Brief Story Line
In the early 20th century London, Wendy Darlings (Ever Anderson - The Black Widow) was spending her last night at home with her younger brothers John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe) playing around as she was supposed to go to nursery school the day after. However, she was not really keen on growing up despite the demand from her father (Alan Tudyk - Strange World, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story etc) and mother (Molly Parker - Lost in Space TV series, Deadwood TV series etc).
That night, the children were visited by Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) and the fairy Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi - Smallfoot, Grown-ish TV series etc) who encouraged them to come to Neverland so Wendy would never grow up. As they arrived there, Peter and the rest were attacked by his arch nemesis, Captain Hook (Jude Law - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Rhythm Section etc) with his first mate Smee (Jim Gaffigan - Drunk Parents, Luca etc) and the rest of the pirates on the ship. Wendy later met with the warrior Tiger Lily (Alyssa Wapanatahk) and the Lost Boys who were wary and suspicious of her.
Soon Wendy was caught in the middle of the fights between Peter and Captain Hook and slowly realize it might not be what she was looking for. So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
The story of Peter Pan have been told many times before but I honestly could not really remember the complete story. It was probably because I only ever saw the animated movie or the live version where Robin Williams played the titular character Hook once. But I was quite familiar with the plot in general. So when I watched this movie, it did not really give me the feeling of in awe or brought a lot of nostalgic feeling. Although I did feel the strong excitement when the children met Peter Pan for the first time and how they flew to Neverland. I think that was the best moment in the film for me.
As the story progressed, I felt it was still quite similar to the original premise where there was the constant fight between Peter and Hook and how Wendy was protective of her younger brothers. But there was one significant difference of the plot involving Tinker Bell and Tiger Lily which I personally thought was better to stick with the original. Aside from that, in essence they were more or less quite similar. Oh another thing that stood out was the choice made to replace the characters gender and color which created a bit of controversy.
The cast in general were OK with Alexander Molony pretty convincing as Peter Pan despite this was his debut while Ever Anderson seemed quite perfect as Wendy Darlings who was adventurous and daring. Oh I also liked the performance of Molly Parker as she looked like the really soothing and gentle mother. Cannot say anything about Jude Law as I thought he was not too extraordinary but not that bad either. The rest of the lost boys were not too memorable though, probably because they were not given too much screen time.
The musical score was pretty good with some rousing or sentimental music playing in the background which suit the mood. The visual effects were not spectacular but sufficient. The thing that I thought was not greatly done was the fight choreography. I understand that most of them were children but their fights looked staged like when you were practicing for dancing. Now I know it was not the main attribute but it made me feel like I was watching a school play which I don't think should be the case for an adventure film of this size.
During the closing credit (which did not have any mid or post end credit scene but had brief animations when introducing the main cast), it was said to be based on the novel by J. M. Barrie and the 1953 animated film titled Peter Pan. So it was another attempt by Disney to create a live version of their animated classics, although this one did not get the theatrical release, unlike their previous works such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and few others. The movie was directed by David Lowery (Pete's Dragon, A Ghost Story etc) and written by him together with Toby Halbrooks. It looks like the movie was quite well received by critics though I am not really sure about audience reaction except for the backlash related to the controversy I mentioned above.
Overall to me this was an OK live action remake of the Disney animated classic. It had few moments that I liked and some plot change that I preferred to stay the same. The fights choreography was definitely not the best part but the story in essence still remained fun and exciting enough, It was still quite enjoyable, though it was not the most memorable one and certainly not the best live action remake Disney ever made. So if you are OK and willing to give it a try, you can certainly do so easily as it is available on Disney+.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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