It seems rather poetic (or maybe just coincidental) that one of the worst movies of the year and one of the best are both riffs on the age-old tale of the wooden boy with the nose that grows. While the Robert Zemeckis-directed dud with Tom Hanks was a ridiculous disappointment, this stop-motion semi-musical co-written and co-directed by Guillermo del Toro is a thing of brilliant beauty. A fresh and imaginative masterpiece, this ‘Pinocchio’ is occasionally dark (it’s set against the backdrop of Mussolini’s fascist Italy) but always wickedly clever. Christoph Waltz steals the show, leading a top-shelf voice cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Ewan McGregor, Finn Wolfhard, and Ron Perlman. Bonus: Netflix also produced a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary that’s worth a watch.
4.5/5 stars