Movie Review: Pete's Dragon (2016)

Movie Review: Pete's Dragon (2016)                                                                                    8-13-16

Pete's Dragon was originally a hybrid film released in late 1977, and was about a boy named Pete, who had a pet animated dragon named Elliot. Only Pete could see Elliot, as the other people would view him as invisible. When Dr. Termions (Jim Dale) and Hoagy (Red Buttons) discover Elliot, they want to kill him and make medicine out of his skin. Pete's Dragon is probably one of the weaker Disney movies of the 70s, but was the directorial debut of Don Bluth, who would later leave Disney and create beloved animated classics like The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, and The Land before Time.

 

Nearly 40 years later, there would be another Pete's Dragon, following in the footsteps of live-action Disney remakes of classic movies like Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty (in the form of Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie), Cinderella, and The Jungle Book. In this recreation, a human boy named Pete gets lost in the woods and has his parents killed. He gets rescued by a large, green hairy dragon named Elliot, and lives with him in the forest. Six years later, Pete gets found by a forest ranger team and gets wound up in a hospital. He later meets a girl named Natalie, and learns how to act like a human, while telling Natalie and her parents about Elliot. Meanwhile, Elliot goes searching for Pete, while avoiding being hunted by Gavin and his gang

Now what do I think of this film? I loved it! It's everything a family film should be! It has a heart wrenching story, dazzling CG effects, and a soothing score from Danial Hart. Pete's Dragon is a remake that improves on the original and can be embraced by the whole family, even if the plot does sound familiar.

Rating: 4 and a half stars out of 5.