I honestly wish I had seen this movie when I was a kid. It is the perfect movie to inspire a sense of imagination in children and doesn't really talk down to them even if it is full of clichés.
Unfortunately, however, this film just didn't do much for me personally. As I mentioned, the story is predictable and full of clichés, though I do appreciate many of the updates from the original. The original very much felt like a product of its time while this one feels very timeless. The acting from Bryce Dallas Howard and the little girl is atrocious, though most of the other actors manage to keep it to a reasonable level of cheesiness. The one stand out for me was the little boy, who did an incredible job interacting with the CGI dragon. The animation on Elliot was amazing. You truly believe this is a living, breathing character, and the acting from the little boy just heightens this even more. Every time Elliot was on screen I enjoyed the movie a little more, but the human parts just weighed the whole thing down for me.
Not to say this is a bad movie by any means, because it's not. The people who worked on this clearly put all of their effort in. Even the actors, who are totally hamming it up, obviously care about the movie and weren't phoning it in.
I normally love Disney films, but this one hit too many clichés for me. If you have children I would recommend it, but otherwise wait until it is available to rent.
Unfortunately, however, this film just didn't do much for me personally. As I mentioned, the story is predictable and full of clichés, though I do appreciate many of the updates from the original. The original very much felt like a product of its time while this one feels very timeless. The acting from Bryce Dallas Howard and the little girl is atrocious, though most of the other actors manage to keep it to a reasonable level of cheesiness. The one stand out for me was the little boy, who did an incredible job interacting with the CGI dragon. The animation on Elliot was amazing. You truly believe this is a living, breathing character, and the acting from the little boy just heightens this even more. Every time Elliot was on screen I enjoyed the movie a little more, but the human parts just weighed the whole thing down for me.
Not to say this is a bad movie by any means, because it's not. The people who worked on this clearly put all of their effort in. Even the actors, who are totally hamming it up, obviously care about the movie and weren't phoning it in.
I normally love Disney films, but this one hit too many clichés for me. If you have children I would recommend it, but otherwise wait until it is available to rent.
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