I had never seen this version of Peter Pan, but since I just finished a five week run of the musical as assistant stage manager at the Grand Rapids Civic Theater, this seemed like a fitting cap to my movie marathon. My expectations going into this film were probably higher than they should have been, and I blame that largely on my sister. Somewhere along the line, she decided that she was a Peter Pan aficionado and believes that this version is the most accurate film retelling of J.M. Barrie's original story than any other. She has quite a bit to say on the subject; to my chagrin, she's lambasted Hook in the past for being inaccurate, though, as I try to tell her, it can't possibly be labeled accurate or inaccurate since it is an imaginative study into what Peter Pan might be like if he grew up, a story that has not been written by Barrie or anyone else. Yet, she praised this film highly, so I thought I would give it a look.
I'm sorry to say that I was a bit disappointed by it. It does draw scenes from the original story almost to a tee, but it took a lot of artistic license with it too, adding characters and creating scenes that never occurred in the book. The dialogue was distilled to nothingness too. I'm also not impressed with the performances, the worst one of which was offered by the boy playing Peter Pan. He had a charming boyish face that conveyed mischevious expressions nicely, but his line delivery was poor. Nor was I particularly impressed with John, Michael, or the Lost Boys.
I was also not particularly impressed with Jason Isaacs' turn as Hook, though he had probably the best performance of the movie. He just wasn't as menacing as I'd hoped he be, particularly since I've seen him as Lucius Malfoy and know he has the capability.
What I will say for this movie is that it was visually stunning, thanks to some clever CGI renderings. The flying looked fake, but the faeries were pretty, and the crocodile was a scary looking beast.
I also liked Wendy; I thought she did a fine job. As did Smee. And James Newton Howard is rapidly becoming one of my favorite composers, for the score to this movie was wonderful. Incidentally, he also scored Lady in the Water, the first movie in the marathon, and that score was impressive as well.
Ultimately, though, I felt this movie was built up to a point where it did not meet my expectations. Maybe it is the most accurate telling in film, but it still is not all that accurate. In ratings, I'd have to give it a 6 for cute, because it was cute, and I was entertained, but it was a bit beyond shaky with all of the flaws I listed above. Does it pass the test? Unlikely. I didn't like it enough to buy it, no matter how much I love Peter Pan. I think I still prefer Hook because the performances were better, and the spirit was so clearly there.
I think that was the biggest flaw of all, in fact. This movie seemed to focus on Peter Pan being alone rather than on the innocence of childhood and not wanting to grow up. I mean, those latter emotions were there, but they seemed downplayed. I don't know. I just wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped to be; the movie was all in all a letdown.