The 1953 animated version of Peter Pan is in my top five favorite Disney films of all time. I’m pretty sure the story is one of the reasons why I wanted to move to London in the first place. Over the years, there have been various retellings of the beloved tale. I didn’t have high hopes for this one simply because I didn’t feel like it had the right marketing – I was only made aware of it very recently! That being said, while it started off promisingly enough, it slowly but surely escalated.
Let me start with the positives. I thought the cinematography was well done. One of the most exciting sequences for me was when Peter (Alexander Moloney) whisked Wendy (Ever Anderson) and her brothers John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe) away to Neverland. Flying through Big Ben and seeing time literally stop was done in such a cool way.
Another aspect that I loved was the updated casting choices. Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell was a great choice and Alyssa Wapanatâhk as Tiger Lily were great choices. Both characters were finally given proper representation and more to do. Having a mix of boys and girls in the Lost Boys was also smart and reflected on the changes in society.
Not all the casting choices were great, however. Jude Law is fabulous in everything he does so I did not doubt that he’d be a brilliant Captain Hook. The big letdown for me was Moloney in the role of Peter Pan. His performance was wooden and he did not have chemistry with anybody; Pan is supposed to be cheeky and mischievous, and this was anything but. Had they put the film’s focus more on Wendy, I would have enjoyed it much more as I thought Anderson did a decent job in the role.
When the film opened, I thought it wouldn’t end up being too bad after all. Unfortunately I was sorely mistaken. It lost all pacing and I found it incredibly boring and difficult to get through. A pity considering Disney has been really struggling with these live action remakes. Sometimes I wish they’d just give it a rest.
Rating: ♥️♥️
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