Pete's Dragon

I'm not going to lie. Disney's "Pete's Dragon" is not totally original. Oh, sure, it's based on their 1977 part live action/ part animated musical of the same name, so that pretty much assures you it's not. But the story - about a boy and his best friend, who happens to be a dragon - has thematically been seen time and time again. While there have always been "a boy and his dog" stories, the most obvious retelling of that story is Spielberg's "E.T." But since then we've also had "The Iron Giant," "Harry and the Hendersons" and even "Big Hero 6," among many more. So when you go to this film - and you really should - don't expect to be overwhelmed by something brand new.

What you can be overwhelmed by is the remarkable cinematography by Bojan Bazelli, its wonderfully touching story, and performances that make us believers. Written (with Toby Halbrooks) and directed by David Lowery (who directed the elegant film "Ain't Them Bodies Saints"), this take is so lovingly handled that it makes you long for a time when movies were as simple and simply beautiful as this one.

The film opens with a horrific tragedy that is handled both poetically and delicately by Lowery. It quickly explains why a little boy named Pete could get lost in the woods and remain there for six years on his own. When we cut to six years later, Pete (Oakes Fegley) is a ten-year-old boy running through the forest like Mowgli along with his best friend - a green, furry dragon he's named Elliot. The two have become fast friends and live a fun, adventurous life together.

But as happens in these stories, there is trouble afoot with developers Gavin (Karl Urban) and Jack (Wes Bentley) about to bulldoze some of the forest for their benefit. This brings Jack's Park Ranger fianc�e Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) into the woods, where eventually she and Jack's daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence) discover the boy. There, they try to piece together where he came from and figure out who his "friend" Elliot is.

I won't reveal any more plot points - not because all of them are surprises because let's face it, most of them are fairly standard for this sort of affair - but because even in its familiarity, there is a magic to them.

Not everything gels here, which might be a result of studio involvement, so you have to let some things go. For example, Pete is lost at age four, yet when he is reintroduced to society, he is bafflingly surprised by balloons, fascinated by the sponginess of a couch cushion, and unsure what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is. While it might make some sense that he has lost all memory of his previous life, these things would probably trigger memories, and he wouldn't be as fish-out-of-water as they make him. The other misfire here is the family dynamic of Grace, Jack, and Natalie, which is unnecessarily complicated. Because of this, Jack becomes a non-character and almost doesn't need to be in the movie at all.

That aside, Lowery and Halbrook's script allows us into the hearts and minds of the characters quite easily, and we fall in love with each one of them. Robert Redford has what amounts to an extended cameo as Grace's father, who swears he saw a dragon years ago and loves to tell the story of how he fought him off. He has a lovely monologue at the beginning of the third act that speaks to the heart of everyone who longs for more magic and connection in the world.

The CGI creation of Elliot is a marvel. While he retains a sort of "unreal" quality that puts him more on the side of a cartoon character rather than one of the dragons from "Game of Thrones," it's this softness that makes him stand out amongst the many dragons that have appeared onscreen for decades. Thankfully, Disney chose not to make him talk, and it's commendable that the special effects team were able to make his expressions and mannerisms so easily recognizable. He's a dragon you want to hug and bring home. (And I did. At the gift shop afterward.)

While a lot of the themes here deal with loss and grief, it also subtly points out how - as adults - we lose our sense of magic and wonder. Here, just the existence of Elliot makes us believers and brings us back to the time when we played make-believe in our backyards and had imaginary friends that got us through the day. Not that Elliot is imaginary - he's not. But after all the CGI-laden movies of the past three decades, it's nice to be able to regain that sense of awe and unbridled joy when Elliot rides on the back of his best friend and simply experiences the world in all its majesty.