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Reviewer: Federica Roberti

Movie adaptation of Australian author M. L. Stedman’s novel, The Light Between Oceans is a war drama that explores grief and love in a time during which it was easy to lose someone and finding love was a luxury not anyone could afford.

Set right after WWI, the story focuses on Tom Sherbourne, a soldier who, after seeing many men die during the war, decides to start his new life as the lighthouse keeper on an island off the coast of western Australia.

Soon after accepting his new position he meets and falls in love with Isabel, the young daughter of one of the families living in the town closer to the mainland.

Their marriage is a happy and simple one, however, Isabel can’t wait to be a mother. After a series of miscarriages, both Tom and Isabel are giving up on their dream to have a big family. However, Isabel is the one who is having a harder time in accepting her fate. Until one day a boat with a baby girl washes up the shore.

Tom is ready to report the accident, aware that someone might be looking for the baby and the body of the dead man in the boat. But Isabel, guided by grief for her loss and newfound happiness for this miracle, convinces him to ignore his duty and keep the baby as their own.

Their happy moment, however, is not destined to last long when, after a visit to the mainland, Tom discovers who his baby girl really belongs to and her real story.

Directed and written by Derek Cianfrance, the light between oceans explores with tenderness life during war.

The cinematography is breathtaking. The panoramic shots of the lighthouse island capture both the raw beauty of nature as well as the isolation felt by the main characters living by themselves. The sequences used to show the passing of time through Isabel’s pregnancies are fluid and they make the pace of the story a bit faster.

The warm colours as well as the darker ones are blended together to match and highlight Tom and Isabel’s state of mind.

The soundtrack, entirely composed by Desplat, accompanies the story with a mixture of poignant and emotional tunes, giving a more dramatic tone when it’s needed.

Michael Fassbender’s performance was heartbreaking and terrific. He understood Tom’s sense of duty as well as his blind love and loyalty for his wife. His character is a man looking for peace after witnessing the brutality of war. He founds happiness with his wife and he will do everything for her, even sacrifice his integrity.

Alicia Vikander did a good job in portraying Isabel’s grief and determination with honesty. Her performance wasn’t always consistent and in some scenes she seemed a bit over the top, but she truly understood Isabel’s desperation and fragility. However, unfortunately, their chemistry seems off throughout the story. At first it seems understandable because Tom and Isabel got married without really knowing each other. However, the more the story went on, the more it felt like the two actors were unconformable with each other toning down the emotional side of the story which is a big part in the movie.

Luckily, at the end they were both committed to stay true to their characters and their affinity blooms on screen. Rachel Weisz’s talent was undervalued by giving her character a small space in a story in which she was pivotal as well. However, even though she is not in many scenes, every time she is on the screen her performance is flawless and impeccable.

Thanks to a soulful and moving soundtrack, a cast committed to the story as well as their characters and a cinematography that focused on capturing all these strong emotions, the light between oceans is a film that successfully brings to the screen a heartbreaking tale about grief and love in a time in which it was necessary to learn how to let go without losing one’s soul.

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Inspired by the famous dolls invented by Thomas Dam, Trolls is the latest DreamWorks creation to grace screens all over the world with a simple story about being positive and happy in life even when everything seems to go wrong.

The plot is pretty simple but effective. After 20 years of living peacefully and safely in the forest while spending their days singing, hugging and being happy, Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and her troll friends are in grave danger again when the pessimistic Bergens, sad and out of tune monsters that could be happy only after eating trolls, find them again and are ready to reinstate their troll feast to finally find joy.

After seeing all her best friends being captured by the vengeful Chef, with the help of the only realistic troll in the group, Branch (Justine Timberlake), Poppy will set on a quest to save her friends from the Bergens’ mouths.

Through their journey both Poppy and Branch will learn a valuable lesson from one another and they will discover where real happiness lies and that sometimes in life a good balance between joy and realism is never wrong.

