Movie Review: Pete's Dragon

There has been an absence of good family adventure movies of late but Disney's "Pete's Dragon" surely fills in that gap. Based on the 1977 Disney live animation musical of the same name, 2016 gives it's own spin with impressive (as always) CGI from Weta, oh you know, the guys behind "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". It was interesting how they brought the eponymous "Elliot" (Pete's Dragon) on the big screen. Considering he is unlike lost dragons, you see, Elliot is a 28 foot green furry-yup, you read that right, -furry dragon.

At first, I wasn't so sure about the whole "furry dragon" bit, but then I was reminded of "Falcor" the lucky dragon from the 1984 fantasy adventure "The Neverending Story", Falcor actually looked more like a dog that a dragon, so okay I can dig the "furry dragon". The things about Elliot is that he grows on you, he's so damn cute, you'd have a heart of stone not to have a soft spot for him. As I was watching the movie, he also reminded me a green "Sully" (from "Monster's Inc."). 

I can't help but think that Weta worked on the greedy, ruthless Smaug, (a dragon of a different kind) on the "The Hobbit" and then had to go 360 with Elliot. I remember seeing a feature on creating Smaug, that each scale was unique and different. I'm sure they gave the same attention to detail, because Elliot was really, really furry. 

Sorry, I think I got carried away there, let's go back to the story shall we?

Robert Redford is grandfather goals in "Pete's Dragon". 

(Ahem). In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, there are stories of a big green dragon, with eyes as red as hell-fire, as told by an old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) -who looks really old in the film by the way but has that sweet grandfather vibe so still heartwarming. For years he has delighted the local children with his stories. My guess is that the movie was also set in the 1970's, which is why children still gathered around for tales about dragons and didn't have their faces in front of hand held devices, which was refreshing. 

While the kids were entertained, Grace (the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard) Mr. Meacham's daughter isn't so keen about these stories, she should know since she works as a park ranger in the woods. That is of course, until she meets Pete, (impressive acting from Oakes Fegley) a mysterious ten year old, who reminds you of "The. Jungle Book's" Mowgli, he is dirty, has overgrown hair, is dressed in scraps of cloth and can sure run fast and climb trees.

Grace takes Pete to town supposedly to turn him over to Social Services but she is surprised at Pete's claims of living in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliot and based on the description, Elliot seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham's stories. 

Rounding up the cast of humans is. Natalie (Oola Laurence) the eleven year old daughter of Jack (Wes Bentley) who owns the local lumber mill. Personally, it's nice to see Bentley in a role, where he's not a psychotic killer (American Horror Story: Hotel), Jack shares mill duties with his shoot-now-think-later brother. Gavin, (Karl Urban). We love Karl Urban as "Bones" in the new "Star Trek" movies, so to see him play the comedic antagonist was rather refreshing.

Karl Urban is not your likeable "Bones" in "Pete's Dragon". 

Speaking of comedic, I love the subtle humor in the film - such as police standard operating procedures when it comes to pursuing dragons and even a golden moment when a patient falls of a gurney. I know, I know, that was mean but super hilarious, without trying too hard which makes it effective. 

I would have loved to see more badass in Grace, her character seemed like a perfect godmother in the story, it was hard for me to ground her, yeah the throwing of keys was nice but I would have wanted more of that. I would have also preferred for the last shot of the movie, to just be Pete looking up and just having that implication that Elliot was there, and then end with a big blackout with Pete's face happy, amazed and maybe just a hint of a dragon's shadow in the end, but then again, that's just me.

7 out of 10. The heart of the film, isn't about the existence of dragons but the love of family, even if you don't have the same blood flowing in your veins or even if you're covered in green fur. It's more than just the story of "a boy and his dragon" but a beautiful story about finding our families and keeping them and in these trying times, we need more of these. 

Pete's Dragon is in cinemas September 07. Photos courtesy of "Walt Disney Pictures" 

Movies: CREATING ELLIOTT: “PETE'S” AMAZING, GREEN “DRAGON”

Because dragons are often depicted as vicious, scaly, lizard-like creatures and rarely shown as approachable, friendly or heroic, the appearance and personality of Elliott – the titular creature in Disney's “Pete's Dragon” – were the focus of countless meetings between the filmmakers and special effects firm, Weta Digital.

While Elliot is entirely computer-generated, he is still a fully-fledged character in the story, and someone whom the central character, Pete—and hopefully the audience—grow to care for a great deal. Elliot’s presence allows Pete to be able to figure out what he needs, in a narrative sense, and he instinctively understands what's missing in Pete’s life and that hebelongs somewhere else.

A key objective from day one was to really sell the idea of afriendship between a child and an animal and to show how special that bond can be. But writer/director David Lowery wanted audiences at first to be uncertain about Elliot and his intentions.

Says castmember Bryce Dallas Howard, “Elliot is not like other dragons. He’s playful and innocent and the ultimate best friend, and all he really wants is a family. He is absolutely massive and has a really ominous presence and has the ability to be fierce and breathe fire and fly, but he is also tender and warm and nurturing and protective.”

For the film’s Oscar® nominated visual effects supervisor, Weta Digital’s Eric Saindon (“The Hobbit” films and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy), it presented him with quite a challenge. He explains, “It’s easy to make dragons look scary and it’s easy to make them look cartoony, but we didn’t want either of those for this dragon. We wanted him to have a lot of character so that everyone comes out of the theater in love with him.”

“Elliot has a personality which is unique in terms of dragons we have seen on screen before,” adds producer Jim Whitaker. “Sometimes we see him as potentially dangerous, but other times he isabsolutely lovable.”

Instead of the scaly reptile look, Lowery wanted to go in the complete opposite direction and asked Weta to come up with designs for an entirely new dragon. “David wanted more of a mammalian-looking creature, albeit, one that was very large,” says Saindon.

Saindon and the team at Weta began their creative process by reviewing many different species in the animal kingdom to analyze their movements. “We based our animation, in part, on references to animals like dogs, cats, lions and monkeys,” he says, “But we also felta certain obligation to honor the animated Elliot from the 1977 original film in some ways.”

“Elliot has a very distinct look in the original film, including an enormous jaw,” says Lowery, “And there was something about his design and that characteristic specifically, that I really liked. And I wanted him to be furry…very furry.”

Lowery continues, “He's fantastical, he's exaggerated, and he doesn't feel like something that belongs in this world. But at the same time, he has enough qualities that are recognizable so that you accept him as a character and as an animal and as this magical creature as well. He functions on all of those levels, so his design was really more about simplification so that nothing would get in the way of feeling like he belongs in the world of the movie.”

In the end, Elliot turned out to be an approximately 24-foot tall, green, furry dragon that can breathe fire, turn invisible and melt your heart. “Elliot is a big, boisterous playful dragon, but he also has a very quiet and sensitive side that really does come through on screen,” says Lowery.

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 07, “Pete's Dragon” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Like us on Facebook, WaltDisneyStudiosPH; follow us on Twitter, @disney_phil; follow us on Instagram, @disney.ph and use the hashtag #PetesDragon.

I just realized that Elliot reminds me of Falkor, the lucky dragon in the 1984 film "The Neverending Story" -I know. I know, I'm old.