Pete's Dragon Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

3. The Adults Are (Mostly) Pretty Dull

Aside from Robert Redford's narrator, the adults in Pete's Dragon are sadly pretty forgettable, all the more disappointing given the talented likes of Karl Urban, Bryce Dallas Howard and Wes Bentley appearing in prominent roles.

Urban is a fairly on-the-nose villain, Bryce is the pretty-but-dull adult protagonist, and Bentley barely touches the sides as Urban's kinder-hearted brother (and Bryce's love interest), and despite how uninteresting they are compared to Pete and his dragon Elliott, a ton of screen time is devoted to their various squabbles and dramas.

This is where the movie's pacing sags the most, as the material most of the adult actors are given just can't even begin to compete with the feature attraction.