“Pete’s Dragon” movie review

Disney’s recent wave of making live action versions of many of its animated classics seems to be working well for them – the brilliant “The Jungle Book” was a highlight of this year. And now they seem to have another success with “Pete’s Dragon” which, though not as dazzling as “The Jungle Book”, hits the right note.

A young Pete is traveling with his parents when they have an accident – his parents die as the vehicle they’re in crashes in the jungle and Pete is protected by a dragon who is hiding there. Six years later, Pete (Oakes Fegley) and the dragon (whom he has named Elliott) are inseparable. When a lumberjack crew start cutting down their forest, Pete befriends Natalie (Oona Laurence), who is the foreman’s daughter; and is taken to the city by a kind ranger Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard). Trouble ensues when Gavin (Karl Urban), a member of the crew, spots Elliott. As Pete connects with the family that has taken him, Gavin and his crew are trying to capture Elliott.

The main positive of Pete’s Dragon is the simplicity of its story telling. At a time when CGI is overused and movies are filled with excessive visuals and action sequences that assault and overload our senses, it’s a refreshing change of pace for a movie to focus on the story and relationships and let the showy CGI take a backseat. The movie is almost serene in its pacing. The relationship between Pete and Elliott, and the subsequent relationships between the human characters, is developed nicely. It also helps that there are some very capable actors who deliver solid, understated performances.

That isn’t to say that the CGI and special effects are unimpressive. The choice to have the dragon more like a puppy than as the vicious looking creatures we have come to expect after being exposed to Smaug and the dragons from “Game of Thrones” is actually a very bold one, and it works well. The action scenes towards the end of the movie are also done well.

The movie touches upon themes like friendship, family, the importance of believing, and even topics like deforestation, animal endangerment and how our prejudices make us do the wrong things. But ultimately, it’s about the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you watch a movie that just makes you smile. The movie may not be for everyone – though the kids will love it, many adults are sure to get impatient watching it. For me though, the movie works. After a long day, this is just the kind of movie to soothe your nerves – and that is a win for me.