Review of Pete's Dragon (2016) by Joseph D — 26 Aug 2016

PETE'S DRAGON, the classic Disney musical about a boy & his dragon...has been remade.

I know, I know, argh, another dang remake of something that needed no improvement?! When will the madness end??!! I know you're all sick of remakes, but lose the nostalgia goggles, & give the original film another look. It's ok as a kids film, but it's not exactly a timeless classic. This film, however? Well, you decide.

This isn't a carbon copy of the original, so there isn't much to compare & contrast, story wise. It's basically the story of an orphaned boy who happens to be in the care of a dragon for a good chunk of his life, when chance throws him back into the human world, & he has to adjust to his new surroundings, while keeping his draconic caregiver safe from those who might harm him.

Everything flows at a decent pace, everyone's character is established right away, with little bits of expository dialog seeded throughout in order to inform the viewer without bogging the story down.

The characters are all easily likable & very well acted. Pete is believable as a half feral, half civilized child, who can speak well enough to communicate & not be dangerous, but still has a few animalistic tendencies. The family he ends up with consists of a lady park ranger whose dad saw the dragon, which is a town legend, & who's marrying a single dad with a daughter of his own. And while their overall demeanor did feel a bit too Disney movie-ish at times, I didn't have too much trouble believing these were ordinary people dealing with an extraordinary situation. The villain...wasn't really a villain, he was just a guy who, like everyone else, was reacting to the situation, he just made a couple bad calls. The dragon, Elliott, was the highlight of the film. He did look different than the original Elliott, & was not a cartoon, but he did have a few small details that linked him to the original design; a round belly, a big chin, hair/fur, big expressive eyes, & some subtle tones in his voice. His design is pretty decent, he's proportioned like a real animal, his overall look is more organic, like he could be a missing link between dinosaurs & mammals, his movements suggest that his flight & fire-breathing could be done via a binary gas system, & his invisibility seemed less like magic, & more like chameleon-style active camouflage. He displayed an intelligence, but also an immaturity, like he was still a child. He did look...a little cartoon-ish at times, could've used a bit of cleaning up here & there, but he mostly looked real enough to suspend disbelief.

The whole look of the film's setting gave it a timeless feel, like it could've occurred at any point in the last 50 years or so. The woods were a character themselves, like they were a portal into the dim & distant past, allowing a bit of real magic to slip into a semi-modern town.

There were a few songs, but they were mostly for setting a mood, or dropping a bit of exposition, & I thought they fit in nicely.

3 & 3/4 stars out of 5, it was entertaining, emotion-stirring, it didn't talk down to kids or adults, & it didn't feel like a shameless cash grab. I have no problem recommending this to fans of the original & their kids; & I do believe that this film will be recognized as a modern, & maybe someday timeless, classic.