YMMV / Pinocchio (2019)

• Broken Base: While it's generally well liked in its home country, a surefire way to start fierce arguments among Italian audiences is asking how this movie compares to the Luigi Comencini miniseries.
• Fandom Rivalry: With the live-action remake of Disney's 1940 animated film Pinocchio. Around the time its trailers came out, several people brought up Matteo Garrone's movie as a better alternative for a live-action version of the tale to watch and support, further reinforced by the mediocre reception of the 2022 remake across the board.
• Improved Second Attempt: It's the second time Roberto Benigni has worked on a live-action Pinocchio film after his own ill-received attempt in 2002, where he also played the title role. The role of Geppetto is considered as a much better fit for him and the film has been much better received.
• Nightmare Fuel: This movie follows the the tradition of making the donkey Transformation Horror look as disturbing as it possibly can, this one feeling kind of reminiscent of David Kessler's transformation.
• One-Scene Wonder: Gigi Proietti as Mangiafuoco, especially since this was his penultimate role before he passed away in 2020.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: While the practical makeup effects are appreciated, many Talking Animal characters end up looking like creepy humanoid hybrids, the worst offenders being the Black Rabbits and the Tunny Fish.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Much like how he did in his previous fantasy film Tale of Tales, Matteo Garrone has relied on a lot of Practical Effects and makeup to enhance with the right usage of CGI when needed. The movie would go on to have an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling nomination at the 2020 Oscars.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • By turning out a great performance as Geppetto in a better realized movie adaptation of the book, Roberto Benigni redeemed himself in the eyes of many after the flop of his 2002 movie.
  • Multiple retrospectives of Pinocchio media deem this as the best live-action film adaptation of Collodi's novel, it helps that it fared well both critically and at the box office, unlike the mixed to negative receptions of past live-action attempts.

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