Splatter: on FILM

In this sloppy remake, poor Pete tries to redeem the tragic ills of the first Disney film but falls short as the boy who befriends a luck dragon.More Monsters Inc.‘s Sully than an Elliot dragon, he burbles drunkenly but somehow transfers his thoughts through contact with his fur. How very Super 8 of them. He also breathes fire when he gets angry, but almost kills Bryce Dallas Howard and Wes Bentley in the process.One of Pete’s Dragon‘s fatal flaws had to lie in casting: Karl Urban plays the nicest bad guy, Bentley gives off disinterested dad vibes, Howard sadly looked constipated for most of the film, and Redford must have filmed his short scenes all in about a day.Sadly the magic of this film was mostly lost in long, streaming dialogue, kid-film slapstick, and overly dramatized pauses. Those lingering gazes of wonder at the empty sky must have made for long days of filming and a lot of hopeful discussions with CG artists. Not even the interspersed narration by Robert Redford himself could heal the dragon’s lackluster character.