Pete's Dragon: Movie Review

Pete’s Dragon: This Dragon Has a Heart of Gold!

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Reviewer’s Thumb Mark

David Lowery’s film Pete’s Dragon is a story of two unlikely friends and their bonding, reunion and letting go. It makes you teary eyed at some moments and make you realize the importance of caring and compassion. Both Pete (Levi Alexander) and the Dragon lovingly named by Pete as Elliot, after his story book character, bonds well and in the process of this beautiful unraveling of their friendship on screen we too fall in love with them and would want them to stay together forever. Some relationship stays forever, time and space cannot change them and Pete’s Dragon is one such story that keeps you enchanted.

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The Disney remake does share the same title with the 1977 animated classic family adventure.  Co-written by David Lowery and Toby Halbrooks, the film opens with a journey of a lovely couple with their small kid, which they call an adventure, meets with a mishap. In this car accident the only survivor is the small 5 year-old kid who finds himself in the middle of deep woods. Clutching to his small bag which contains his story book ‘Elliot Gets Lost’, with wide open eyes and petrified, Pete is surrounded by a pack of wolves ready to pounce upon him. As told by his mother just before the mishap, Pete is a brave heart. To his astonishment the pack of wolves run for cover and he finds a humongous green-colored creature emerge behind him – A Dragon. Probably, he might not even know what the creature is known as, so he with his limited vocabulary lovingly names his benefactor as ‘Elliot’. Pete and Elliot belong to two different worlds but still bonds well because there exists between them a language of love, compassion, care and friendship. Both lost from their dear ones find solace in each other.

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Lost in the woods for 6 years Pete finally sights Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) a lady forest ranger and a group of people from a lumber company in his new found haven. The peaceful and secured life he had with Elliot is disturbed and challenged by human presence. Elliot’s insecurity and Pete’s happiness as well as fear of meeting people like him are beautifully portrayed. We go through a wholly of emotions while we watch this wonderful Disney film; we don’t want Pete to remain in the woods but at the same time we don’t want him to get separated from his dear friend Elliot. We try to figure out whether it is possible for Pete and Elliot to be together as well as Pete live a normal life like any other kid in the city?

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Elliot is majestic, it flies with its huge wings spread out over the lush green forest, it fades out the moment it sense the presence of humans and expresses its vulnerability of losing his dear friend Pete, and it is protective and playful. Robert Redford as Mr. Meacham the old man who has seen dragons and enjoys telling stories about them to kids is awesome. He tells that it is not necessary that we need to see and experience everything to believe, there are some thing in life even without experiencing can be believed. His daughter Grace tells her 10 year-old daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence) that she has explored the length and breadth of the woods and has never come across this mythical being and therefore, urges not to take her Grandpa seriously. Wes Bentley as Jack, fiancé of Grace and the business partner of his brother Gavin (Karl urban) plays a man who understands and believes what his fiancé tells – ‘We need to protect and care for everything in the forest’. On the contrary, Gavin is an ambitious man who would like to display his catch ‘the invincible Dragon’ to the world and thump his chest.

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In short, Pete’s Dragon is going to take a special place in your list of films you have watched till date and I am sure would be recommended by you to your friends to watch. And I would like you to go ahead and watch this beautiful Disney film to find out what happens to Elliot? Does this Dragon who has its heart at the right place fall prey to heartless men? What happens to Pete? Does he decide to stay back with his benefactor and mighty protector? Don’t miss the fun, grab a ticket and munch your favorite flavored popcorn to see a reel CGI Dragon which appears to be really real!

Life Connoisseur Movie Rating: 3.5/5

Cast: Oakes Fegley & Levi Alexander (Pete), Bryce Dallas Howard (Grace), Was Bentley (Jack), Karl Urban (Gavin), Oona Laurence (Natalie), Robert Redford (Meacham), John Kassir (Voiceover for Elliot the Dragon)

Genre: Animation (Kid’s & Family Film)

Director: David Lowery

Screenplay: David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks

Based on:  Pete’s Dragon by Malcolm Marmorstein

Music by: Daniel Hart

Cinematography: Bojan Bazelli

Edited by: Lisa Zeno Churgin

Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures, Whitaker Entertainment

Release Date: 19th August, 2016

Duration: 102 Minutes

Language: English