A Boy And His Dragon
BY JONATHAN KANE
The Walt Disney Studios has been on a bit of a roll lately and that continues with their fine new family drama, “Pete’s Dragon,” which harkens back to the studio’s output of the sixties and seventies as well as being set in a pre-cellphone age.
If the title sounds familiar it’s because the studio made a failed film called “Pete’s Dragon” previously. The only thing this one has in common is the title and that it’s a story about a boy and his dragon.
Disney also went outside the box for its choice of director, going with indie filmmaker David Lowery, who wrote the script with Toby Halbrooks and who delivered a film with both special effects and heart. And the effects are special – created by Weta Digital, who constructed a dragon made from 15 million hairs on its coat, but also filled it with the heart and soul of our most beloved animal friends.
The story is set in the logging country of the Pacific Northwest (actually filmed in New Zealand) and is narrated by a wizened old woodcutter (a marvelous Robert Redford) who regales the local kids with the story of a dragon that resides in their woods.
Cut to 5-year-old Pete (Oakes Fegley), on a road trip with his parents, when a deer crosses their path, causing the car to crash and leaving Pete an orphan. Lost in the woods and being chased by wolves, he meets and befriends a 24-foot dragon that he affectionately calls Elliot.
The story picks up six years later as a feral Pete lives an ideal life with Elliot, which life is destroyed when both he and the dragon’s existence are discovered.
Here the story becomes a bit cliché but, thankfully, wraps up with some big heartfelt moments. Sure, the movie is a throwback, but it surprises and moves you in a big way.
Rating: 3 bumblebees