There's nothing particularly wrong with Pinocchio, the latest live-action/CGI remake of the classic Disney animated canon (now available on the Disney+ streaming service). There's also nothing particularly impressive about it either, beyond some solid effects that lack the impact they could have with a stronger story. A handful of fun but one-note performances ultimately can't elevate the film beyond its more basic structure. A breezy but weightless affair, Pinocchio squanders some good talent and ideas to deliver a perfectly fine and disposable take on the classic tale.

The general plot of Pinocchio follows the same beats of the original animated film, albeit with some slight additions and streamlining for character motivations. Recast as a father still grieving the loss of his son -- and with little to no mention of the boy's mother -- Geppetto (Tom Hanks) constructs a little wooden puppet he calls Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth). His wishes for a real boy prompt the Blue Fairy (Cynthia Erivo) to imbue the puppet with life and charge the kindly vagabond Jiminy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) with being his conscience.

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Pinocchio himself is quickly dragged into a series of escapades where his morals are challenged by the likes of Trusty John (Keegan-Michael Key), the greedy Stromboli (Giuseppe Battiston), and the wicked Coachman (Luke Evans). The biggest tweaks to the source material come in the form of Sofia (Lorraine Bracco), a seagull who befriends Jiminy and offers assistance during the film, and Fabiana (Kyanne Lamaya), a kindly puppeteer who befriends Pinocchio with her puppet Sabina (Jaquite Ta'le).

Like the rest of the film, these two provide the potential for new angles to the classic story but ultimately serve more as plot devices than characters, with Fabiana's ambitions and Sofia's assistance coming and going from the narrative with little rhyme or reason. Her plot is even resolved largely off-screen and concluded through a single conversation. The cast is largely fine in their roles, although largely unmemorable. There's honestly not a lot for the cast to dive into, although Key stands out as the best of the lot for his short time on-screen. While his Honest John is just as straightforward as the rest of the cast, the cartoonishly over-the-top performance Key delivers at least lends the film some energy before he unceremoniously departs from the plot.

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Directed and co-written by Robert Zemeckis, the film features some technically impressive visuals, such as a Leviathan-inspired version of Monstro that's at least interesting to look at. However, the changes don't add anything to the story, and the plot's only real deviation of substance from the source material doesn't come until the very end -- trying to call upon a thematically interesting concept that it largely fails to engage in. Throughout the film, the question is raised as to why Pinocchio would want to become a little boy when his wooden form has some unique advantages -- something Pinocchio is even pressed to consider at one point as he ponders if that means he really isn't real until he becomes a true "real" little boy. The film never actually explores that concept and just moves to the next cover-version of an old animated sequence while hoping the idea came through amidst all the musical numbers and digital effects.

Zemeckis and his team bring all the concepts to life with enough flash to catch the eye, but there's nothing to draw the audience in on an emotional level. Ultimately, what lets down the film is a script that doesn't seem interested in telling the story of Pinocchio, just in remaking sequences from Pinocchio. The plot moves along at an agreeable enough pace but never takes the time to actually dive into the characters. In the end, Pinocchio ultimately suffers from the same downfall as other remakes, like Lady & Tramp. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but there's also nothing in Pinocchio that truly feels praise-worthy.

Pinocchio is now streaming on Disney+.