Great actors, cool and interesting costumes...and that's it. While I think characters in general are a bit violent, calling Pinocchio an "idiot" seems hypocrite to me. Were we saints when kids? Never we lied? Disobeyed? Hated school? Since when people starting to born perfect and mature?
I'm all for encouraging children to study, but not like that. In the movie the teacher resorts to violence and torture to discipline them, and later it compares those who abandon school to donkeys, which is some languages is a very offensive way of saying someone lacks intelligence.
There are far better, more intelligent and efficient ways of capturing students interest in learning and one can have all degrees in the world...he will still be incomplete without kindness and respect for all types of people and ways of life.
Show them the importance of knowledge, but don't forget to teach respect for those who are on a different path.
The film has many instances unsuitable for children and is boring. It also treats leisure time as some type of sin. Suicide rates, stress related diseases and burnout should give a hint that our society needs urgently revisit its ways and its obsession with work and productivity.
In a nutshell, the cast is superb, the costumes creative, but the philosophy behind the story is mediocre at best, full of commonplaces and outdated ideas about education, society and life.
Review of Pinocchio
