Pete’s Dragon is a quiet, patient fantasy that drops the songs and replaces them with dread. David Lowery directs from a script he wrote with Toby Halbrooks, and the result is a film that respects its source material — the 1977 tale — while building its own mood and stakes.
The story follows Grace, a forest ranger, as she investigates Pete, a 10-year-old boy who claims to live in the woods with a giant green dragon named Elliott. The premise is simple: Pete was abandoned as a child, raised in the forest by Elliott, and Grace must decide whether to believe him. Lowery uses the setting of the Pacific Northwest to keep the world close and grounded, and the film never loses sight of that balance between wonder and terror.
Robert Redford plays Mr. Meacham, the old wood carver whose tales of the dragon have long been dismissed as fantasy in the town. Grace, his daughter, is played by Bryce Dallas Howard, and Oakes Fegley plays Pete with a quiet, unassuming presence that carries the film’s emotional weight.
Trailer, via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers.
The Dragon Himself
The film’s real star is Elliot the Dragon, voiced by John Kassir. His design is a large, green, winged creature with yellow eyes, and his presence is both gentle and overwhelming. When Elliott appears, the film shifts from a small, human story to something closer to a fairy tale, and the film handles that shift with grace.
Gavin and the Town’s Fear
Gavin, played by Karl Urban, drives the film’s second half. A hunter and lumberjack, his pursuit of Pete and Elliott pushes the story forward. Wes Bentley plays Jack, the lumber mill owner and Natalie’s father, who is caught between his business and his conscience, and Oona Laurence plays Natalie, the young girl who first encounters Pete. Together, they form the human drama that Elliott’s existence complicates.
Performance and Pace
The performances are strong across the board. Dallas Howard is steady as Grace, Redford’s Mr. Meacham is warm and commanding, and Fegley’s Pete is a believable, damaged child. The film’s tone is uneven: it spends long stretches slowly building dread, then cuts to scenes of gentle wonder, and sometimes the two feel like different movies. But the film commits fully to both, and that commitment is part of its appeal.
The Verdict
Pete’s Dragon is a remake that earns its place. It takes a beloved children’s story and makes it darker, more grounded, and more emotionally complex. The film’s runtime is 103 minutes, and it moves at a deliberate pace that some viewers will find slow, while others will find immersive.
Key facts box
– Runtime: 103 minutes
– Genres: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
– Directed by: David Lowery
– Written by: David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks
– Box office: $143.7 million worldwide against a $65 million budget
The film is not perfect. Its pacing is uneven, but it commits to both dread and wonder with equal force. Pete’s Dragon earns its place.
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