PETE'S DRAGON Review — Same Old, Same Old
Pete’s Dragon Review, by Lisa Johnson Mandell
I think the number of sequels and remakes we’ve seen lately is rivaled only by the number of Disney movies that begin with the parents dying and the child being left alone. That’s not a spoiler, it happens in the first five minutes of the film, and I think parents should know about it before they take their young children to see it. I’m not going to lie to you, I’m really, really tired of the same old, same old.
If you’re going to do a reboot, at least add a fresh element like they did with the female casting of Ghostbusters. In the new version of Pete’s Dragon, they did a remake of the original 1977 film and based it in the ’70’s, if my judgement of cars and phones is correct. Perhaps they’re relying on Robert Redford to freshen things up? That’s just wrong on so many levels.
Once I saw a shirtless, long haired kid in tatters cavorting with CGI creatures in the jungle–I mean forest–I couldn’t help but think “This is no Jungle Book.” And about that long hair? Oaks Fegley, the newcomer who plays Pete, was wearing a wig so bad I kept on expecting it to fall off when he was flying on the back of his dragon. C’mon, Disney — you can do so much better!
Now I’m willing to allow in my Pete’s Dragon review that the film does have a tender moment or two. I can’t remember exactly where, though, in this story of a young boy whose parents die while they’re headed to a family vacation in the woods, and he is magically raised by a friendly dragon for six years, until loggers sent to destroy the forest reveal the secret. This is a painfully tired theme as well: adults, big business, modern science, what have you, try to capture the remarkable creature, while the kids try to deliver it from evil. Bet you’ve never seen THAT before.
I just got the feeling that no one, not the screenwriters, the actors, even the CGI folks behind the dragon, really tried very hard. It’s adequate I suppose, just not great.
Rated PG
1 Hour 42 Minutes
Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.
PETE’S DRAGON Review — Same Old, Same Old
