Review of Pete's Dragon (2016) by Leon B — 08 Jan 2017

Review:

This is another bad live adaptation of a Disney classic! They definitely should have made the dragon speak, like Dragonheart, and I was surprised that Pete was able to fit into normal life so quickly, after living in the wilderness from 5 to 11 years old, with only a dragon as his companion. Anyway, whilst on a day out with his family, Pete (Oakes Fegley) survives a fatal car crash, which kills his parents and leaves him stranded in the wilderness. Out of nowhere, a big Green dragon saves Pete from a pack of wolves, and they instantly become the best of friends. From there, I would have liked to have seen how there friendship developed but the director chose to jump six years into the future, were Pete hears construction workers, chopping down some trees. He is soon gets noticed by Natalie (Oona Laurence) who points him out to her mum, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) and they decide to take him in. Whilst getting used to normal life, construction worker, Gavin (Karl Urban) sights the dragon, and he instantly sees it as his enemy, so he tries to capture the friendly giant, with his fellow workers. Pete, who named the dragon Elliott, misses his close friend very much, and Elliott constantly seeks for him in the night. When he finally finds him, he see's that he has settled with his new family, so he goes back into the wilderness longing for his close friend to find his way back to him. Meanwhile, Gavin is adamant about catching the dragon, so he continues to try and find Elliott, even though he has the ability to disappear. Anyway, Grace decides to take Pete to see his dragon, with her daughter Natalie, and her father, Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), who tells stories to little children about seeing the dragon when he was in the woods. Meanwhile, Grace's boyfriend Jack (West Bentley), who happens to be Gavin's brother, gets a note from Gavin saying that they are going to the woods to hunt for Elliott, so they all head out to the wilderness with different intentions. After Gavin finally achieves his goal, Pete & Natalie fight to save Elliott, with the help of Mr. Meacham, and Pete soon realises that Elliott can only survive if he sets him free. A weird but magical tale of a sweet relationship between a dragon and a little boy, who lost his whole world at such a young age. Personally, I think this movie was a bit too serious, and with all of the technology that is available nowadays, the dragon didn't look that spectacular. I also wasn't that impressed with the plot, which seemed weak and lacked wit, and I did find the little boy slightly annoying. Anyway, it's worth a watch, because of the touching relationship between Pete & Elliott but it could have been much better. Average!

Round-Up:

Although this movie made a profit at the box office, I personally think that people rushed to see it because it was based on the Disney classic, which doesn't mean that it's a great film. All of the actors put in a decent performance but Robert Redford seemed a bit distant throughout the film, which was surprising for such a veteran in the game. Anyway, this movie was written and directed by David Lowery, who also brought you Deadroom in 2005, St. Nick and Ain't Them Bodies Saints. I'm surprised that David was given such a huge project, because he hasn't actually had that much success in the directing chair. That's not to say that he done a bad job with this movie but I really think that it needed an experienced director to bring this magical story to the big screen. Anyway, is a great film to watch on a family day out but I was expecting more of a spectacular visual experience.

Budget: $65million.

Worldwide Gross: $142million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their adventure/family/fantasy movies, starring Bryce Dallas Hoard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley, Oona Lawrence, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Marcus Henderson and Aaron Jackson. 4/10.