Review of Pete's Dragon (2016) by Greg L — 26 Mar 2017

Surprisingly serious and heavy, given how slapstick the 1977 original was. It was as if they were trying to make a super serious drama out of what really should be a fun, silly story.

Also, it's a very different story from the 1977 original. This isn't really a remake. It's a very different movie with the same title. It doesn't have much in common with the original beyond the basic premise of a boy who makes friends with a dragon who can make himself invisible.

I was impressed with the young actor who played Pete for most of the movie. He made it surprisingly believable. And there was a lot of good acting by other actors too. Weirdly, the only bad acting was by Robert Redford.

No complaints about the CGI; it was very well done. The dragon was about as believable as could be expected.

This movie was well done in every way except that it was just too serious and heavy. This movie needed to be more light and slapstick like the original. Sure, the original movie had its serious moments. But not nearly as much.