Peter Pan

What's the Plot?

The Darling family are by no means conventional. Mr. and Mrs. Darling (Jason Isaacs and Olivia Williams) have 3 children - John ( Harry Newell), Michael ( Freddie Popplewell ) and their older sister, Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Ward). They, much to the disgust of Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave), are looked after by Nana the St. Bernard - "the best nurse on 4 paws." Wendy wishes to become a pirate and have many adventures, but Aunt Millicent convinces the Darling parents that it is time that Wendy grew up, leaving her brothers for her own room and begin preparing her for womanhood and marriage. Shocked by this, the 3 siblings return to their room for what could be their last time together, only to discover that it will be the beginning of an awfully big adventure. Someone else is an avid listener of Wendy's stories - Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter),a boy who has never grown up. Flying through the bedroom window, accompanied by a mischievous ( and jealous ) fairy named Tinkerbell (Ludivine Sagnier), Peter asks Wendy to come with him to Neverland and to recite her stories to him and his Lost Boys where she'll never have to worry about grown up things again. She agrees, but waiting in Neverland for Peter's return is the evil pirate, Captain Hook ( Jason Isaacs) who has a score to settle..

The Review

Director P.J. Hogan's version of J.M Barrie's much-loved classic tale, is setting itself apart from previous attempts by stating that it follows the book more closely than the others. Now, in essence, this is true. This is a much darker movie, in feel and in tone. Let's face it, you wouldn't see Disney's Hook - or Spielberg's for that matter - headbutt Peter Pan during one of their many face-off's, would you! You also wouldn't get such a heavy amount of innuendo upon the screen, which is quite surprising when you realise that the character of Wendy is only supposed to be 13 years old. The mermaids that were so colourful and innocent in Walt's depiction are replaced by something all the more sinister and, especially for the younger members of the audience, scarier.

The Little Mermaid is definitely not a source of inspiration here ! What is though, is the sets. The children's flight over a snow-covered London screams of the old animated journey, until the heavens are reached and a Stargate-type tunnel propels them to the island of Neverland. This is when the fun really begins. Isaacs, who has already experienced scaring children in the last Harry Potter movie, delights in putting a decidedly rough edge to his Hook. Gone is Dustin Hoffman's slightly camp interpretation, with a truly biter and twisted man in his place - one who you know will not pull any punches despite the fact that his adversary is only a small boy. What has remained though is the comic relief of Hook's right-hand man ( pardon the pun ), Smee.

Played by Richard Briers, all the juicy lines are delivered with superb timing by him - "it's all tragic, isn't it?" being the plumb one. Humour does exist throughout the movie's brisk running time, with the boys' teddy bear becoming a victim of the pirates torture something that both the children and the adults alike can enjoy, which is very much needed, especially when the dark and foreboding sets work their magic on the youngest members of the audience. A surprising gem of a movie, Peter Pan is an enjoyable attempt at breathing new life into the story and one that works well, despite the fondest that has built up for the Disney version. Well worth a viewing for all the family.

STEVE'S SCORE