Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio:
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The glorious animation in the newest Shrek installment Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is enough to drive you to the theater by itself. Led by a star-studded cast and a script with enough heart, The Last Wish is one of the better animated movies of 2022.
Wendell & Wild
Henry Selick’s latest entry into the stop-motion microgenre Wendell & Wild contains every ounce of charisma and wonder that fueled his previous works and terrified children like myself growing up, but watching his newest effort as a more aware and critical viewer, there are just too many structural components that don’t connect into a larger, fully-realized puzzle.
The Wild Robot
The overall package of The Wild Robot is ultimately quite honorable and noteworthy. The animated genre offers just a few great movies a year, and The Wild Robot falls into that category. It’s probably the frontrunner for Best Animated Picture at the Academy Awards, and I’d add that we’ve had much worse winners should this take home the prize. It’s sweet and effortlessly likeable, even if you can see the mechanisms of it working behind the scenes.
Wish
Disney’s newest animated movie Wish proves to be a frustrating and occasionally grating cinematic experience. The sporadic moments of enjoyment, courtesy of lively voice acting and catchy tunes, are overshadowed by the movie’s misguided conceptual foundation and lack of narrative cohesion. Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine shine in an otherwise unworthy film.
Luca
Whether its shortcomings are the result of its direct-to-streaming release or broader creative decisions, Luca ultimately stands as Pixar’s weakest effort of the 2020s so far. It’s not a misfire, but it is a forgettable entry in a filmography that typically sets the standard for original animated storytelling. For all its good intentions and lighthearted charm, Luca just doesn’t make much of a splash.
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki creates worlds where grief dances with wonder, where loss paves the way for discovery, and imagination reigns supreme. His latest movie The Boy and the Heron continues those trends to great lengths; it’s a symphony of animation, storytelling, and profound emotions that transports you to a realm of breathtaking beauty and exploration.
Strange World
It’s not that Strange World is bad, it just should’ve been much better. The movie has a third act with its positives (I particularly liked the main twist that I’ll avoid spoiling in this review, but it gave me some nice food-for-thought), but not enough to redeem a story that takes too long to set up without much fun or promise. Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid lead a mixed voice cast.
Toy Story 4
I was certainly in that camp in 2019, always favoring original stories over rehashes of the same material over and over (I’ll probably act the same way when Toy Story 5 nears because I clearly haven’t learned my lesson). Toy Story 4 quickly expels any notion that it shouldn’t exist – the different themes and new characters actually make the franchise as engaging as ever.
Flow
Flow attempts to push the boundaries of visual storytelling in the animated genre, and in many ways, it succeeds. Created entirely using Blender rendering software, typically reserved for 3D video game sprites, the film builds a nearly 90-minute animated feature filled with an abundance of visual ideas and thematic density. It’s a technical marvel that redefines the potential of its medium through its innovative use of technology.
Moana 2
Even as someone who wasn’t enamored with Moana, it’s clear Moana 2 is a significant downgrade. It lacks the heart, charm, and polish of the original, delivering a drab, forgettable experience that feels like it was made on autopilot.
READ MORE: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
