Dumbo (2019)

"All right, Dumbo, give me a showstopper.”

Filmology Rating: 1.5 out of 4

Dumbo is another Disney product for consumers to spend money on. It's directed by Tim Burton who casted his regulars: Danny Devito, Michael Keaton, and not Johnny Depp in white face paint. This film is about Dumbo.

This film is the equivalent of working a nine to five and getting your paycheck every other week. Everything, from the directing, the style, the shots, the music, and the dialogue, is so boilerplate. Tim Burton's style feels incredibly restrained and it's obvious that he does not care.

The performances were all fine; nobody stood out except the children's performances which were notably bad. It's not fun underlining a child's bad performance, however, they just were.

There is also no story at all. The entire structure is: Dumbo needs to fly, there's an issue, he then flys, everyone looks at him in awe, he needs to fly again, there is an issue, etc. The writing is very cliche and cringe worthy at times.

It should be noted that Dumbo is adorable in this. There were some sad scenes involving him, however, any sad scenes involving Dumbo aren't really 'sad.' Those scenes are the equivalent of shooting a dog on-screen. It's a cheap way to make the audience sad. There is a very very strange appearance from Michael Buffer who took me directly out of the film and was very distracting.

If you have some kind of nostalgic attachment to Dumbo or like baby Elephants, there is a sliver chance you may like this film. However, it is very streamlined and similar to most of the other Disney live-action films.

Rating: Skip It

-Nolan