Review of Pete's Dragon (2016) by Pipec — 15 Oct 2016

Winning Streak of Disney Endures.

In the period between the death of Walt Disney in 1966, the groundbreaking mecca of animation tolerated one of the most "deplorable" moments of its history, in terms of original ideas and sumptuous animations, for that reason, dozens of entertainments released during later dates are currently classified as "not classics". In 1977, house of mouse premiered "Pete's Dragon", directed by Don Chaffey, a story written by Seton. I. Miller, which demonstrates the adherence between nostalgic and sincere friendship with the masterpiece of 1942, "Bambi".

Almost four decades after, Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford and Oakes Fegley try to forge a new start for the celebrated pink-green dragon, nevertheless, despite it increases sweet and soulful charm of the original, it is not enough to equalize the level of excellence of live-action films from the company.

From the ingenious mind that conceived drama-romance of 2013, "Ain ain't Them Bodies Saints", comes a radically dissimilar reconceptualization from ignored commercial flop of Disney, "Pete's Dragon". David Lowery, a man with a few film titles behind him, was contracted together with his favorite co-writer Toby Halbrooks by Walt D. in order to direct and write not only for this sensible remake but also one reinvention more of the hard-hit story of "Peter Pan" with release in 2019.

New Zealand was location selected to recreate the forest, dense of tall and asphyxiating green pines in the original story, the new version does not dispense with the old setup, placing young boy, Pete (Oakes Fegley), within green leafiness after a flamboyant car accident that killed his two parents. Six years later, a forest ranger (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her boyfriend's daughter discover 10-year-old primitive and wild child and decide to take him home to care for him and try to find a safe future. But fidelity of Pete to who helped him to survive in the depth of the forest, confirms the urban legends about a legendary creature that wander around such zone, a dragon, the great green dragon, who now must be rescued of the grips of pernicious loggers.

The fantasy of Lowery abysmally deviates from the original film, keeping in mind that was an animated musical in which Elliot had to protect a helpless orphan. This time, they develop new and even greater aspects in the flood of characters, plot twists, soundtrack and of course special effects. Stone Street Studios is responsible for the restored Elliot, a dragon more domesticated, bigger, more green but less realistic and convincing, since its integration by CGI animation is palpable and we can detail that our fire-spitting friend isn't there. Even so, its tender and adorable appearance immediately connects with the idea of not considering it as something genuinely chimerical, ipso facto associated with a lovable dog or a sweet polar bear.

Despite ostentatious cast it obtained, occasionally a formulaic and slow screenplay does not exploit all the potential of its main leads, simply they limit to faces with expressions of bewilderment, happiness, sadness and hope. Nonetheless, Pete (extremely paging Mogli) can guide the course of all the film with satisfaction, despite his age.

Beyond of its exaggerated educational purpose for kids, the film tries to teach us an ecological lesson to each spectator, especially in reference to the felling of trees and strict protection of everything who harbors there. A trick to discover this function is the connection of Grace and Pete with nature, an irrefutable announcement of environmentalism. In addition, they support its deep-rooted purpose with lush and colorful landscapes used as setups for filming.

It seems that "house of mouse" is running out of ideas. "Pete's Dragon" did not enjoy excessive expectations like other Disney films, and even so, received high grossing at the worldwide box office. So, the period of remakes and reboots continues by money, tradition, love, or creative stagnation; hundreds are coming. And after original ideas become extinct, will they do remakes of remakes? All this is an unfounded success, baseless films that at some point will be destroyed. At least for the time, Pete and his dragon is an acceptable excuse for pay a movie ticket, specifying that sumptuousness and splendor characteristic of the company are not present, it is like a passable indie adventure.