and The Medici Brothers traveling circus is struggling, with all the performers piled into an aging train hoping the next stop will be worth it. Max Medici (Danny DeVito) means well, and treats his various performers like a somewhat dysfunctional family. We meet Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe Farrier (Finley Hobbins), two children waiting for their father Holt (Colin Farrell) to come home from the war… and he does, only missing his left arm. He also learns his wife died from illness, and now must re-acclimate to his circus roots, only now a far cry from the pistol-packing smiling cowboy he once played. Max assigns Holt some non-glamorous jobs, such as looking after the animals. While inspecting a large female elephant Max was recently talked into buying, Holt and the kids find she has a baby hiding with her, and that baby has abnormally large ears. Medici returns the mother to the seller for half what he paid, but reluctantly keeps the baby. As Milly and Joe get to know the little guy, they make a startling discovery… he can fly by flapping his giant ears. Max tries to shoehorn the little fella into a fireman act, and when things get tense, Dumbo flies for the first time in front of an audience, and just like that new life is breathed into the fledgling circus.

Enter V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton) and his female companion Colette Marchant (Eva Green). Vandevere is a millionaire obsessed with money-making opportunities, and he sets his sights on Max and the newly named Dumbo, convincing Medici that he’ll take care of his baby elephant and his family of performers if Max let’s him call the shots moving forward. This leads to Dumbo performing in a flashy and posh circus setting called Dreamland, but Medici realizes his troupe is getting pushed aside in the process.

Where the original animated DUMBO was a movie about talking animals taking journeys together and finding their purpose in life, there are no talking creatures on display here. Burton and Krueger have shifted the focus to the human characters, with Dumbo actually feeling like a small part of their life journey. This is a factor that will likely upset some of the more die hard fans of the source material. Then again, if you’re going to remake this story and not have the animals speak, you kind of have to make it about the humans at that point. And while that idea isn’t inherently flawed, the characters themselves just aren’t that interesting. Holt, played rather subdued by Colin Farrell, is sympathetic just for being a survivor of the war, and a newly widowed one at that, but beyond those aspects there’s really not much to him. It’s briefly mentioned that he was once a proud horse-riding cowboy and star of the circus, but after losing his arm he’s played as a man without much purpose or drive… I’m starting to understand more and more why disabled people are saddened by the portrayal of disabled folks in film as nothing more than something to show pity to. Holt gets a few heroic moments before the film ends, but as a character he’s just not very fascinating. Even less interesting are his children, played by Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins, who help Dumbo find his courage (I suppose), but don’t really seem important or meaningful beyond that. There’s an arching theme here with Dumbo losing his mother and the kids having to deal with losing theirs, but surprisingly that’s not played up anywhere near the way it could have been. Even Eva Green, who normally is the most electric thing on screen in any movie she’s in, can’t seem to find much within her role beyond being a reluctant trapeze artist, and frustrated with her debt to Vandemere. Only Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton seem to be trying hard to find some solid character beats, and Keaton especially makes the most of his opportunistic and manipulative persona. Keaton is also the only character in the film that really seems to be energetic, as even DeVito feels tired as he’s trying to do comedy bits or show emotional depth. It’s not that these characters are bad, they’re just not well developed.

As for Dumbo, he’s ridiculously adorable, and there are scenes in here that will rip you apart and get the tears going. I heard a lot of sniffling in the theater on more than one occasion, and even preparing myself for the waterworks, I still couldn’t stay tough during one particular scene. In fact every time Dumbo is on screen it’s kind of magical. You know he’s CGI and so cute that any hint of realism kind of goes out the window, but as a special effects character he’s very effective. And maybe that’s what makes it so frustrating when he’s pushed out of the narrative so the human characters can talk more. The Tim Burton style also feels toned down here, to the point of where had you not known he was the director, there’s not many tells to give that fact away. The music by Danny Elfman is actually one of the best parts of the production, as it gives scenes a feeling of magic and whimsy, even when the scenes themselves don’t necessarily deliver that.

As a movie the new DUMBO isn’t terrible, but it’s lacking in specific areas that could have been so much more. As one of Disney’s live action remakes, it’s a strange choice to begin with, as the original film and story doesn’t really lend itself to the idea of live action anyway. There’s a flatness present throughout the movie, almost like you’re watching a play with more elegant backgrounds. I later found out pretty much the entire movie was shot on sound stages with digital backgrounds and in some cases buildings and foliage added in by way of CGI… knowing that, realizing it was filmed on a stage with no practical locations, it kind of sums up the hollow feeling it ends up giving. Even certain sequences are rather dark and scary for what is essentially meant to be a family film. The end result is a far cry better than Burton’s messy ALICE IN WONDERLAND, but there’s still considerable room for improvement here. That said, that darn elephant is still so cute.

DUMBO opens March 29, 2019

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About the Author

Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff.