Going back to beginning and finding out how and why Peter ended up in Neverland in the first place . . .
I was a little bit on the fence when deciding to go and see this film but as you can tell by the fact I am writing a review I decided to see it. Ok yes the pull of Hugh Jackman was probably what pushed me slightly more towards it. Did we really need another Peter Pan and Neverland story? Probably not, but it is a good story. Unfortunately though this film was a bad story, well ok maybe not a bad story but the film was bad. Just thought I would get that comment out-of-the-way early and I can now explain why I think it was bad.
I’m going to skip to entering Neverland for the first time on a flying pirate ship with everyone singing or chanting the song Smells Like Teen Spirit, this raised my interest a lot in all honesty. It was so random and different and I thought it was setting the tone for the film. That was not the case however this was a one-off and therefore more strange than anything else, even if it did create a good moment. If only the whole film had followed in this quite dark yet humorous tone I may have liked it more.
So I love Hugh Jackman and this has confirmed that I will watch him in anything! The only thing is he was not to his usual standards for me in this one, honestly I don’t want to say he was awful/bad. He was very over the top in a way that did not work out well in the end. However though there was competition for worst performance with Garrett Hedlund as James Hook who at times seemed to be channeling Jack Nicholson’s Joker from Batman. Honestly I was nearly laughing at times but it wasn’t meant to be funny. (I really hope someone else agrees with the Joker comparison). If we had not been told his name there is no way at all we would have guessed him to be Hook. Not convinced with Levi Miller in the leading role as Peter.
The film really is a big mess, maybe if they had gone for a 12A rating instead of a PG it might have been more worth the watch? Don’t often see many PG films now that aren’t animated. I cannot really imagine many children being engaged in this one as it just doesn’t flow very well and slow at times as well. Surely the best thing is Peter being able to fly? Even I as an adult wanted to see more of that! Maybe I should have just stayed at home watching Hook again instead? Which let’s face it is probably my favorite Pan style film.
We are told at the start of the film that to understand a story we must go back to the beginning . . . Maybe it would have been best to not bother. We were still left with way too many unanswered questions and wondering how it all actually fit together in the long run with the Neverland and Peter Pan we already know. Oh did I mention that some crazy Irish nuns were involved as well? Who just so happened to be in London during World War II? Ok that may be getting very picky but something else which I thought made me switch off very early on.
I feel like I must find something I liked about it though and I actually thought Rooney Mara was a good addition as Tiger Lily. I am not usually her biggest fan but thought she pulled it off well. Especially considering a petition being made against her in the casting. But hey I guess that is way everything has gone now. I will therefore not recommend this film, but recommend you to watch Hook again instead. That at least gave us a decent story and something to think about!
