Dumbo Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. It's An Ambitious Expansion Of The Original Story

Somewhat surprisingly, Dumbo is pretty far away from a straight remake of the 1941 movie, instead working through most of the expected beats in its first half before leaping off to tell a "sequel" story in its second half.

Despite the considerable scripting issues, screenwriter Kruger deserves some credit for not merely giving audiences a beat-for-beat remake, and attempting to expand the story into something more substantial.

That's all in addition to removing problematic aspects of the original film - namely those damn racist crows - and extending the story of Dumbo's life even once he's won the hearts and minds of the general public.

It doesn't all work, but it's certainly preferable to just rehashing what came before.