Director: Joe Wright
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Duration: 111 minutes
Pan (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Peter Pan has been a well loved fairytale character since the beginning of the 20th century, and has seen many different forms in different tales, probably with Disney’s cartoon Peter Pan and the live action feature film Hook being the most well-known and loved. When Warner Bros. announced a new Peter Pan movie, with Blackbeard taking up an important role, we were quite stoked to see a new pirate entering Neverland, but in the end it was more harmful to the original tale, rather than entertaining. While the premise seemed very entertaining at first, we were left with baffled expressions as the movie pressed on, as it felt extremely cheaply done.
Peter (Levi Miller) was abandoned at the doorstep of an orphanage when he was only and infant, and due to this he never really knew his parents. Now, years later, Peter is a rather cheery (or cheeky) young boy, who often defies the nuns who have to watch over him. That being said, the orphanage is a true hellhole, filled with nuns who are supposed to represent virtue and all that’s good in the world, while in reality they might be the worst types of human beings to walk the face of the earth. Nonetheless, when during an air raid Peter and Nibs (Lewis MacDougall) decide to investigate the abbess’ office to see what she has to hide, things don’t end up in their favor. The boys get punished by being slapped around by the ruler, but Peter was able to discover a letter of his mother in the process, which states they would meet up once again, be it in this world or another. Whilst the nuns themselves are quite bothersome, strange things are happening, as other orphans are going missing. Little did Peter know he would go missing too, soon.
When during the night all of a sudden figures pop out of the ceiling, dragging children out of their beds, Peter and Nibs try to escape, but to no avail. All of the children get dragged into the flying pirate ship, which alone is enough to scare or amaze the boys senseless. While Nibs was able to escape, it seems Peter had to endure this strange journey on his own. Eventually, after an odd trip, Peter ends up in Neverland, in the clutches of the rather ominous pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), who acts as if everyone is a free man, but ends up throwing all the children in the mines to look for fairy dust. When Peter gets charged of stealing something, while he was actually the one that discovered it, he gets sentenced to death by none other than Blackbeard, but when he gets thrown of the plank into the abyss, Peter suddenly starts floating. This sparkles Blackbeard’s interest, as there has been a prophecy about such a boy, which might just knock him from his iron throne.
While the flow of the movie is rather pleasant, even though the introduction might be rather long winded, it’s actually the overall execution of things that makes the movie rather unappealing the further the movie progresses. You’ll be treated to many scenes which are clearly performed in front of a green screen, together with some odd scenes, that seemingly make no sense. Even though this movie’s trailers originally seemed rather adventurous, especially for those who grew up with Peter Pan’s story, in the end it boils down to a rather safely played children’s movie, and not even a very successful one at that.
Even though the acting performances are fairly decent, most roles feel rather wrongfully cast. It’s clear that Hugh Jackman is able to play the feared legendary Blackbeard, but for some reason his appearance feels a bit off at times, but that’s actually one of the least bothersome cast choices in the movie. Hook, who is played by Garret Hedlund, feels more like he would better star in a cheap Indiana Jones knockoff, especially when it comes to the way he throws his lines all around him with a forced perfect smile while overacting to the extreme. Levi Miller does a rather proper job in playing Peter, but again he would better feel as the arrogant sidekick, as he never truly reaches a likeable status somewhere in the movie.
There are a few extras on the Blu-ray release of Pan, which give you a bit more information about the movie itself, the history of Peter Pan and the characters that star in it. Lastly you’ll also find a small tour of Neverland presented in one of the special features, which feels as if its directed to rather dimwitted children, than an actual fan of the Neverland universe.
Conclusion
Pan does a fair attempt presenting a classic tale, with some twists making it an original one. While many aspects might feel a bit original, the movie is riddled with poor cast choices, very cheap effects, a nonsensical ending and a lot of missed opportunities. This movie might be entertaining to watch once, if you’re truly a fan of adventure movies or everything that revolves around Peter Pan. If you’re truly looking to make some adventurous memories, this one will probably not prove to be that pleasant.
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