Pete's Dragon (2016) - Lowery plays Disney remake safe

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Newcomer Oakes Fegley (This Is Where I Leave You (2014)) looks comfy on this poster for David Lowery's Pete's Dragon

 

As a 5 year-old boy, Pete loses his parents in a tragic car crash and survives in the following 6 years as the friend of the forest's secret dragon, whom he names Elliot. Then discovery of the two occurs.

 

Pete's Dragon is a remake of the same-titled, part-animated 1977 Disney hit musical, written by Toby Halbrooks (Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), producer) and co-writer-director David Lowery (St. Nick (2009)).

It is recommended to watch it with kids, because they might have a stronger, more wondrous reaction to it than adults who have seen other, better films. Disney and Jon Favreau's great The Jungle Book (2016) is a recent boy-centered, part-animated adventure that it is best not to remember too clearly when consuming the milquetoast cousin, Pete's Dragon. If you have seen E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), it inevitably comes to mind in connection with Pete's Dragon, and that comparison hurts the film even more. - The short end of it is that Pete's Dragon isn't up to snuff with those films. It isn't as funny and it isn't as dramatic or intense either.

 

But it is a sweet enough story, and dragon Elliot is a thoroughly well-animated, obviously dog-based creature and the best part of the film. - Who wouldn't want to have him for a friend, and believe that dragons like him might be out there in the woods? Pete's Dragon boasts a nice interest in the outdoors, which it should be commended for. Everything that gets kids (and adults) away from screens and exhaust fumes and out in nature is welcome in 2016.
Contributing to the soggy quality of the adventure is the performances: While Fegley is a sweet enough boy, Lowery has chosen a girl counterpart with grotesquely oversized eyes, which seems like a cheap gimmick, (unless the girl goes on to become an accomplished actress in which case I would be shown wrong).) Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World (2015)) has put on some maternal pounds but her acting is wooden in parts of the film. Robert Redford (Truth (2015)) is a dragon-believing dad to her, and if you're like me, you'll sit through his scenes mostly thinking about what a prune he is turning into by now, (and feeling sort of bad about it, naturally.) Karl Urban (Star Trek Beyond (2016)) plays the possessive, moronic villain, who isn't really a villain. If you've seen and felt emotionally powerful children/family movies before, the softness and lack of emotional depth in Pete's Dragon will disappoint. It seems played safe in a way, and in its unclearly time-dislocated, (it is 1977 and '83, the Wikipedia summary informs), uncompelling way, parts of it depressed me a bit.

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: 65 mil. $

Box office: 135.8 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say (but looks like a flop)

[Pete's Dragon premiered August 8 (Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre) and runs 102 minutes. Disney announced its 'title-only' (meaning that only the title and basis of a boy and a dragon is kept) remake plans in 2013. Michael C. Hall was first cast in what became Urban's tree lugger role. Filming took place on location in New Zealand from January - April 2015. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Suicide Squad and new release Sausage Party, to a 21.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent 4 weeks in the top 5 and grossed 75.1 mil. $. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK with 6.4 mil. $ and Australia with 5.1 mil. $. The film has yet to open in one important market: Japan, where it opens December 23. Pete's Dragon is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pete's Dragon?