Review: Pete's Dragon

I remember the 1977 original well as I used to see fairly often when I was a kid. I remember it being fun and having that Disney magic. It also had some musical numbers, which was the norm back then.

I was a bit unsure when this was announced as I felt the original was of its time and that the transition into 2016 would not work. But in the people involved in front and behind the camera gave me hope that we could have a respectable re-make.

It ends up being that. The tone, story and message that it sends out may have been done a thousand times before. But is that a bad thing, no. It remains to be a solid watch as its heart is in the right place and it has an old school feel to it which was refreshing to see.
It almost had a feel of early Spielberg to it, especially in the final act, and also had a similar tone to a lot of Robert Redford's directed films. So I could definitely the potential of a really good film in here, rather than just a decent film.

I was impressed by the cast that they got for this and they all did their roles fairly well. Oakes Fegley was really good as Pete and does look a lot like the kid who played Pete in the original which was pretty cool. Oakley was quite a draw and very believable. Bryce Dallas Howard was classy and definitely was well suited in the tone of the film and felt like a warm character. I felt Robert Redford had a nice screen presence and you felt safe every time he was on screen.
I was really happy to see Karl Urban as he seems to be great in anything that he does. Like Dallas Howard, he fitted into the tone of the movie really well and played a solid villain (of sorts). I was also great to see Oona Laurence again in a role after her brilliant performance in Southpaw last year. As for Wes Bentley, he was completely underused and anyone could have done that role and it would not have changed my opinion on the film.

I felt the design of Elliot the dragon was quite good. I liked the look, the personality, he made me laugh and on the whole is a really cute and sweet character.

Most of my negatives are minor. The pacing felt too slow for me, especially in the first act. It felt as if they did not have enough of a story to fill the duration and decided to just stretch it out. It is hard to compare it with the original. But I felt the characters in this one were not as memorable nor as well developed. There was also less fun I felt.
But my big negative with it came in the very final scene. I obviously won't spoil me. But it just felt wrong in what they did in the end and in the end just did not make sense at all.

It goes at a gentle pace and has a simple story that everyone can follow. Kids aged between 5 and 7 will probably get the most enjoyment out of it. But it is first and foremost, a nice, heartfelt and pleasant family film that everyone can get on board with.

Rating: 7/10