Peter Pan and Wendy review [Disney+]

Director: David Lowery | Script: David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks, JM Barrie | Cast: Alexander Molony (Peter Pan), Ever Anderson (Wendy), Jude Law (Captain Hook), Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Tigerlily), Jim Gaffigan (Smee/Vetje), ea | Time to play: 106 minutes | Year: 2023
what
Everyone knows the story of the girl who didn’t want to grow up and went to the wonderful Neverland with the boy who never grew up. There have been several versions of Peter Pan over the years. Disney adds there with peter pan and wendy a new feature film. Compared to the classic cartoon, this movie does not bring much new. However, the few additions are good.

the first scenes peter pan and wendy they’re almost like the ones in the cartoon: Wendy plays with her brothers Jan and Michael the night before she leaves for boarding school. Her parents scold her for her childishness. Then suddenly a flying boy appears on the windowsill at night, and Wendy, Jan and Michael are all too happy to join him on his way to adventure. However, one big difference from the cartoon is that this feature film looks very dark and dim, whereas in the cartoon the colors are splashed across the screen.

Only when they actually fly to Neverland does a touch of originality come into play. The boys and the girl fly through the Big Ben clock into some kind of black hole, and then float in a silent black void. The short scene is reminiscent of the space epic. Interstellar, and is therefore completely different from the images copied from before. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t maintain this visual inventiveness for long.

The children fly to Neverland and are immediately fired upon by Captain Hook’s pirate ship. The kids are kidnapped, Peter is missing, so it’s up to Wendy, the Lost Boys and a more active Tiger Lily than in the original to save Jan and Michael. Of course, Peter Pan offers ransom just in time and chases all the pirates back to his ship. He even lets Captain Hook balance on the gaping mouth of a large crocodile, which looks even more ridiculous in real life than in drawing.

Jude Law plays Captain Hook with great enthusiasm, making him more than just the evil pirate he was in most other iterations. After about an hour, Wendy discovers that Peter and Captain Hook used to be friends. This depth is surprisingly appropriate for the two characters, but it could have been fleshed out a bit more. Peter only tells about this, whereas it would have been much more fun if the story of Hook and Peter had been the first hour, instead of the rerun that it is now.

After that first hour, the story and the tone of the film changes. Hook does things that he doesn’t or wouldn’t do in the original, which ultimately adds a bit of suspense to the movie, which builds to the climax. This has remained essentially unchanged; Peter Pan fights and defeats Hook on his ship, but the emotional charge between Peter and Hook adds much more depth to the fight. Also, the creative use of scenery (Wendy blows up the ship with Tinker Bell’s help, and then flips it over) makes for a pretty entertaining climax.

peter pan and wendy not only does it add new background information for the two main characters, but it fills out the timeless story a bit more, with things that are better suited to our time. For example, the Lost Boys aren’t just white kids anymore and Tiger Lily is a wise fighter instead of the stereotypical little Indian she used to be. However, it remains to be seen if these small changes are worth a full first half of an unoriginal story. Especially considering the possible alternative about Peter Pan and Captain Hook.

Grease and the other pirates laugh a lot and make sure that peter pan and wendy Don’t drown in the added emotional drama. Also, the music generally keeps the tone light and frivolous, though the rousing bells and whistles sometimes don’t match the dark and subdued imagery. In Nooitgedachtland, however, the music stands out for the use of a strange-sounding instrument that gives the music a magical character. The extra magic is necessary, because even with the best of intentions, the red of Haak’s jacket or the yellow of Tinkerbel’s magic dust look a little less magical or lush in real life.

peter pan and wendy can be seen in Disney+.