Pete's Dragon

 A Boy and his Dragon                                                     3/5


Full of Heart
     Though the movie pulls on the heart stings as much as it can, sometimes it works

Perfect Tone
     Pete's Dragon feels like a folklore being retold considering its setting

Original Song
     Something Wild by Lindsey Stirling and The Dragon Song are both standouts

Cinemascore Win!
   As shown below, Pete's Dragon scored a convented A on Cinemascore



Rotten Tomatoes 86%                                   Cinemascore: A

Pete's Dragon is the third live action adaptation of a classic disney story this year, the first of which was the fantastic Jungle Book and the second being the not so fantastic Alice Through the Looking Glass, but whereas The Jungle Book is more or less a direct translation of the classic animated movie (plus or minus a few changes) Pete's Dragon takes a more drastic approach. The plot, the characters, even the setting is changed this time around to adapt the lesser revered Pete's Dragon from 1977, and it works, it works really well. Making Elliot (the dragon) a physical entity gives the whole film a since of magic and wonderment, but unlike many other films, Pete's Dragon allows itself to breath throughout the movie leading to some heartfelt moments. All credit goes to David Lowery for this, you can tell that a lot of care and heart was put into this project, and this summer that's something really refreshing.

Pete's Dragon is a very good film, but their are a few nitpicks here and their I should point out that held the film back from being as great as I think it could have been. For one, the protagonist, Pete isn't all that interesting. We're told throughout the story that Pete is brave, but his actions are more dictated by fear and uncertainty then bravery. Also the rest of the cast outside of Elliot is relatively simple, and can be describe via a few adjectives. It's all not a big deal just holds the film back from being to deep or compelling. Finally like many movies this one also has a weak third act, sure its exciting but considering the tone the film struck with me I would have liked a more subdued climax.

All in all though I really liked Pete's Dragon, more I thought I would when I first heard about this movie. It strikes a near perfect tone, the relationship between Pete and Elliot is handled really well, and the movie can strum up a few feels. If your curious check this one out, if your like me you might be surprised by what you find.