Dumbo: Tim Burton somehow manages to make a film about a flying baby elephant almost devoid of any magic. The titular character is a fine creating, with great texture and large, expressive eyes that invite empathy, but his story and plight end up a bit lost in the midst of other less touching and interesting subplots. The essence of the original animation is, therefore, watered down and the film turns out not all that emotionally involving. The film is visually interesting: costume designer Colleen Atwood mixes period circus costumes with some militarist garbs, and production designer Rick Heinrichs built a steampunk-ish, militaristic set which is odd and distinctive. The human performers are fine on paper, but handed generally uninspired characters to play, so the result is a lack of any spark coming from generally reliable names such as Eva Green, Danny DeVito, and Michael Keaton.