Pete's Dragon

We've all seen fantasy films that Hollywood has produced for decades--the list, suffice it to say, is limitless. And even though we've also seen a plethora of reboots in just the last 10+ years, some can be deemed as successes even though we'd like to think that a reboot is just a way out of originality. One of the most recent successes of a reboot I've seen was "Ghostbusters" which surprised me tenfold. So when I realized that Disney was rebooting their classic animated film, "Pete's Dragon" into a live version, I hesitated and then went to see it and I was amazed.

After his parents are killed in a car accident, a young boy named Pete (Oakes Fegley) finds an unlikely caregiver in the form of a dragon (whom he dubs "Elliot) living in a forest in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest. Years later, a forest ranger, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) discovers Pete and takes him in. But his attempts to adjust to a normal life are complicated by a logger, Gavin (Karl Urban) who subsequently sees Elliot and decides to hunt him down. Even though Pete is eventually supported by Grace's husband, Jack (Wes Bentley), their daughter, Natalie (Oona Laurence) and Grace's father, Meacham (Robert Redford), living in a civilized setting simply proves inhospitable and impossible for Elliot to survive. What will it take to reunite this gentle giant and Pete--the only family Elliot has ever known?

Others to round out the cast are Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Sheriff Gene Dentler, Marcus Henderson as Woodrow, Aaron Jackson as Abner, Phil Grieve as Bobby and Steve Barr as Deputy Smalls.

This was certainly directed with such passion and compassion by David Lowery ("Deadroom" '05, "St. Nick" '09, "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" '13) plus shorts and TV. This filmmaker definitely can't be blamed in directing similar fare as with a lot of his directing counterparts. By his very resume, this guy is a chameleon, which takes a lot of guts, especially in this day and age of huge budgets and a good deal of politics in Hollywood these days. His ability to get his actors to emit a right amount of emotion without coming across as sappy was executed well. If you want to see this guy's true ability of fine directing, watch his "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" which is superb. It was equally written well by Lowery and Toby Halbrooks (shorts). Even though Halbrooks has limited experience at the laptop, this script was cohesive, well thought out and tight, especially with Lowery's experience. If you want to see more from these filmmakers, another version of "Peter Pan" has been announced for 2018 which is directed by Lowery and written by Lowery and Halbrooks. Truly, another version of "Peter Pan" is something we need like a hole in the head, but with these two guys spearheading it, I would be interested in seeing what they could do with a story that's been done and redone a bazillion times.

Unless one has absolutely no element of heart, this has got to touch even the most cynical. It has heart, adventure, redemption and reconciliation all because of this fantastical creature otherwise known as Elliot. Kudos to Disney and especially Lowery and Halbrooks for allowing this film to come to life.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                     Rated: PG                                      108mins.