PETE'S DRAGON
Directed by David Lowry
Screenplay by David Lowry and Toby Halbrooks
Based on screenplay and or characters by Malcom Marmorstein; Seton I Miller; and S.S. Field
Starring: Robert Redford; Bryce Dallas Howard; Oakes Fegley; and Oona Laurence
A remake of the 1977 film following a orphaned boy Pete (Fegley) living in the woods with his best friend Elliot who happens to be a dragon.
I will get to it right away..........this is a wonderful, sweet, magical film.
Positives:
It is much better than the 1977 version. They moved the time period. They shortened it. And they also had the use of Computer animation which helps.
Speaking of which the look of Elliot the dragon is just fantastic. His movements are kind of clumsy and rough but he seems so soft and almost comfy.
In fact Disney is having a good year with the look of the live action films, Jungle Book and this film. Just beautiful.
The acting:
Oakes Fegley as Pete is believable and real. He crouches down almost like Tarzan. He is in almost every scene and he is not great but he is, I guess serviceable, and like noted, believable..
Bryce Dallas Howard as Grace the Ranger who finds Pete. She plays the part as almost us. I mean, she sees what we see and reacts like we react and learns while we learn. She becomes us the viewer and comes across as kind and a little tough also. Very believable.
Oona Laurence as Natalie, Grace's daughter, gives another wonderful performance. Like her performance in last years Southpaw (She stole the movie) and this years Bad Moms she is a star in waiting and proves it again here.
Robert Redford as Meacham. This is a small role for him, but you can see why he took it. His part is well written and his voice serves as the "Old Timer" voice, telling the story in a remarkable calm way that differs from what we see. I mean it is a DRAGON. He is all in as the calming rational voice of the film.
The bad:
Again a parents death..............Disney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also the Dragon looks so good it could be scary for little ones during specific parts of the film.
Wes Bentley is in this film as Jack and is under used. It is Wes Bentley!! They could not find more for him???!!
Karl Urban as Gavin, the bad guy you might say in the film, looks like he is sleep walking. It may be because his character is not developed very much. Not many characters are fully developed in this film. The film rightfully so keeps the time down by just focusing on the background of Meacham the story teller and of course Pete. However...I think a bad guy should always be developed more. In fact that is a theme this summer ....see Ghostbusters and/or Suicide Squad. Underdeveloped bad guys/girls.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 for the wonderful great looking family film Pete's Dragon. What a surprise.
Maybe the best...;. animated or not.... family film of the year.
As always thanks for your time from the shadows.
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