Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio movie debuts with rare 100% rating

He wrote: “del Toro’s is a soulful stop-motion masterpiece. But it’s partly because, as the title suggests, the latest version is so unmistakably a del Toro passion project.”

Barber added that the movie featured del Toro’s signature dark and twisted imagery, something audiences are familiar with in his past films such as Shape of Water and The Devil’s Backbone, where ‘monsters’ are also persecuted. 

He also noted the stop-animation in no way compromised the emotional complexity of the story but instead redefined what’s possible in the medium. 

He added: “The sheer talent on screen throughout the entire film makes for an awe-inducing experience as one wonders how on earth anyone could manage to bring such a gorgeous and lively stop-motion piece to life.”

However, critics weren’t the only ones to commend the movie, as many took to Twitter to provide glowing reviews.

One fan wrote: “If you see only one Pinocchio movie this year- make it Guillermo del Toro’s.”

Another shared: “Guillermo Del Toro’s PINOCCHIO just played the London Film Festival, and it’s a masterpiece.”

While a third person said: “To differentiate from the others I hereby proclaim we refer to this film as Pinocchio Del Toro.”

Veering away from the 1940s classic, the movie is set in the 1930s during the rise of fascism in Benito Mussolini's Italy. 

He said: “Fascism seems to be concerned with a father figure of a different kind and the desire to deliver ourselves to a father that unifies thought.

"So I think it’s both a background and it is something interesting thematically.”