'Pete's Dragon' (2016) Review

Pete's Dragon joins Disney's ever-expanding library of live-action adaptations of older films including the likes of The Jungle Book (2016) and Cinderella (2015). Like it's predecessor,
Pete's Dragon (1977), this new incarnation aims to tell the simple story of a boy Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just so happens to be a massive fluffy emerald dragon with camouflaging capabilities. And while Pete's Dragon's story may be small, it has a huge heart thanks to the special bond evident between Pete and Elliot.

The combination of spectacular visual effects work and John Kassir's captivating grunts make Elliot an authentic wondrous creature who just so happens to live in our world and he's irroestiable thanks to his dog-like mannerisms and warm fuzzy appearance. Elliot just so happens to be a nice comforting presence to both Pete and the audience because it's endearing every moment the dragon trounces onscreen. I'm unsure if that was an intentional choice or accidental, but either way Pete and his dragon are able to bring a smile, a laugh, and maybe even a tear to your face.

While many scoff at the idea of remaking or rebooting older films, I think remakes should wait to be judged as the purpose of rebooting should always be to make a better version, never about being a cash grab. Thankfully, this film is superior in visuals alone and succeeds in just about every other category thanks to director David Lowerey's vision.

Lowerey helms the reboot, in addition to taking up writing duties alongside Toby Halbrooks, bringing some awe-inspiring shots of Elliot maneuvering the skies thanks to some nice collaboration between the cinematographer and visual effects team. Lowerey's vision takes the basic concept of the original and makes it more accessible as the remake has a timeless charm to it, even though it's set in a seemingly 80's era small town. My only issues with Pete's Dragon lies in it's screenplay.

Lowerey and Halbrooks penned a sweet story but some dialogue was very cheesy and the supporting characters fell flat, failing to feel more than one-note caricatures. Despite the story's sweet and valuable undertones, it seems all too reminiscent of various other Disney properties about outsiders discovering man's world and all it's wonders, the importance of family, and the values of friendship including Tarzan, this year's The Jungle Book, The Good Dinosaur, and even to some degree Thor.

There was one other film took into account as being remarkably similar, and I even had similar feelings towards it, Jurassic World. Conveniently, both starred Bryce Dallas Howard, other worldly computer generated creatures, succeed in technical elements but lack the proper script. I also enjoyed Jurassic World, but feel it was grossly overrated and didn't reach the heights of Jurassic Park, but that's a story for a Recollection Reflection Review some other day. Anyways, my point is that although the story differentiates significantly from the predecessor and aims to bring something new to the table it reminded me of several other films that just so happened to be under the Disney umbrella.

Whilst all I've mentioned so far is important in a films success, there was one critical factor in making sure Pete's Dragon was going to work, and that was in casting Pete. Disney needed to find a child actor who could act opposite a CGI creature and be able to reach out to the audience convincing them that Pete and Elliot were worth caring about. Fortunately, Disney has their work cut out for them with an excellent casting department finding Neel Sethi recently for his star-turning role as Mowgli in The Jungle Book and now Oakes Fegley as Pete.

Fegley hits all the marks, accurately depicting Pete as a child who's been isolated for a majority of his life as he's amazed by the local small town and all it has to offer and at the same time captures the childlike wonder one would have if their best friend were a dragon. Fegley's performance helps the audience buy into Elliot and Fegley also manages to showcase a nice range for such a young performer. I won't be surprised if Fegley begins to see a lot more work turn up as child actors are invaluable these days and Fegley's proven here that he's more than capable of measuring up to any task requested of him.

Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Wes Bentley, and Karl Urban all offer up terrific performances, as is to be expected from actors of their caliber, but suffer by portraying thinly sketched characters as the endearing park ranger Grace, kindred father Meacham, kind wood mill operator Jack, and devious Gavin respectively.

No doubt about it, Pete's Dragon is a cute movie but the film never quite reaches it's full potential as Pete's Dragon soars in it's technical prowess, exemplifying excellent filmmaking, making it's static one-dimensional characters and uninspired screenplay a bummer. However, Pete's Dragon succeeds in the vein of actually being a remake superior to the original and is definitely worth seeing.

Film Assessment: B