Pete's Dragon (David Lowery, 2016)

[RossyG]

I'm avoiding this film for now as I don't want to encourage more remakes. I loved the original as a kid and loathed the sequel. I haven't seen either in a couple of decades as, unlike some childhood favourites, Ghostbusters is something I liked then but don't feel the urge to ever revisit. The remake won't rape my childhood; I'm waiting for Pete's Dragon 2016 to do that.

You mean the version of Pete's Dragon with universally positive buzz that will be one of the overall best-reviewed movies of the Summer?

Why should a film made 31 years (Ghostbusters) or 39 years (Pete's Dragon) after the original "rape" anyone's childhood?

[...]

I'm pretty sure I saw Pete's Dragon back in 1977 but I honestly can't remember anything significant about it. So if my kids want to see that, I'll happily take them - especially given what seems to have been a very positive reception.

I thought it was obvious that my remark about Pete's Dragon was ironic. Obviously not. I saw the original as a 6-year-old. Loved it, if I remember correctly. Wouldn't watch it now; won't watch the remake. Reason: not a kid any more.

NB. "Rape my childhood" was used seriously by extreme fans about the Star Wars Special Editions in the 90s but is now used exclusively online in a jokey way about remakes and reboots.

[domino harvey]

I might watch the remake because I like Bryce Dallas Howard. I don't know that I like Mickey Rooney enough to watch the original again

[knives]

I rewatched the original about two years ago. It's okay, but only in a Disney live action movie sort of way.

[thirtyframesasecond]

I just remember Pete's Dragon being the only thing I've seen Jim Dale in that wasn't a Carry On film.

[domino harvey]

I didn't realize David Lowery (Ain't These Bodies Saints) wrote and directed this one, and it's getting great reviews even though it looks to be a box office bomb. Did anyone see it?

[swo17]

It's on Jeff's top 10 for the year!

[flyonthewall2983]

Now the wait for how badly Photoshopped Robert Redford will look like on the DVD cover.

[swo17]

I saw a commercial for this the other day where the film proper was framed with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen but the dragon kept flying outside the boundaries of that frame, thus creating the illusion that it was flying slightly outside of my TV but getting stuck after a few inches where my TV ends. Anyway, I vowed in that moment never to watch another movie again for the rest of my life.

[domino harvey]

Didn't realize the S in SLC was for Bathsalts

[knives]

I didn't realize David Lowery (Ain't These Bodies Saints) wrote and directed this one, and it's getting great reviews even though it looks to be a box office bomb. Did anyone see it?

Actually the budget is so low (about 65 mil) that it will probably break even.

[jorencain]

I saw it with my 3 year old daughter this weekend. I may have been putting myself in her headspace while watching, but I thought it was very well-done. The story feels honest and straightforward, not the convoluted mess that lesser kids movies tend to be. I found it to be pretty emotionally powerful, for this kind of thing. The acting is strong all around, and only the "villain" (Karl Urban) feels hokey and shoehorned in to this simple story of a boy in need of a family.

If I didn't watch it with my daughter, my response may have been very different....I can't be objective about it at all.

[therewillbeblus]

This film works on its own legs, but it's even better after seeing Lowery's other films and viewing it as another piece of his ethos, demonstrating just how transferable his themes of interest are across types of projects. While undeniably a children's film, Pete's Dragon is one of the better arguments against myopic atheism, and for an agnostic humility, driven by the adults in the film. Lowery imbues his passion for us to recognize our right-sized place but also utilize our disempowered states as empowerment to notice opportunities we miss by holding on tight to logic of the visible as the only measurement for objective truth. There are miracles, or magic, that exist around us regardless of where they're sourced- the point is that taking a leap of faith to remain open-minded and curious allows us to experience intimacy in novel places we never imagined. The dragon itself is also one of the best uses of animal special effects I've seen, really capturing the emotional range of such an unprecedented beast effortlessly, reminding me that animals and humans share so many characteristics- including our tendencies to embody traits of wildness and domesticity.

The film is also a complex meditation on 'loss', from the physical losses of people or animals that we love, to the more abstract concept of loss pertaining to varying life stages we pass through- and the relationship shifts that consequently occur without our consent but fatalistically from our biopsychosocialspiritual development. Lowery deeply comprehends that the unique potency of value in relationships are not exchangeable across beings we encounter, and so Pete cannot trade Elliot for his human family- the evolution of their relationship remains a powerless loss. Lowery's allowance for this to just 'be' that is both tragic and beautiful, as well as incredibly mature for stalling on this feeling without uncomfortably transitioning to an unearned dilution of dense emotions towards simplified blanket catharsis. One of the best 'children's' movies I've seen in years from one of our wisest working filmmakers.

[crawfrog]

I watched this recently after diving into Lowery's filmography to prepare for The Green Knight, did not expect it to become my favorite film from him but I feel that it's his most accomplished when focusing on his signature ideas of loss and death. The lack of self-seriousness made the pathos come across more genuinely for me. Opening is one of the darkest I've seen from a studio children's film but it's powerful and increases the effectiveness of Pete's relationship to Elliot. I love the intimacy in scenes with Elliot and Pete, specifically the final emotional scene between them and nice touches like Pete falling asleep in Elliot's arms. Plus it's the only Disney live action film I've seen that feels truly magical and adventurous.