Peter Pan

Reviewed by Rich Drees

     A majority of family films are firmly targeted towards their younger audience only, leaving the parental portion of the audience to grin and bear. But director P. J. Hogan’s adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s classic children’s book Peter Pan may just entertain adults more than children.

     The story is a familiar one that doesn’t need much rehashing. The Darling Children, Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood), Michael (Freddie Popplewell) and John (Harry Newell) spend most of their time in their nursery playing out stories of prates and fairy tale princesses. One night, they are visited by Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter), a boy who had fled to Neverland so as to not grow up. Enchanted by the idea of going off to live a life of adventure amongst pirates, Indians and magical fairies, the three children join Pan for a life of adventure.

     Peter Pan has always been a story about growing up and the loss of innocence and this new version emphasizes some of the darker elements glossed over in the Disney version. “Growing up is such a barbarous business,” Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs who also portrays the children’s father) tells Wendy at one point and the film supports this notion. There’s a hint of melancholy that permeates the film that support its theme on the inevitability of growing up. Wendy is on the verge of leaving her childhood innocence behind, as her Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave) urges her parents to do. Frightened by the unknown of adulthood, Wendy initially chooses the security of a never-ending childhood. But once in Neverland, she discovers that there good things about growing up and must make the decision to stay or return home to a full life.

     Parents need not worry that the film will bore the younger kids with deep psychological examinations. There’s plenty of high adventure to keep the kids entertained. The Lost Boys fight with the pirates and Peter has not one, but two swashbuckling clashes with the evil pirate Hook.

     Visually, the film is sumptuous, with director Hogan being aided by cinematographer Donald McAlpine who helped develop the look of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 Moulin Rouge. The trip to Neverland is one of the most imaginative sequences in recent memory. Neverland is equally inventively realized with its painting like clouds and luscious green forests. While just stylized enough to not look like reality it does carry its own fairytale verisimilitude.