Pinocchio Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs

3. The Strong Ensemble Cast

The film is also elevated considerably by the efforts of its enthusiastic ensemble cast. Tom Hanks is an obvious yet fitting choice to play Geppetto, bringing a grandfatherly charm to the character even if as written he's not given all that much to do.

Elsewhere in the live-action stakes, Cynthia Erivo gives a brief but impactful performance as the Blue Fairy, and Luke Evans is a campy riot as The Coachman.

On the voiceover front, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth gives a terrific performance as Pinocchio himself, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings spry life to Jiminy Cricket, and Keegan-Michael Key is amusingly mischievous as Honest John, no matter some of the iffy lines he's given.

For as many problems as the movie has, it's certainly not for the cast's lack of trying, and without such a shrewdly cast ensemble, it'd be far less watchable.