Directed by Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn with a subject created by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Trolls is one of the best products after DreamWorks’ popular Sherek.

The animation is flawless and the world in which trolls and Bergens live seems made entirely of felt.

To divide the two realms, however the use of colors becomes predominant. In fact, while all trolls live in harmony in a colorful and vibrant reality that screams of happiness, joy and love, the Bergens instead are condemned to live in a dull and sad world without brilliant tones and music.

Each character reflects their personality through colors as well. Every single troll has a different shade and the more cheerful they are, the more shiny and sparkling they get. Bergens, instead, have a more subdued complexion that matches the one used in their world. Their spectrum moves between the shades of dull gray and green just to further highlight their eternal state of sadness.

Among the trolls, Branch is the only one that sticks out for his subdued and flat tinge. He is different from other trolls. His past made him realise that life isn’t always cupcakes and rainbows and his cynicism and realism make him a party pooper like all the other trolls like to define him.

Among these fantastic creatures, he is the only one that can help Poppy save their friends because he knows how to defend himself by all Bergens. Through their journey, even though they are one another’s polar opposite, they will grow closer and learn to become friends by balancing their personalities and ending up being the true heroes of the movie, showcasing the hidden meaning of the story.

In fact, behind the songs and funny jokes, lies the moral of the film, which highlights that in life everyone needs a spark of joy to make every day a bit better, even when everything seems to go wrong. Happiness is inside everyone and in order to truly feel it, we have to look within us and not outside, because no one can make us feel better if we don’t really believe it.

What makes the movie spectacular to enjoy, however, is not only the amazing artwork used to bring to life the famous dolls, it is the comic banter and the stellar soundtrack which are essential parts of the story.

Singing is one of the Trolls’ favorite activities and many famous songs are used in the movie to set the right mood and keep the flow of the film going. The cast ensemble chosen to voice all the many characters is made of famous singers as well as brilliant actors that showed their vocal talent in singing some of the most famous remakes. From Cyndi Lauper’s “true colors” to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”, the songs keep the rhythm of the movie alive and kicking throughout the film and the many jokes and banter used in the character’s interaction help keeping the tone of the movie always upbeat and cheerful.

All in all, Trolls is a great family film that, by employing a great soundtrack as well as an impeccable comedy timing, shows in the Hollywood industry that even a simple concept can be extremely successful and make both children and adults want to dance around in their

Trolls is out in UK cinemas tomorrow!

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Movie adaptation of the homonymous New York times’ best seller, The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller that, by using the first person narrative, pushes the audience in identifying themselves with the protagonists and step into their minds.

The story is split in three different points of views. It starts by introducing Rachel, a young woman who spends her commute to Manhattan looking out the train’s window towards all the houses built near the railway. It is instantly clear that there is something wrong with her and by listening to her voice narrating her story, it becomes evident that, after going through a tragedy and a divorce, alcohol has become her only outlet.

In her deluded and devastated state the only way to escape reality is to image what life is or could be for the families living in those beautiful houses across the train station.

What Rachel sees from her seat, however, doesn’t always match reality. And when Megan and Anna’s point of view are firstly introduced, the families that Rachel observes through the window become part of the story.

It is at this moment that the audience learn that these three women are connected together.

In fact, Rachel, in her deranged and confused state, is obsessing over her ex-husband, who married Anna, his mistress. And when she is imagining Megan’s perfect life in the house close to her former home, she doesn’t know that Megan is working for Anna and Tom as a nanny.

All three of them have something in common in their lives. They are all struggling with motherhood or the desire to have a child or not wanting a baby at all.

However, the status quo is bound to be broken when Rachel, after another day of binge drinking, sees from the train that Megan is cheating on her husband with another man. After seeing the perfect fantastic reality she created shattered, she decides to pure her hatred and rage towards Megan, because she ruined everything, just like it happened to her failed marriage.

The day after, Rachel wakes confused and disoriented and on the news the reports are all focused on Megan’s disappearance.

