Dumbo Review

"Hi, baby Dumbo, Welcome to the circus. We're all family here, no matter how small."



Dumbo is the latest in a long line of Disney live action remakes to be made in a year filled with classic Disney remakes such as The Lion King and Aladdin. Dumbo was directed by Tim Burton and stars the likes of Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton, Eva Green, Alan Arkin, Nico Parker, and Finley Hobbins. The film focuses on a young elephant (Dumbo), whose oversized ears allow him to fly which helps to revive a dying circus that Dumbo was born into.

The idea of remaking Disney classics can be a much debated subject with Disney fans, on the plus side these remakes that we are seeing more and more of, are updating and bringing these amazing, original and classic stories to a new and young audience, which freshens and brings new faces to the Disney brand and their classic films, but on the other hand it has become difficult to remake these films whilst applying a new twist on the original idea without creating a cut and paste copy of the original film. Well I hear you ask where does Dumbo fit in all this?.... Well for me personally Dumbo adds enough unique concepts and characters plots to make it an entertaining film, but for me falls flat on delivering a film that can stand side by side with the original film.

On the plus side there are some great moments in the film where Tim Burton really enhances the moments in which Dumbo takes flight, adding a sense of spectacle to when Dumbo takes off (in a sort of way) for the first time, to when Dumbo performs in the Dreamworld circus tent, each and every time Dumbo takes flight never gets old and really creates the spectacle of the entire film and captures you in that classic Disney charm. There are also some great visual effects in the film, not every visual effect is great but that seems to be more of a stylistic visual decision rather than just rough visuals, but the moments when we see Dumbo on the big screen or even Mrs Jumbo are truly great, and you get some realistic animal CGI, whilst in the case of Dumbo exaggerating the cuteness to capture audiences hearts. I also really enjoyed the little references here and there, even though this is a different take on Dumbo and there are many different story beats used throughout of the film to tell this different incarnation to a new audience, but if you are a Disney fan and a fan of the classic Dumbo film then you will certainly pick up on them however small they appear to be during the film.

Whilst Dumbo is at times a fun and entertaining film, in my opinion it is nowhere near as good as the original film, the film itself revolves a lot of the human characters and whilst Dumbo certainly shines (or should I say soars above the rest) it's the human characters who fail to deliver. This film has such a great cast from the likes of Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito to Michael Keaton and Eva Green, and whilst these actors give solid performances none of them really shine and do anything that is truly memorable, sure Michael Keaton gives a wacky and over the top performance as the owner of Dreamworld but even his performance is nothing to really salvage the human aspect of the film. Whilst the main focus of the film should surely be about Dumbo himself, too much time is devoted to characters that seem to just be filler and diverts attention away from the main character and focus of the film.

Overall Dumbo is a worthy remake with some fresh and interesting new concepts but does not leave you leaving the cinema feeling wowed, more like just satisfied, if you are a fan of Disney or even the Classic Disney films then it is worth checking out just to see the character on screen again and those lovely references but overall don't expect a masterpiece. Hopefully Aladdin and Lion King will be a step back in the right direction.

Verdict: 3.5 out 5 stars