Saw the remake of Pete’s Dragon from Disney today. A remake of either a forgotten 70s live action Disney movie or a 70s Disney movie you vaguely remember having an animated dragon but might be confusing it with Puff the Magic Dragon. Me? All I can remember is seeing it at lot when I was six years old but only having that memory of the dragon… and I still may be remembering Puff.
Anyhow, this is the 2016 Gritty Reboot of the movie which may or may not follow the plot of the original. I can’t remember. In this movie, a five year old boy and his parents get into a Disney accident and the he parents are, of course, killed (TM). The little boy is found by a friendly CGI dragon who doesn’t talk (did the dragon in the original? I dunno) and looks like a hairy green dog with wings. If you are at all into video games, it almost looks like the film adaptation of The Last Guardian beat the video game to market (only greener).
This is a gentle, sweet, and heart-felt movie that really bored the crap out of me. It’s earnest and it tries real hard but I just wasn’t into it and I’m not sure why. It could be that the relationship between the kid and the dragon isn’t very interesting and isn’t given much screen time. Because the boy is found by a forest ranger and some loggers and taken in… and the movie becomes a kind of touching film about family and finding acceptance. Which is all well and good but the dragon is largely out of the picture and I’m not sure, even if he was in the movie more, if I’d have cared more.
I sound like a real ogre talking about this movie because there’s nothing really wrong with it that I can point to and say, “Ah-ha! Hollywood done messed it up again.” I just didn’t find it interesting so, in all fairness, I can only say that you might. If you are looking for a gentle family movie, this might work out.
Score: 70