Filled with guilt and self-doubt, Rachel will start her quest to remember what happened after she left the train to chase Megan.

Most people will feel compelled to compare the book to the movie, highlighting what is different and what was kept like the original written piece. Having said that, even though the movie suffered from a change in location for the story, the successful soul of the book is still there, alive and kicking.

However, for a film with a cast ensemble that gave it all to bring to life as truthfully as possible these complicated characters, The Girl on the Train, directed by Tate Taylor, has some faux pas that made it quite difficult to be completely satisfied with the final result.

Directing wise, Taylor was capable of capturing Rachel’s internal and external turmoil and her ever present confusion caused by alcohol and the obsession over her old life. The many close ups on all the characters help keeping that idea of disorientation and fogged recollections throughout the film, maintaining the halo of mystery till the end.

However, the time jumps between present and past and the change between the three female point of views are quite hard to follow and they become quite confusing if it wasn’t for the black screen with the time frame written before any flashback.

Emily Blunt carries the movie on her shoulders. Her interpretation and understanding of Rachel’s coping mechanism to her tragedies are flawless. The smudged make up and her sense of confusion, brought by lingering hangovers following her heavy drinking sessions, help the audience understand this woman’s desperation after seeing her life shattered. Justin Theroux did a terrific job in losing himself in Tom and the changes his character goes through the movie are staggering and made him one of the best unexpected character’s evolution in a thriller. However, there are some aspects in the depiction of these characters that make the film hollow and almost incomplete.

While the three main female characters had the potential to be well rounded and complex, for the most part it seems like they are just flat and convinced that their sole purpose in life is to be mothers and devoted wives. Since Rachel failed in both “tasks” she becomes an alcoholic to cope with her lack of femininity. Anna, after fulfilling her duty as a mother seems incapable of doing any other thing that doesn’t involve her child. However, she is also unhappy because being a full time mom and going shopping is tiring and she needs Megan’s help every day to “survive”. From her part Megan embodies the other woman to a T. Young, attractive, with an active sexual desire that needs to be always fulfilled. She is fragile, but hides it behind her powerful sexuality. She doesn’t want to be a mother, but she is pushed by her husband to be a nanny so she can turn on her maternal instinct.

The same thing can be said for the men. Both Luke Evans and Justin Theroux’s characters are abusive, possessive, hyper-sexually masculine character who likes to control and mentally cage their women into thinking that they exist only to please them.

These stereotypical characterizations make it almost infuriating to see their story unfolds, because they seem like an over exemplification of a reality every woman is still living to a certain extent.

However, while the characters are just superficially outlined as if they were living in the 1940s, the plot thrives in surprising and shocking the audience.

Psychological manipulation, along with mental and physical abuse are important aspects highlighted in the movie. The perspective changes along with Rachel’s personal awareness and how she perceives herself through everyone else’s opinion of her.

Both male figures influence the audience in saying all three female characters under a specific light and through this distorted reality the mystery builds up and confuses the audience by making the ending of the film shocking and the perfect closure for all the abused characters.

Along with Rachel, even viewers have that pivotal moment of clarity that helps putting all the pieces of the puzzle together to solve the crime.

All in all, even though the characterization of the protagonists and some aspects of the directing technique are a bit disappointing, thanks to a brilliant cast and a deep and interesting storyline, The Girl on the Train is a gripping thriller that will leave the audience captivated and glued to the screen until the very end.

The Girl on the Train is out in UK cinemas now!

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Like in every classic Tennessee Williams’ play, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur loves to hide in plain sight, mostly behind sarcasm, humor and frivolous mundane chores, how, in life, one should always beware of the beautiful and perfect. However, by representing on stage the life of four different women in the 1930s, it also highlights how their lives only have meaning if there is a man around, showing a perfect image of how society was still deeply rooted in patriarchy.

