Peter Pan

Just caught the show with friends. This film seems closer to the book. But,it focuses a bit too heavily on the relationship of a very young Pan and Wendy. Too much "puppy love". Boring to adults and children.

Acting is mediorce at best. No standouts! The computerized special effects seem to take away from "Tink's" fairy dust a bit. This Tink is surely no Julia Roberts. She's barely a supporting cast. The lost boys are pretty much lost in the story. No one stands out or is even given a chance to have a personality.

Hook is a bit stronger as a character, but he is nowhere near the caliber of a Dustin Hoffman. And Schmee is just a giant elf with little charm. The pirates all look like Michael Jackson's Thriller zombies.

Any charm and character is wisked away by a lot of clever computerized flying and fight scenes. The coolest character is the crock! Steve would be orgasmic hunting down this crocky!

It's neither entertaining enough for kids or clever enough for adults to chuckle at.

All I could say was "It Ain't Hook! ". And worst of all...No "BANGARAY!". No Thudbutt. Blah!

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Gotta say, I'm up for this one, too. The Times review was a surprising qualified rave, talking about the darker, sadder Barrie elements being brought to the surface. I think we're overdue for a male child in the role. The underlying sexual issues were oddly skewed with those crowing, crotch-less gals in butch haircuts. A story about repressed adolescent sexuality and gender roles became a lesbian love story, with Mary Martin so coy and flirty in the presence of the womanly Kathleen Nolan in a nightgown.

This film, whatever its flaws, gives the story back to Barrie puirsts. And of course, NAMBLA. Reaching those far-reaching demos makes it a damned ambitious project.

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Doesn't that HONK team have a PETER PAN musical? the team that is writing additional songs for the stage version of the Sherman Brothers film score of MARY POPPINS?

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I adore Peter Pan! I was obsessed with it when I was little. I used to act it out with my cousins all the time! since I was the only girl, I always got to be Wendy =)

My favortie video ever was the Mary Martin version..i wore that tape to death! Until very recently, I had NO IDEA Mary was 47 years old when she did that role. As a kid, I totally bought her being a young boy! Fun stuff...

But yeah, this new version looks really cool and im excited to see it as soon as I can! I hope its better than Hook....

After the raging debate about Miss Rigby's Return, I checked out the new film. I would have to disagree with the nice poster who started this thread. I thought this movie was lovely. P. J. Hogan did a wonderful job mining the story for new (Barrie intended) subtexts, and the focus on adolescent yearning and budding sexuality was done subtelty. Not to rehash the Rigby fight ... but there is something powerful about seeing the story of a boy afraid of -- shall we say -- his inner-man ... played by a boy, not a woman d'un age certain. There's one scene of mutual attraction between Wendy/Peter that scares the hell out of both characters. Bravo.

But whether anyone wants a fresh spin or not, the film is just beautiful to see. It has this sort of combo Magrite/Maxfield Parrish look in the art direction. What skies! One fight scene on the pirate ship is staged at sunset, and has that special, intense peach colored lighting often employed by Parrish in his work. Stunning. It moves along, too, having none of the lead that Spielberg injected into HOOK. And the actor playing the Capn is effective. And for once ... butch. The fight between Hook and Peter for Wendy's heart and mind (!) is particularly sophisticated, and this Hook resists camp, but is still outre.
Anyone curious won't be disappointed. It's not a holiday confection, but a new, serious re-visiting of the story.

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Updated On: 1/10/04 at 04:43 PM

I haven't seen the Rigby version (or the Sandy Duncan one either) but is it safe to assume that "Ugg A Wugg" has been cut? And if so, has anything replaced it?

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Yes, the number was drastically altered into a big drum/dance number. I loved the new version..

Hook was never supposed to be Barrie's vision of Captain Hook. It was supposed to be Spielberg's vision of what happens to Barrie's characters after the book.

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