The live-action version of Disney's classic animation "Dumbo" not only has the magical reputation of director Tim Burton, but also has the participation of Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Michael Keaton, etc., enough to hang up watching Disney The appetite of the post-80s who grew up. However, when I take my child into the cinema to relive my childhood memories with high spirits, I always feel a little unfulfilled.
Except for the scene where Dumbo was separated from his mother, the scene where he pretended to be a clown elephant to perform a firefighting circus, and the magic feather that made the baby elephant fly and the pink elephant-shaped bubble (these details can be understood as the original Tribute), the vast majority of the plot and characters are new. Not breaking or standing, the novelty of the remake is actually the most important. If in the cartoon version, humans are all insignificant supporting roles, then the live-action version will turn humans into protagonists. The main new characters are: former circus star Holt Farrell, and his sons and daughters Millie and Joe, high-altitude queen Colette Marchand, and the owner of the Medici Brothers Circus, Medici, who runs the circus. Vandervelt, the big entrepreneur of the super amusement park "Dream Kingdom"...
Undoubtedly, visually, the cute Dumbo swishes so handsomely and coolly, the high-altitude queen Colette is really beautiful, and the bizarre circus performances are magnificent and gorgeous. However, in addition to that, in terms of content, family, friendship, love, growth, which theme, which depth, all feel bad. Why did the live-action version of Dumbo fail to become a growing fairy tale that touched me again?
In my opinion, there are two main lines of "Dumbo":
1. Dumbo's self-growth. Dumbo was born with huge ears, making her the clown among the elephants. The circus owner didn't like her because she couldn't be the new selling point, and the audience laughed at her because she was ugly. From being ridiculed, to flying for his mother, for his friends, and for himself, in the end, Benbao doesn't need to rely on the role of feathers, and with the help of his friends, he and his mother returned to the East, their homeland.
2. The emotional line between Holt Farrell and his children. When Holt returned home from the army, everything changed, he became disabled, and his wife died of the flu. He had to deal with the emotional parenting conundrum of being a single dad. After Millie and Joe have been separated from their father for a long time, their emotions are slightly divided, and there is also a gap in the way of communication. However, touched by the emotions of Dumbo and his mother's treasure, Holt and the children regained their affection and trust. By the way, Holt also abducted the heart of the high-altitude queen Colette Marchand and won love.
There is nothing wrong with the two lines, but each of them failed to make a tear drop out of me, who has always been super-low.
Let me take a closer look at the small shortcomings of "Dumbo" in my eyes.
Shortcoming one: Dumbo's appearance. I still remember the beginning of the 1989 version of the cartoon, the babies of various animals in the circus were sent by a group of ibis. Dumbo's appearance is full of dreamy imagination. When it was remade into a live-action version, it was probably because it was difficult to achieve and did not continue to be used. This disappointed me a little.
Disadvantage 2: The emotional logic between the characters is loose. For example, the transition between the father and the child is a bit blunt. For a former circus star, a man who has returned from war, his wife died, lost an arm himself and had to struggle for a living again, the inner transformation of his role and his relationship with Communication between the children was a little rough. If you want to make a sensational card, in fact, it is not difficult to do better. Another example is the progress of the relationship between Colette Marchand and Holt Farrell, the relationship between Colette Marchand and Dumbo, and the emotional bond between all members of the circus. Performed very well.
Shortcoming 3: The character setting is relatively rough. For example, daughter Millie's scientific person has some tasteless ribs, which does not contribute much to the entire storyline, and almost only plays a little role in the animation at the end of the film. The setting of the big villain Keaton also lacks foreshadowing, including that he finally lost his mind, smashed the control tower by himself, and burned down the amusement park, which seemed a bit blunt. There is also Colette, the queen of high-altitude, the introduction is too simple. At first, she appeared with Vandervelt with a pretentious, arrogant and blunt attitude. . Some people say that Eva Green is a vase, but I want to say that the screenwriter and director did not give her a chance to break the setting of "vase" at all.
Shortcoming 4: The little elephants did not accept their own destiny, but the circus actors did. This setting is a bit annoying. Although the circus actors are supporting roles, supporting roles can also shine. At this point, the movie doesn't handle it very well. The circus actors' previous love for each other and caring for animals did not pave the way too much. It seems that they are just doing their jobs for a living under the boss Medici. Of course, the blame for the abusive actions was carried away by one of them, and that person was killed in the end. Even these actors, when they were deceived and ruthlessly dismissed, completely accepted their fate. They didn't worry about themselves, they didn't get angry or reprimanded, and they didn't resist. They just wanted to meet Dumbo. Then he was instigated by Holt, who was not fired, and he tried his best to rescue the stupid treasure and the mother treasure? This awakening lacks emotional accumulation and transition. Makes it feel unreal.
Of course, all of this can be interpreted as a fairy tale born of the sun, it doesn't need depth or analysis, it just needs to show children that after suffering, children will always thrive; God has eyes. , the wicked always bring their own destruction.
However, why the box office trend and the film's reputation have declined, it seems to be able to explain something.
As a digression, the little actress Millie, I always felt familiar, but it turned out that it was Thandie Newton's daughter, wow, her genes are really strong, and she looks very similar to her mother. Thandie Newton, you know? Maeve from Westworld !
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