The whole story is set in a heavily decorated house in the industrial area of St. Louis. Living there, surrounded by dark, flowery wallpaper and horribly clashing, mismatched furniture, live Bodey and Dotty. These two women couldn’t be more different from each other. Bodey is an early middle aged German-American woman who likes to take care of her flatmate in a motherly fashion, Dotty, instead, is a civic teachers who only takes care of her look and figure.

While Bodey is dreaming of nieces and nephews to play with, by finding ways to make Dotty fall in love with her twin brother; on the other hand, Dotty has a different plan of her own. After spending a night with the principal of the school she teaches at, the handsome and wealthy Ralph Ellis, she believes that she could marry him and live happily ever after.

The play starts with Dotty doing some exercise to keep her perfect figure while anxiously waiting for a call from her beloved Ralph. While she is busy thinking and talking about how perfect he is, Bodey is desperately trying to organise a perfect picnic and a “spontaneous” meeting between Buddy, her brother, and Dotty.

While the two are placidly arguing about Dotty’s life choices, they get interrupted by one of Dotty’s fellow teachers, Helena, who came to see her to ask for her part of the rent money for a new apartment, in a much nicer and glamorous area, they would like to rent together.

Helena looks like a wealthy woman and her sarcastic comments directed at Bodey and her picturesque apartment are just one of the many ways in which she is showing how much she is looking down at her life and how lucky is Dotty to finally be able to move. While Bodey is preventing Helena from bursting into Dotty’s room while she is exercising, the duo gets interrupted by Miss Gluck, Bodey’s neighbor who recently lost her mother.

Both Bodey and Helena know something about Ralph that will ruin Dotty’s dream of marrying him, however, while Bodey doesn’t want to upset Dotty in any way, Helena, who just cares about taking her down payment for the apartment, wants to tell her about the news and use her reaction as the new gossip subject at school.

Shown in the historical Coronet Print Room in Notting Hill, Michael Oakley’s take on “A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur” is a perfect celebration of Tennessee Williams’ artistry.

The settings aids the audience in getting lost in the 1930s. The glaringly bright wallpaper mixed with the too colorful furnitures make the perfect contrasting background for a story that wants to highlight how easy it is to get fooled by beauty and perfection.

Among the characters, Bodey, played by the ever so hilarious Debbie Chazen, is the most reliable one. She is a simple, but not naive woman who loves to take care of people. She works hard at the International Shoe Company and she is genuinely interested in making sure that Dotty is happy and well, which is why she wants her to marry her twin brother.

On the other hand, Dotty, portrayed by an extremely talented Laura Rogers, is only focused on her appearances and on making her life better by marrying a good looking and rich guy.

The same contrast can be seen between Helena (Hermione Guilford) and Miss Gluck (Julia Watson). One is the polar opposite of the other. While Helena only cares about herself and keep up the appearance of being rich and beautiful, Miss Gluck doesn’t care about beauty or perfection, she presents herself as completely destroyed by her mother’s death and only looking for some genuine comfort from her friend Bodey, who is helping her coping with her loss.

The cast ensemble worked beautifully together in bringing to life Williams’ play. They all embodied their characters effortlessly, stating clearly the difference between true, deep friendship, and relationships only built on convenience and good look.

The lesson that Williams wants to teach with his play is that by only caring about superficial things in life, everyone can only learn in the hard way that real beauty isn’t on the surface and that more often than not it is what everyone has inside that makes a person beautiful.

Filled with real life anecdote described with natural sarcastic humor, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur is an incredibly entertaining and funny comedy that makes you reflect on what it is really important in life and friendship.

A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur by Tennessee Williams is on at the Coronet Print Room now! Tickets can be booked through their official website.

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Reviewer: Federica Roberti

Inspired by the homonymous best seller written by Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a fantastic and slightly grim story that only Tim Burton could have made into the perfect comic, dark and quite gothic movie.

The plot in the movie is more linear than the one in the book.

Thanks to a childhood filled up with fantastic but real bed time stories about his grandfather’s past, Jake doesn’t shy away from believing in monsters and special children. After loosing his grandpa Abraham in a mysterious accident, he will be left with the task to find Miss Peregrine and her orphan children in a remote island in Welsh.

