Pete is left orphaned when his parents are killed in a car crash, he then meets a dragon who becomes his best friend and he names him Elliot. The story is about their adventures together and how everything will change when other humans find Pete living in the woods.
I have to admit that I really was not expecting the start of the film to be so tragic but it certainly hits hard when you see the small boy get out of the car and protect his favorite book in his backpack. Not really sure if him living with the dragon in the woods was a good way to go as we flash forward six years! Very long time for a child who was just learning to read and speak properly to be alone with a big green fury dragon.
I do have to compliment the film for turning out to be much better than I expected. It certainly wasn’t something I originally planned on heading to the cinema to see but when I was seeing positive things about the film I thought I would give it a go. It has plenty to keep you entertained from start to finish. Especially the amusing moments with the dragon which really do make you smile and laugh at times, just because Elliot does not seem to be very clever at all.
Meacham the old man in the closest town to the mountains likes to tell stories and tales about the dragon he once saw. While he is convinced and knows what really happened that day, he adds parts into the story. So maybe the old man isn’t actually as crazy as everyone has claimed? His daughter Grace works in the mountains but she has never seen anything before although she is going to be become a friend to Pete and really help him to adapt when they take him from the mountains.
It was interesting to see how he would communicate and react to being back in the world with other people. Natalie is certainly a good character to really help him as they are around the same age. He was 5 years old when he was left abandoned after the car crash.
Like anything with a monster we are always going to have a group or person leading a group who wants to capture it for self gain. In this story that is Gavin who seems to be the total opposite of his brother Jack and they do not see eye to eye on many things. Gavin sets out to capture the dragon which really does build up for some rather interesting and cool final scenes.
This is certainly the better film for family/children I have seen this year. Although maybe not for tiny children, even though people took them in the screening I was at early on a Sunday evening, someone actually had to leave with a 2/3 year old who was bored and wanted to go home. Sometimes I don’t think people really think about young children and if it is a film to interest them!
Performance wise we do have a very strong cast and that is something that I think helps the film on the whole.
