Given my love of Disney, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Danny DeVito, it gives me absolutely no pleasure in saying that this
In this live action take on Disney’s beloved animated feature, an infant elephant with abnormally large ears propels a financially struggling travelling circus to new heights after returning war veteran/circus performer Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) discover the little guy can fly. Almost immediately, ringleader Max Medici (Danny DeVito) sets out to exploit his new star attraction and eventually, he even sells out to V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), a Walt Disney-like entertainment mogul with a bit of a dark side.
With a guy like Tim Burton at the helm, you know you’re going to get plenty of visual splendor and that’s certainly the case with DUMBO. What’s really lacking is the magic, joy, and enchantment that Burton’s most memorable work (see EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) tends to offer. DUMBO has its cute moments–given that it’s about an adorable baby elephant with big ears, how could it not?–but overall, this film is oddly mechanical in its approach. This is to say that genuine heart and warmth are scarce.
It doesn’t help that Ehren Kruger‘s screenplay somehow manages to feel both rushed and drawn out simultaneously. But perhaps the strangest aspect of this picture is that Dumbo himself is almost treated as a supporting character. This movie is really more about the less interesting characters Dumbo is surrounded by.
As for the performances, a handful of really terrific actors are given very little to do. It’s worth mentioning that DUMBO serves as a bit of a BATMAN RETURNS reunion, but sadly, DeVito’s and Keaton’s considerable talents are underutilized here. DeVito, who has a pretty weak arc in this picture, has a handful of spirited moments as a circus owner who gets a taste of his own medicine in the form of the mogul that is a bigger-than-life Vandervere. What’s intriguing and off-putting in equal measure is the fashion in which Keaton’s Vandervere has been drawn. Parts of his persona seem to be modeled after Walt Disney himself, only he’s vilified and mocked to the point that I was surprised the Mouse House would sign off on this. It was great seeing DeVito and Keaton together again but it’s a shame that this reunion didn’t take place in a better movie.
Farrell is good as a one-armed single father looking to reconnect with his children while a generally charismatic Eva Green is all but squandered as a woman tasked with sharing the spotlight with Dumbo. Worse still, the great Alan Arkin is saddled with a throwaway role. As for the rest of the cast, they are given even less to do then the film’s star players but admittedly, it was fun seeing a gentle Roshan Seth of INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM fame pop up in there.
DUMBO isn’t a train wreck. Again, Disney spared no expense on a technical level. In addition to the previously mentioned attributes, the visual effects are decent and Aurora’s theme song “Baby Mine”–performed by Arcade Fire during the end credits– is actually a very catchy lullaby. Further props to Burton and crew for avoiding talking animals which might have made matters even worse.
Too bad the stuff that works in DUMBO is greatly outweighed by the stuff that doesn’t work. Included: An embarrassingly out of place appearance by the WWE’s Michael Buffer doing a slightly tweaked play on his famed “Let’s get ready to rumble!!” schtick. Oh yeah, they go there.
As a Tim Burton movie, DUMBO comes up short. It’s stronger than DARK SHADOWS and WONKA but that feels like faint praise at best. As a live-action re-imagining of a Disney animated classic, DUMBO comes up even shorter. Ultimately this is a beautiful-looking movie, but it’s seriously lacking in that Mouse House magic. As I watched this film, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the similarly themed THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. That movie certainly has its flaws but it is considerably more entertaining and substantially more energetic than the well-intentioned but unfortunate misfire that is DUMBO. Here’s hoping that THE LION KING and ALADDIN are better.