Once there, Jake doesn’t expect to experience one of the greatest adventures of his life and to learn that all the fairy tales told by his grandfather were actually true. Along with the fascinating and wise Miss Peregrine and her orphan peculiar children, Jake will discover a whole new world of fantastic abilities and dangerous monsters and he will have to take his grandfather’s place and protect his “chosen” family.

For a story like that, the only perfect director capable of creating this kind of magical world is Tim Burton. Throughout the film, his signature technique doesn’t emerge quite often, but when it does, it’s the perfect mixture of gothic, splatter and scary. In fact, while for most of the movie the atmosphere is quite unusual for a Tim Burton movie, there are some parts, as well as some characters, that are straight out of his weird and grim mind and turn the film quite scary for children, and some adults as well.

Moreover, what is astonishing and ever present in this production, as well as in some of his other films, is the peculiar use or colours to distinguish the different realities in the story. As he had already done in Big Fish or Big Eyes, the reality in which everything is ordinary has a specific color palette that makes it almost boring. Everything is dull, gray is the predominant colour and the atmosphere is opaque and monochromatic. However, when the reality becomes extraordinary and everyone who lives in it has some sort of connection with the fantastic and peculiar, the whole world comes to life in an explosion of colours and light. Everything becomes warmer and there is a special glow that enhances the fairy like quality of the setting. However, like everything else, even in a fantasy world, there are awful things ready to attack and Miss Peregrine’s happy loop can become quite the dark place haunted by evil and darkness.

The cast ensemble of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children did an amazing job in working together to bring to life these fantastic and special characters. Eva Green once again shows what an eclectic and talented actress she is. She is capable of showing Miss Peregrine’s wit, sense of duty, loyalty and courage just with a glance. Her relationship with each peculiar child is unique according to the characters, but the underline devotion she has for them is highlighted in every scene by her performance.

Samuel L. Jackson embodied the bad guy in the story perfectly. He adds to his character a pungent sense of humor that made him terrifying, but at the same time entertaining and hilarious.

All the children in the film interacted together effortlessly, especially Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell, showcasing the beautiful bond among each other and their strong loyalty to Miss Peregrine and one another.

All in all, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is an extremely entertaining movie that  successfully thrives by using the perfect balance between comedy, fantasy and gloomy aspects that only Tim Burton knows how to master. And by telling the fantastic story of these peculiar children, it also wants to teach a valuable lesson on how important friendship, loyalty and inclusion are in everyone’s life.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is out in UK cinemas today!

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The reason for mentioning this is the fact that The Magnificent Seven is a remake. And not the first, but the second one. The original film came out in 1960 and, from what I have heard, it was really well done. No, I haven’t seen it, which is why I don’t have anything to compare the 2016 one with.

The Magnificent Seven tells the story of a few very different individuals who, against all normal odds, come together to the rescue of a grieving and full of revenge desire widow. Sweet looking but tenacious Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), supported by slightly shy Teddy Q (Luke Grimes), is the one that incites the idea of the group. After her husband is shot by Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) when trying to stand up for what they believe in, she decides to look for someone who will revenge Matt’s death and might also help them take back their city.

Enter always driven Chisolm who is portrayed in a very serious way by Denzel Washington. He knows what and who he wants and he seems to find his motivation in something else, not in the offered money. The second to join is the wiz of cards, Josh Faraday. The joker of the group is played by non-other than Chris Pratt, who seems to bring his own specific type of humor to every role he is cast in. The legend that is Goodnight Robicheaux, played by Ethan Hawke, whom I’ve missed from the big screen recently, comes with extra baggage – Billy Rocks, the forth companion who knows how to handle a knife, and some psychological problems which put his greatness to doubt. And because it is The Magnificent Seven, slowly we get three other additions to the team: Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio) is the religious one who seems to have nothing else to lose, Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) the convict who ends up trying to save a city rather than being thrown into jail, and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier) who brings the art of archery to the table. There you have it, the most unlikely to get along individuals, come together to save a city.

