Pete's Dragon Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

3. Superb Musical Choices

A major plus here is the superb use of songs throughout to really sell the film's emotion: selections from the likes of Leonard Cohen, St. Vincent and Bonnie Prince Billy evoke a sweet but not overly sentimental mood, while Daniel Hart's score compliments this by maintaining a balance of delicate tenderness and more epic swells when the time requires.

The combination of strong cinematography and great musical work really enhances the film's timeless charm, and proves it didn't need to recall the original movie's musical numbers in order to succeed. Still, it's Disney, so the music aspect being a success isn't terribly surprising...