Movie Reviews

Not knowing much about the story of Peter Pan (except for the basics that everyone knows), it felt kind of refreshing to see a slightly darker and more mature fairy-tale told in director P. J. Hogan's adaptation of Peter Pan. That's not to say that other versions of the story (namely, Walt Disney's, which I haven't seen) are any less worthy, but I understand that the original 'Peter Pan' novel is not exactly the bright and cheery adventure that most of us (myself included) are familiar with.

What struck me right away is how amazing the production design of the film is. All of the locations, including Wendy's city and Neverland island, have a great stylized, storybook aesthetic -- looking almost cartoon-like, but not in the grotesque way that the recent Dr. Seuss live-action adaptations have looked. The whole film, actually, is great-looking. Most of the actors are really good too, especially the young girl playing Wendy, Rachel Hurd-Wood. Jason Isaacs is awesome in his duel roles of Wendy's stern and slightly-nerdy father and the sneering, disgruntled Captain Hook. The biggest disappointment of the whole movie though is Jeremy Sumpter as Peter Pan. He wasn't a particularly convincing actor, and at times he came across as plain goofy.

It's a decent film, though. I appreciate when films like this come along that are aimed largely towards children without dumbing themselves down for the younger audience.