I will say Pinocchio(2002) is not a terrible film and I personally wouldn't put it on my worst movies ever list. However, it wasn't particularly good in my opinion either. It may be truer in the spirit of the wonderful book by Carlo Collodi, that I did appreciate, though I am not a purist by all means. But in the process, while some scenes worked especially with the lovely Nicoletta Braschi as the Blue Fairy(Glenn Close in the dubbed version), this Pinocchio lacks the heart, magic and charm the book and the Disney film, which is still one of Disney's finest hours and had an appealing yet somewhat risqué sense of darkness, evidently have.
Roberto Benigni is a major part of the problem, he is very miscast in the title role, he is too old and also overacts to an embarrassing degree. Of the supporting cast only Braschi acquits herself well and likewise with Close in the dubbed version. The dubbing in general is awful, with the actors either trying too hard(Jim Belushi), are wasted(Eric Idle) or don't fit at all with the character(Cheech Marin), while the facial expressions on screen feel forced and overdone and the lip synching is sloppy. The story has its memorable scenes, but narrative wise it is rather clumsy, while the dialogue tries hard to be earnest and funny yet comes across as annoying, the direction is over-eager and the pace is rushed.
However, while the nose growing looks rather hokey, the special effects are decent and at least try to bring some magic on screen. The scenery and sets are suitably sumptuous, the cinematography and editing are not as slip-shod as one might think and the costumes are very colourful. The soundtrack is quite jaunty and energetic too.
So overall, it does have its big problems and is not that good a movie but it is not as bad as I had heard. 4/10 Bethany Cox