The buildup for the final battle takes quite a while, but that doesn’t mean that they only leave the final five minutes for the actual fight. No, sir. The final fight is prolonged to what, at one point, seems to be never ending. However, by bringing a good tempo and a perfect dose of humor, The Magnificent Seven will keep you present without a shade of a doubt.

Brilliantly choreographed when it comes to its characters, The Magnificent Seven serves us with all a team needs to feel complete: the legend, the leader, the comic and even a unique companion with completely different habits, especially when it comes to food. All in all, The Magnificent Seven is an entertaining film, a film which surprised me a bit with its ending as I was expecting it, but not in such big numbers. I can’t compare it to the original one, however visually speaking it’s skillfully done and slowly, story and action, add up.

The Magnificent Seven is out now!

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It’s Sunday morning in early June, 1930s St Louis. In a sweltering apartment, as Dorothea completes her rigorous daily exercise regime, Bodey is in the kitchen, frying chicken for a picnic at Creve Coeur Lake. Upstairs neighbour Mrs Gluck has depression so bad she can’t even make coffee, and now Dorothea’s spinster colleague Helena arrives with the news that she’s found a lovely new apartment for them to share. But Dorothea’s mind is elsewhere, she is hoping for a call from the man of her dreams…

Tennessee Williams (1911 – 1983). Arguably one of the greatest American playwrights of the last century, he received a Rockerfeller fellowship in 1940 for his play Battle of Angels, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for A Streetcar Named Desire and in 1955 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other plays include Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real, Baby Doll, The Glass Menagerie, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Two-Character Play.

Performance dates and times

A Lovely Sunday For Creve Coeur by Tennessee Williams

12 September – 7 October

Tickets: Official Website

Box Office: 020 3642 6606

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Reviewer: Naomi Joseph

A neurotic young man in a big city grapples with life and love: a story told many a time by Woody Allen. His latest film, Café Society, is no different. Avid consumers of Allen’s work will not be surprised, as the prolific filmmaker is known to often return to the same ideas. And, in Café Society he has rehashed quite a few of his favourite.

 Bobby Dorfman, (Jesse Eisenberg) bored of New York — as if one could ever be — and sick of working for his father, hightails it out the east and heads towards the lights and glamour of 1930s Hollywood in the hopes of riding the coattails of his successful agent uncle, Phil (Steve Carell). He falls headlong into Hollywood and headlong into love with his uncle’s gorgeous and ‘grounded’ secretary Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). Little does he know that — one of Allen’s favourite ideas coming up — his uncle is also vying for her affections. Eventually LA life gets too much for him and he heads back to New York — as if there were any other city our young protagonist would end up in — where he gets a job running a club for his mafia brother. He gets a job, he gets a girl, he gets married and he has a kid; he does all the things he’s supposed. The lessons of lov force young, callow Bobby to grow up and get on with life; not the life that he necessarily wanted but the one he has.

 It is a sad but sweet film, full of charm but lacking in substance. It is undeniably Allen’s best film in recent years but in the grand scheme of things it is a beautiful but thin piece of work. Steve Carell as the barrel-chested super-agent is by far the highlight and his confident world-weary performance garners the few laughs the film has to offer. The cinematography also deserves praise as the opulence of the 1930s really envelops the viewer thanks to beautiful shooting by Vittorio Storaro. The golden hue that imbues everything at the beginning is a bit too on the head in conveying the glamour of the ‘golden age’, but otherwise the film is visually stunning.

 When it comes to Eisenberg, well they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you can’t help but wonder if pandering in such a way to Allen’s ego is what landed him the job. In Eisenberg Allen is able to play a role he is much too old to. It is uncanny the way he nervously vomits and paces his lines and tensely and awkwardly gesticulates. It’s as if Allen has in fact inhabited his body. However, this feat of possession doesn’t do much to engender the audience to the protagonist.

