It has to be said I am not the target audience for his film so my opinion is very much moot. Had I been about the same age as the child protagonists I would probably have really liked the film a great deal more than I did.
The first big stumbling block for me was the sense of belief in Elliot himself. A furry cat-like dragon, that chases his tail, he looks very much like Shrek but even more troubling was he dumbish animal or a more sentient being? It seemed to vary from scene to scene. The effects of Elliot were as usual top notch.
Any film with best frowner in the business, Karl Urban, certainly couldn’t be all and bad and overall the cast, including the children, certainly put the effort in – even Bryce Dallas Howard an actor that I have problems felt more accessible and likable in this movie. Despite the tear-jerking premise and the desperate appeal to children the makers were creating there was something slight and soulless about the film. It felt more industrial, churned out of a Disney conveyor belt.
With a stellar adult cast and good child actors, competent special effects it must be said Disney missed the target. Mainly the characterisation of the dragon is the grit in the gears seemingly unsure of his behaviour from moment to moment. A simple error to correct and disappointing more detail seemingly was not given to the main character.
Children of a certain age will like Pete’s Dragon, they will laugh at the sneezing and be scared by the bad adults and cry at the sad scenes – most adults will yearn for home soon after the opening credits.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2017-04-19T19:57:22Z
It has to be said I am not the target audience for his film so my opinion is very much moot. Had I been about the same age as the child protagonists I would probably have really liked the film a great deal more than I did.
The first big stumbling block for me was the sense of belief in Elliot himself. A furry cat-like dragon, that chases his tail, he looks very much like Shrek but even more troubling was he dumbish animal or a more sentient being? It seemed to vary from scene to scene. The effects of Elliot were as usual top notch.
Any film with best frowner in the business, Karl Urban, certainly couldn’t be all and bad and overall the cast, including the children, certainly put the effort in – even Bryce Dallas Howard an actor that I have problems felt more accessible and likable in this movie.
Despite the tear-jerking premise and the desperate appeal to children the makers were creating there was something slight and soulless about the film. It felt more industrial, churned out of a Disney conveyor belt.
With a stellar adult cast and good child actors, competent special effects it must be said Disney missed the target. Mainly the characterisation of the dragon is the grit in the gears seemingly unsure of his behaviour from moment to moment. A simple error to correct and disappointing more detail seemingly was not given to the main character.
Children of a certain age will like Pete’s Dragon, they will laugh at the sneezing and be scared by the bad adults and cry at the sad scenes – most adults will yearn for home soon after the opening credits.