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Dumbo

Adventure. Fantasy Holt was once a circus star, but he went off to war and when he returned it had terribly altered him. Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) hires him to take care of Dumbo, a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him the laughing stock of the struggling circus troupe. But when Holt's children discover that Dumbo can fly, silver-tongued entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) ... [+]
Author Review
United StatesUnited States
Variety
Variety
"It transforms a miraculous tale into a routine story by weighing it down with a lot of nuts and bolts it didn’t need. The character of Dumbo is still touching, but the tale of entrapment and rescue that surrounds him is not."  NEU
United StatesUnited States
Forbes
Forbes
"[It] is a pretty good movie, with strong production values, excellent performances by a game cast and a third act that ends things on a very high note. 'Dumbo' flies just high enough to merit a recommendation."  POS
United StatesUnited States
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
"There's likely enough here to keep today's children absorbed (...) But this is another frustratingly uneven picture, with thin characters — human and animal — that fail to exert much of a hold"  NEU
United StatesUnited States
IndieWire
IndieWire
"[Burton's] 'Dumbo' never reaches the drunken highs of the original (...) but it’s most exciting moments tap into a kind of deliriousness that only he can deliver."  NEU
United StatesUnited States
Collider
Collider
"Like most circuses, 'Dumbo' will occasionally make your heart soar. But it’s best not to look too closely behind the curtain, because those thrills might start to look mighty cheap."  NEU
United StatesUnited States
USA Today
USA Today
"It is a sight to behold, especially for those who adore the weird aesthetic that Burton has cultivated for decades (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"  POS
United StatesUnited States
IGN
IGN
"Sadly, this routine remake doesn't manage to recapture the surreal strangeness of the original Disney classic or elevate the dated premise into something better."  NEG
United StatesUnited States
Time
Time
"The new 'Dumbo' is ostentatious and overworked, less a work of imagination than a declaration of how imaginative Burton thinks he is"  NEG
United StatesUnited States
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
"Burton’s 'Dumbo' is hardly a bad film. But his fans will be disappointed by how little of the director’s dark DNA made it into the finished product"  NEU
United StatesUnited States
AV Club
AV Club
"While Dumbo himself is adorable, he isn’t especially Burton-esque, and neither is the rest of the film (...) No one gets the chance to truly showboat"  NEU
United StatesUnited States
The Playlist
The Playlist
"'Dumbo' is too leaden to soar, weighed down by its overstuffed plot, lack of focus, and cardboard characters."  NEG
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Empire
Empire
"An enchanting blend of Disney twinkle and Tim Burton’s dark whimsy (...) Come for the super-cute elephant, stay for Keaton and DeVito’s glorious reunion (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"  POS
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The Guardian
The Guardian
"All the charm and heartbreak of Disney’s classic animation is missing (...) It is a flightless pachyderm of a film (…) Rating: ★ (out of 5)"  NEG
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Telegraph
Telegraph
"[It] is a would-be conversation piece that invites nothing but mumbling indifference (...) Its many departures only muddle the original’s nursery-rhyme simplicity and neuter its famous sustained emotional wallop (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"  NEG
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Screendaily
Screendaily
"'Dumbo' has the magic and wonder of [Burton's] best work (...) But there remains a frustratingly impersonal flavour to the work (...) that keeps the film from soaring all that high."  NEU
IrelandIreland
Irish Times
Irish Times
"[Dumbo] is a characterless grey blob with the lifeless eyes of a kewpie doll. That’s just one thing. But it’s one very big thing. Otherwise the film is grand (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"  NEU
IrelandIreland
Irish Independent
Irish Independent
"While it’s true that the film’s disparate parts never fully coalesce (...) there’s enough humour, heart and visual panache to keep you interested (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"  NEU
IrelandIreland
entertainment.ie
entertainment.ie
"As an effort in revitalising a classic, 'Dumbo' succeeds as it helps to freshen up the story (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"  POS
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User history
Ooga Booga
2013
Charles Band
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