Live Action version of Peter Pan
Peter Pan is the boy who will never grow up. P.J. Hogan's live-action
version of the classic J.M. Barrie story is wonderfully presented. Peter is played by Jeremy Sumpter--with a sense of longing and a desire to be loved. The object of his affection is Wendy Darling (Rachel Hurd-Wood), a pre-teen in Edwardian London with a talent for telling tales to her younger brothers. When Mr. Darling (Jason Isaacs, who doubles as a daunting Captain Hook) decides that Wendy should live with her Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave) in order to become a proper lady, Peter takes the Darling children to Neverland, where all of the characters in Wendy's stories actually exist. The three children embark on the adventure: flying through the skies, encountering nasty mermaids, and enduring Tinker Bell's wrath. The Darling children along with the Lost Boys, take on Captain Hook, Peter Pan's arch nemesis, and his gang of pirates. This movie is filled with lush sets and great special effects, which make this movie a visual treat.
Amazon.com
Fine casting, genuinely special effects, and a keen combination of whimsy and danger make this Peter Pan the one to beat among all previous adaptations of J.M. Barrie's classic children's fantasy. The technical advances of CGI make the magic of Barrie's tale come alive, and the spectacular effects combined with luminous live action create an action-packed Neverland that's both believable and breathtakingly artificial, like a Maxfield Parrish landscape springing vividly to life before your eyes. More important, however, is the fact that director P.J. Hogan (whose splendid films include Muriel's Wedding and My Best Friend's Wedding) has taken care to develop a substantial, pre-adolescent affection between the boyish sprite Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and resourceful London girl Wendy, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood in a marvelous screen debut. This emotional bond--and the mixed blessing of Peter's eternal childhood--is what gives Hogan's Peter Pan its rich emotional subtext, added to an already bountiful adventure that's equal parts delightful and menacing, especially when the villainous pirate Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, doubling as Wendy's father) threatens to spoil the fun. With a mischievously dazzling Tinker Bell (played by Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) and no expense spared on its lavish Australian production, this Peter Pan gets it entirely right by presenting childhood as fun and frightening, in all its wondrous joys and sorrows. --Jeff Shannon
Fine casting, genuinely special effects, and a keen combination of whimsy and danger make this Peter Pan the one to beat among all previous adaptations of J.M. Barrie's classic children's fantasy. The technical advances of CGI make the magic of Barrie's tale come alive, and the spectacular effects combined with luminous live action create an action-packed Neverland that's both believable and breathtakingly artificial, like a Maxfield Parrish landscape springing vividly to life before your eyes. More important, however, is the fact that director P.J. Hogan (whose splendid films include Muriel's Wedding and My Best Friend's Wedding) has taken care to develop a substantial, pre-adolescent affection between the boyish sprite Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and resourceful London girl Wendy, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood in a marvelous screen debut. This emotional bond--and the mixed blessing of Peter's eternal childhood--is what gives Hogan's Peter Pan its rich emotional subtext, added to an already bountiful adventure that's equal parts delightful and menacing, especially when the villainous pirate Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, doubling as Wendy's father) threatens to spoil the fun. With a mischievously dazzling Tinker Bell (played by Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) and no expense spared on its lavish Australian production, this Peter Pan gets it entirely right by presenting childhood as fun and frightening, in all its wondrous joys and sorrows. --Jeff Shannon