 Maybe this is not so much Eisenberg’s fault as the film seems to lack a story for him to really get his teeth into. Instead it feels like a series of charming vignettes clumsily strung together by Allen’s own narration. No more so than in the second half where the audience interest wanes as the intriguing love triangle narrative comes to end and the second half drags a story to New York that was lost back in LA.

 Things come to a close on a melancholy note and you leave the cinema feeling entertained by a pretty thing that ultimately you won’t remember in a week’s time. It’s a shame, this film of two acts, between two great cities, could have been much more than just charming love story.

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Reviewer: Federica Roberti

Remake of the 1977 original family movie, Pete’s Dragon brought back on the screens the magical tale of Elliot the invisible dragon.

Disney’s latest film opens with Pete, a 4 year old child, sitting in the back of his family car reading a children’s book when, all of a sudden, a dear bolts in front of the car and force it off the road, killing Pete’s parents in the process. Terrified and in shock, with only his backpack and his book, Pete finds himself all alone deep in the forest, a dangerous place for a kid filled with ferocious animals ready to attack him. Fortunately, while running away from a pack of wolves, Pete will come across a huge, friendly and furry dragon, ready to save him and protect him.

The story moves six years forward and what the audience sees is an older Pete, running in the forest followed by Eliot, the dragon who saved him when he was all alone in the forest.

The two together, while playing around in the forest, run into Grace, a ranger trying to save the wood endangered species from her fiancé Jack’s lumber company cutting down the trees.

Moved by curiosity, he follows her to the working site and, after observing Grace’s soon to be step-daughter, Natalie, Pete revels himself only to be immediately brought back to town to investigate how he ended up in the forest all alone in the first place.

However, while Pete is accepted fully by Grace’s family, his friend Eliot is in danger when Gavin, Jack’s brother, after noticing something weird happening in the forest, discovers his existence and organises a hunt party to capture the dragon. Pete, with the help of his new found family, will try his best to save his friend and finally help him find his way home.

As far as the story goes, once again Disney brought to the screen a tale about how important it is to be accepted for who you really are and how family doesn’t always mean being related but how much you support one another. With Pete’s dragon these values are highlighted throughout the movie at first by showcasing Pete’s strong relationship with Elliot and then by the child being accepted and taken care of by Grace, her partner Jack and his daughter Natalie.

Being a remake of a well known film made in 1977, Pete’s dragon didn’t refresh the story told in the first one, but it added that magical glow that only new technology and amazing CGI could do.

Elliot, who is surprisingly realistic for a furry dragon, constantly reminds of an oversized and winged dog who is loyal to his “pet” human to a fault, even to a point in which he is ready to risk his own safety and freedom to protect him. His face reminds, with a touch of nostalgia, of the one of the famous cartoon dragon that our older brothers and sisters learnt to love.

Oakes Fegley is Pete and Oona Laurence is Natalie in Disney’s PETE’S DRAGON, the story of a boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just happens to be a dragon.

Throughout the film the cast ensemble did a great job in interacting with Eliot, their reactions feel natural to the audience as if a real dragon is there with them in every scene.

Oakes Begley understood Pete completely, his bond with Eliot is ever present, especially when they are apart and unable to see each other. Begley interacted with the CGI dragon as if it was truly there with him, making it possible for the audience to connect and be moved by the story.

At times the plot is filled with classic cliches. The dramatic aspects almost made the movie a bit scary for children in some scenes and almost too serious for an entertaining family movie. However, the many jokes and hilarious breathers in between those moments, as well as the heroic parts in which everyone is safe and sound at the end, made it possible to balance the movie and give some comic relief to the audience.

All in all, Pete’s dragon is a family movie that encompassed a feeling of nostalgia for the adults, who knew the original story, while recreating that magical atmosphere that only Disney can do to enrapture the children’s attention and entertain them.

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