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| Courtesy of Disney |
For
years, I’ve argued that studios have a wrongheaded approach to remakes. Instead
of trying to improve on already solid movies, they should take ideas that
didn’t work the first time around and put a different spin on them. That’s
exactly what Disney has done with Pete’s Dragon, a total reinvention of the
mostly forgettable 1977 original.
Director
and co-writer David Lowery (who penned the script with Toby Halbrooks) takes
the basic plot – an orphan boy befriends a giant green dragon who helps him
though his tough childhood – and weaves a charming tale that’s downright
elegant in its simplicity. There are no earth-shattering stakes or an evil,
dragon-hating conspiracy.
Instead,
for 102 minutes, viewers get to hang out with an endearing CGI creation, a
couple of cute kids and lots of sweet, quirky townsfolk. And, because it’s a
Disney movie about family, love and loss, you’ll probably shed a tear or two.
In
this version, Pete (Oakes Fegley) is a borderline feral child who has lived
most of his life deep in the forest after his parents’ death. Fortunately, he
has a devoted friend and protector in Elliot – a massive, shaggy green dragon
who possesses the personality of a dog, as well as impressive powers like
flight and invisibility.
However,
the pair’s isolated home is soon overrun with humans, both nice and
not-so-nice. The former category includes forest ranger Grace (Bryce Dallas
Howard), her husband Jack (Wes Bentley) and their daughter Natalie (Oona
Laurence). The latter category is mainly comprised of Jack’s reckless brother Gavin
(Karl Urban), who stumbles upon Pete and Elliot while cutting down trees in an
area off-limits to lumber companies.
After
a bump on the head lands Pete in the hospital, he ends up spending a lot of
time with Grace, Jack and Natalie. He also gets to know Grace’s kindly father
(Robert Redford), who has a reputation as the town kook because he’s been
telling people for decades that he saw a dragon in the woods. Now he has
someone else who can back up his story.
Pete
decides to introduce his new friends to Elliot, not realizing that Gavin and
his idiot cronies had their own encounter with the dragon and decided to
capture him. Now it’s a race against time to see who can get to Elliot first.
The
original Pete’s Dragon is primarily remembered for blending live action and
animation at a time when the concept was still novel. That doesn’t cut it these
days, when real performers interacting with computer-generated imagery has
become routine. Instead, Lowery focuses his energy on making the fanciful tale
feel as realistic and lived-in as possible.
On
paper, it seems ridiculous that a dragon could live unnoticed in the Pacific
Northwest wilderness for decades alongside his rambunctious adolescent pal. But
Lowery crafts a world that allows viewers to buy into the concept right away.
It helps that he puts the audience in an emotionally vulnerable state almost
immediately. Pete’s Dragon is a Disney movie, so it’s no spoiler to say that Pete’s
parents don’t stick around very long. But Lowery stages the tragedy in a
stunning, oddly beautiful sequence that makes you care about Pete in a profound
way.
The
film’s characters seem like real people – nearly all of them goodhearted, yet
flawed. Grace, Jack and Natalie are a loving family, but everyone’s struggling
for attention considering both parents work busy jobs with long hours. Grace’s
dad is a kind old man who is aware of his reputation in the community, but he refuses
to lie about his beliefs just to make himself sound less crazy.
Even
the villain is more complex than we’re used to seeing in family movie. He
doesn’t twirl his mustache and he isn’t intent on killing the creature.
Instead, he views it as a P.T. Barnum-esque opportunity to finally emerge from his
more-respected brother’s shadow.
The
performances are strong all around, particularly Howard and Redford, who feel
like a real father and daughter. Fegley and Laurence are also quite good,
avoiding cutesy child actor pitfalls that usually irritate me.
But
perhaps my favorite element of the film is the incredible music. Daniel Hart’s
original score is beautiful and there are several evocative folk songs that
sync perfectly with the rustic, small town environment. The feel reminded me a
lot of Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis.
I’m
not sure if everyone will love Pete’s Dragon – the methodical pacing may
cause the attention spans of younger viewers to wane – but I was surprised by
how quickly I became immersed in this world and how emotionally invested I was
in these characters. Disney is on quite a roll this year, and the studio’s winning
streak doesn’t stop here.
Pete’s
Dragon is rated PG for action, peril and brief language.
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