Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace, who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales... until she meets Pete, a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete's descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham's stories. With the help of Natalie, an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.
Pete's Dragon (2016) is a warmhearted remake that improves on its 1977 source material by grounding the story in a more naturalistic, emotionally resonant Pacific Northwest setting. The plot is simple but functional — a feral child, a gentle dragon, a community learning to accept the unknown — and executed with genuine heart, though it follows a predictable arc with few surprises. Acting is solid across the board; Oakes Fegley is charming as Pete and Robert Redford lends quiet gravitas, while the ensemble is competent if unremarkable. Cinematography captures the lush Pacific Northwest forest beautifully, with Bojan Bazelli's work giving the film a soft, storybook quality that suits the tone. Novelty is limited — despite its gentle reimagining, the film remains a straightforward live-action family fantasy remake with little that distinguishes it beyond its aesthetic warmth; the beats are familiar and the villain conflict is thin. The ending resolves too neatly and rushes through its emotional payoffs, leaving Elliott's farewell feeling undercooked relative to the bond the film worked to establish.