‘Pinocchio’ transforms the little puppet made of wood into a film that’s not so good

Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis’ reunion should be a source of curiosity, but their little puppet made of wood is in a movie that’s not so good.

In theory with such endeavors, the live-action format should bring something to the material that animation didn’t, a feat Disney achieved with considerable commercial success with “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” and “Aladdin.”

More recently, “Lady and the Tramp” became one of the early calling cards for Disney+, reflecting both a more modest scale and the realization the animation-to-live-action gimmick.

“Pinocchio,” however, doesn’t ever really feel like a live-action movie, in part because of the look and computer-animated rendering of its title character.

Hanks (who between this and “Elvis” has had better years, creatively speaking) and Zemeckis have enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration, from “Forrest Gump” to “Cast Away” to “The Polar Express,” the most obvious comparison to their latest effort.

They build toward his encounter with the seafaring Monstro, upgraded to “sea monster” status, having maligned whales quite enough.

This “Pinocchio” also happens to arrive before Netflix unveils director Guillermo del Toro’s stab at the beloved property.

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