Apart from the 1953 Disney animation, I have never seen a movie about the actual story of Peter Pan. I've seen a biopic about the writing of the play (Finding Neverland), a sequel where Peter is a grown up Robin Williams (Hook) and now a prequel of how Peter got to Neverland in Pan.
Peter (Levi Miller) lives in an orphanage in WW2 London. He dreams of one day being reunited with his mother, whom left him on the doorstop of the orphanage twelve years earlier. After investigating the head nun, Peter discovers that the young orphans are being sold to pirates who come and take them away on flying ships. Peter gets himself captured and whisked away to Neverland, which is led by the evil pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), who uses the captured boys to mine for fairy dust. It is in this mine that Peter learns that he is the chosen one of a prophecy to kill Blackbeard and free the fairies that have sealed themselves in their world. After escaping with James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), he meets with native princess Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) to fulfill his part in the prophecy.
I must admit that I do get a certain level of enjoyment from origin stories like this one, but only when they have enough of a connection to the original source material so that there is a reminder why we went to see it in the first place. And Pan has enough of those to get by. Quiet references to Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, the crocodile and James Hook's weapon of choice being a, well, hook do a good job to make older audiences who have grown up with these characters feel a little warm inside. I also get the feeling as though the film was heavily influenced by 1991's Hook, especially with Hugh Jackman's over the top portrayal of Blackbeard rather closely mirroring that of Dustin Hoffman's Captain Hook, even down to the first time both characters appear on screen.
However, references to past works don't make a fully succinct or satisfying film. This is an incredibly action packed film and there were times when I felt like the movie needed to slow down and take a breather just so that there wasn't a flurry of activity at all times. There were two moments as well which come across as just confusing and anachronistic. They involve all of the miners chanting both "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones. When you figure out what these songs are, it throws you off completely. This film is also obviously intended to be the first step in a franchise as none of the major character arcs are completed to where they should be. I think if this was made as a stand alone movie it would be a lot better than it is.
Young Aussie Levi Miller leads the cast quite well, especially for a movie of this size. There were parts where I found his accent to be a tiny bit annoying. Garrett Hedlund gives a truly kooky, but enjoyable performance as Hook and this is complemented well by Adeel Akhtar's hilarious performance as his future sidekick Smee. Rooney Mara handles the action sequences well but ultimately I felt as though her character was rather flat. Jackman's insanely upbeat performance is probably the best part of the film although there are moments when he can get rather dark. Supporting roles by Amanda Seyfried and Cara Delvingne round out the cast.
Pan is an enjoyable enough movie with a storyline that is engaging enough that isn't too simple to get bored. Because it is a kids movie I am of course saying that it will be enjoyable for them. If you are over the age of 15, you will most likely be seeing it for the attractive stars of the film (Hedlund and Mara) or just because of Jackman's really bizarre and against type performance.
I must admit that I do get a certain level of enjoyment from origin stories like this one, but only when they have enough of a connection to the original source material so that there is a reminder why we went to see it in the first place. And Pan has enough of those to get by. Quiet references to Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, the crocodile and James Hook's weapon of choice being a, well, hook do a good job to make older audiences who have grown up with these characters feel a little warm inside. I also get the feeling as though the film was heavily influenced by 1991's Hook, especially with Hugh Jackman's over the top portrayal of Blackbeard rather closely mirroring that of Dustin Hoffman's Captain Hook, even down to the first time both characters appear on screen.
However, references to past works don't make a fully succinct or satisfying film. This is an incredibly action packed film and there were times when I felt like the movie needed to slow down and take a breather just so that there wasn't a flurry of activity at all times. There were two moments as well which come across as just confusing and anachronistic. They involve all of the miners chanting both "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones. When you figure out what these songs are, it throws you off completely. This film is also obviously intended to be the first step in a franchise as none of the major character arcs are completed to where they should be. I think if this was made as a stand alone movie it would be a lot better than it is.
Young Aussie Levi Miller leads the cast quite well, especially for a movie of this size. There were parts where I found his accent to be a tiny bit annoying. Garrett Hedlund gives a truly kooky, but enjoyable performance as Hook and this is complemented well by Adeel Akhtar's hilarious performance as his future sidekick Smee. Rooney Mara handles the action sequences well but ultimately I felt as though her character was rather flat. Jackman's insanely upbeat performance is probably the best part of the film although there are moments when he can get rather dark. Supporting roles by Amanda Seyfried and Cara Delvingne round out the cast.
Pan is an enjoyable enough movie with a storyline that is engaging enough that isn't too simple to get bored. Because it is a kids movie I am of course saying that it will be enjoyable for them. If you are over the age of 15, you will most likely be seeing it for the attractive stars of the film (Hedlund and Mara) or just because of Jackman's really bizarre and against type performance.
No comments:
Post a Comment