Synopsis
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
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Cast
- Colin FarrellHolt Farrier
- Michael KeatonV. A. Vandemere
- Danny DeVitoMax Medici
- Eva GreenColette Marchant
- Alan ArkinJ. Griffin Remington
- Nico ParkerMilly Farrier
- Finley HobbinsJoe Farrier
- Roshan SethPramesh Singh
- Deobia OpareiRongo the Strongo
- Joseph GattNeils Skellig
Recommendations
- 80
Empire
An enchanting blend of Disney twinkle and Tim Burton’s dark whimsy that’s at its best when venturing off the beaten path. Come for the super-cute elephant, stay for Keaton and DeVito’s glorious reunion. - 67
Consequence
Its characters are thinly written, its antagonist is one-note, and its clumsy third-act action climax is wholly perfunctory. Yet despite all that, Dumbo still manages to offer the sweeping old-fashioned magic of an earnest family blockbuster. - 67
The A.V. Club
Farrell’s Kentucky accent here is as merely passable as his Chicago accent in Widows was, and Parker’s precocious interest in physics and chemistry seems similarly phoned-in. Both characters are just there to keep the story moving, to provide awestruck reaction shots as we move from oddly muted spectacle to agreeable callback to the heartwarming happy ending. - 60
Time Out
Even leaving aside the fan-pleasing sight of Burton’s Dark Knight and Penguin sharing the same big top, the Batman parallels are inescapable. Keaton tears a page from the Jack Nicholson Joker playbook with his most deliriously huge performance in years. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
When that visual leaves a more captivating impression than a baby elephant spreading its ears and getting airborne like a glider, something is definitely off in the balance. The new Dumbo holds the attention but too seldom tugs at the heartstrings. - 50
Movie Nation
Burton has blown up Disney’s ode to magic, misfits finding their gift and a mother’s love into a shiny but bloated, glum affair that feels “BIG EVENT” in scope, and depressingly heartless in execution. - 50
IndieWire
Like many (or all) of the movies Burton has made this century, Dumbo is a shallow pop spectacle that’s forced to rely on its more superficial charms; unlike many (or all) of those other movies, this one actually has superficial charms on which to rely. - 40
The Telegraph
The problem with this latest entry in Disney’s ever-expanding range of recycled classics isn’t that it hews too close to the studio’s original animated masterpiece, but that its many departures only muddle the original’s nursery-rhyme simplicity and neuter its famous sustained emotional wallop.
