As the (almost) only protagonist in a Disney movie who doesn't say a word from beginning to end (Wall-E is one, but he still says a few words), Dumbo's emotions are on display very well. At first, it was just a helpless big-eared baby elephant, protected by the power of its mother. The part of singing Baby Mine, quietly climbing up the haystack, and trying to reach the locked mother with her little nose, became the most touching and heartbreaking part in the movie. Later, the baby elephant became friends with the two children. "As long as you fly hard, you can buy your mother back", as if the human-like baby elephant trusted these two humans. It took off in the marquee for the first time and it was proud and happy. Later, the baby elephant almost became a star, maturely trying to comply with the demands of human beings. The moment I flew out of the tent, I found my mother, only to find that the baby elephant has always been a baby elephant. It's really beautiful to fly freely among the elephants.
All this is too silent, and I can only taste it slowly, the emotion in this silence.
Then I ranted.
The part of flying into the fire to save people is a bit distorted (don't talk about flying elephants or something, it's already distorted, haha). In that section, Dumbo was too spiritual, and it didn't touch me, but instead had the opposite effect. It feels fake, as if moved for the sake of being moved. In addition, the previous foreshadowing did not make me feel that the bond between the baby elephant and the two children was so deep. Of course, this has to talk about two small actors. The little girl's acting skills are really embarrassing, and most of the time she's expressionless. Approaching Dumbo, protecting him, encouraging him, all with an expression (there's a moment of a forced smile). There is absolutely no feeling of building a deep friendship! The setting of wanting to be a scientist also doesn't feel much interesting.
The only time the little girl touched me a bit was when she dropped the necklace to encourage Dumbo to take off without feathers. As for the little boy, other than playing feather games with the baby elephant at the beginning and discovering its potential, it doesn't seem to be of any use. The sibling relationship is not obvious, and the friendship with the little elephant is not very obvious. In short, the two children seem to be the secondary protagonists, but their presence is quite low.
The other characters are more superficial. There may be too many characters, and it feels like the background is not well laid out. For example, the part where the villain goes crazy is a bit illogical, he ruined everything just because he lost a baby elephant? He is obviously such a strong person, how could he give up so easily? (I heard that I lacked parental attention since I was a child, so I became strong by myself)
The assistant male protagonist didn't feel anything. Although the background story setting is not bad, it just didn't move me very much. Because he didn't do anything the whole time. I just hoped to continue to play miscellaneous dramas at first, then I worked hard to train the baby elephant, and finally climbed a ladder to release the baby elephant... This role is too thin. Not to mention others. It feels like the whole circus people trust each other, because they rescued Dumbo and Mom together later, very united. But their sense of existence is too low, and they have not established any connection with the audience at all. I don't know too much about the circus owner and the monkey. . .
While these characters lack soul, so much of the plot is superfluous. There is no need to add any wonderful content to the movie.
Alas, what am I doing so seriously, this is a movie for children.
So coming back, why am I giving this movie five stars when it has so many flaws? Because this movie has such a low rating and is so much worse than the original, I can't watch it. Obviously, compared to the original version, which focused on how the inferior elephant discovers his potential to become a star, this film integrates feelings better. Rather than a story entirely centered on Dumbo, the story of the many characters in the new film is even more moving. Although these characters lacked a lot of foreshadowing, they still moved me in general! It touched me a lot more than the original movie. Not only the deep love between the baby elephant and its mother, but also the distance between people and the trust between people and elephants. These are handled better than the original. For the rewriting of the ending, it gave a beautiful and free ending, and it is also a beautiful segment of the whole movie.
As a viewer who didn't like the original movie very much, I think this movie is really much better. There are more moving, surprising moments, more delicate emotions, and a cute and real baby elephant.
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