[imagesource: Disney Enterprises]

Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood’s most famous, and generally beloved, faces.

Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Big, You’ve Got Mail – I mean, you get the picture.

He also recently made The Telegraph’s list of most overrated actors, which is a bit of a stretch.

That’s not to say he hasn’t starred in a few duds over the years and one of his latest efforts, Pinocchio, appears to tick that box.

To put it mildly, the reviews are overwhelmingly unkind. Before we get to those, a glance at the trailer:

The Lion King crushed it with that live-action remake but that is not the case here.

We may as well start with The Telegraph’s one-star review, calling the film “a soulless, cynical, wooden nightmare”:

Disney’s latest live-action remake of a classic from the studio’s animation vaults even looks like a business calculation before you press play: rather than playing in theatres it’s going straight online, as a free-to-view enticement to Disney+ subscribers…

The design of Pinocchio himself is so soullessly close to the original he doesn’t even look like a puppet, but a piece of official Disney Pinocchio merchandise…

A critic who gave this two stars would soon find themselves sporting a nose the size of a giant sequoia.

Hanks’ performance is panned and he’s accused of simply recycling his accent from Elvis. He was also criticised by many for his acting there.

Despite having the incredibly talented Robert Zemeckis directing, and Hanks as Gepetto, revisiting this classic story for a new audience has missed the mark.

Collider went as far as to label it “live-action nightmare fuel”:

With Disney finally bringing Pinocchio to live action, the gulf between the quality of the original and the live action version has rarely been this massive…

If the 1940 Pinocchio showed that any wish your heart desires could come true, this remake shows what happens when your nightmares come to life.

Are we even surprised any more? There was a quick buck to be made by rejigging a familiar favourite and that’s exactly what Disney has done.

The Hollywood Reporter called it a “dud”, Screen Rant went with “lifeless”, and on Rotten Tomatoes it boasts a horrid 28% on the Tomatometer.

Unless your kids insist I’d be giving this one a very wide berth.

[sources:tele&collider]