Pete’s Dragon – Film Review by Emily Elphinstone

Director: David Lowery
Writers: David Lowery (screenplay), Toby Halbrooks (screenplay)
Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley

Most of us grew up with timeless Disney films that were as harrowing as they were entertaining. They will stay with us and each generation of new fans, forever. But in recent years, some of Disney’s output has seemed a little too ‘cutesy’, playing it safe by appealing to the masses, and steering characters and storylines away from too much danger. They shouldn’t worry, we can take it: We’ve seen Bambi.

Luckily the studio seems to have turned a corner; and though many of their current releases are remakes of previous films, they show originality in their style, depth, and choice of creative teams. So it is with new release Pete’s Dragon; a complete re-imagining of the trippy 1977 animation/live-action mélange, with the relatively unknown director David Lowery (best known for 2013’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) at the helm.

It’s never a good sign for characters’ safety, when a film starts with a rose-tinted car trip for a young family heading out on an adventure. Sure enough, only minutes later (after a beautifully shot slow-motion image of Pete in his car seat as the family car flies through the air) the little boy is the only survivor, and is chased into the woods by wolves, armed with only his red backpack and favourite book ‘Elliot Gets Lost’. Luckily the next ‘monster’ to appear from the darkness is actually a fellow lost soul: a dragon he names Elliot, whose dog-like face and green fluffy coat has echoes of Falkor, the much loved luckdragon from The NeverEnding Story.

Cut to a few year’s later, and Pete (Oakes Fegley) and Elliot are very much at home with each other, spending their days playing hide and seek (for which Elliot, with his powers of invisibility, seems to have an unfair advantage), and flying through the wilderness, like a modern Mowgli. That is until Pete’s curiosity is peaked by a sighting of Natalie (Oona Laurence) whose over-zealous Uncle Gavin (Karl Urban) has ignored lumber-mill owner Jack (Wes Bentley)’s orders, and started logging deep into protected woodland. Once spotted, Pete is quickly dragged away from his adopted home and returned to ‘civilisation’, while Elliot is hunted down. There may be a classic division of ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’, but the themes of protecting the environment, and believing in more than what you can see are not overplayed. Wholesome ranger Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her wise father Meacham (the magical Robert Redford) are just what you’d wish for as the guardians of the old ways of life, and the film avoids excess exposition, in favour of showing the audience just what they need to know for the full experience.

Pete’s Dragon may be more traditional than other family films appearing on the scene, but the focus on story and performance rather than special effects (though Elliot is created flawlessly) is refreshingly engaging. With echoes of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Pete’s Dragon is an emotional rollercoaster, which has the power to be enjoyed for much longer than its much-loved but thoroughly dated predecessor.