I saw the new Dumbo movie yesterday, so I will do a review.

Plot 4/10

 The plot was very cliche. It's your average "kids meet cute animal, animal gets exploited, kids have to help the animal get back to his family" storyline. It at least had more of a plot than the original Dumbo, but I was hoping that Tim Burton would think of something more creative. I like the changed ending where Dumbo gets released into the wild rather than him staying in the circus industry and thought it was a good animal rights message. But there were random aspects thrown in that didn't work at all. For example, the dad lost his arm in a war, and the circus ringmaster tells him to wear a fake one so he wouldn't scare the kids. But it's a circus, with "circus freaks," including contortionists and terrifying clowns. It made no sense to have him wear a fake arm and had no relevance to the plot, so I don't know why they put it in. Things like this were unnecessary and confusing.

Characters 4/10

The characters were very basic. The boy and girl were flat characters, as was the dad. The villains were outrageously cartoonish and fit every trope. There was a guy who was mean for the sake of being mean and only existed to get killed so Mrs. Jumbo would be locked up, and the "evil businessman" had no clear motivation for anything he did. The movie forgot that villains don't think they're the villains. There was very little development in any of the characters, which was disappointing. I could predict right away everything the characters would do, such as that Collette, the villain's girlfriend, would end up falling in love with the kids' dad.

Visuals 9/10

The visuals were what made the movie good. It was a very beautiful movie, with excellent animation. Dumbo was adorable, and the flying scenes looked stunning. I like how they incorporated the "Pink Elephants" scene, as I'm sure the original scene wouldn't make it in a kids' film today. Although now I question the original scene, as getting drunk doesn't make you start tripping.

Overall 5/10

The movie was very flat and basic. None of the characters were well-developed, the plot was very standard, and certain aspects were downright cartoonish. I definitely didn't hate the move, but I expected something a bit more creative from the mind of Tim Burton. I don't regret seeing it or view it as time wasted, but I definitely wouldn't seek it out to watch again.