Peter Pan | AccessAtlanta

Peter Pan

The Darling family children receive a visit from Peter Pan, who takes them to Never Never Land where an ongoing war with the evil Pirate Captain Hook is taking place.

FILM FACTS

Starring: Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood
Director: P.J. Hogan
Rating: PG for adventure action sequences and peril
Genre: Family, Fantasy, Action

Official movie site

See showtimes (PG) 113 minutes

Grade: B

Verdict: An ambitious blend of kiddie adventure infused with the melancholy of the original tale.

By STEVE MURRAY
Cox News Service

In the new, live-action "Peter Pan," the boy who won't grow up is a far cry from the feather-capped scamp of Disney's animated version or the middle-aged ladies who've swung from stage harnesses for a century. In writer-director P.J. Hogan's version, the role is played by a real boy (Jeremy Sumpter) as a much darker, self-absorbed fellow closer to the original figure of J.M. Barrie's play and novelization, "Peter and Wendy."

The good news for those who love the melancholy core of Barrie's tale is that Hogan brings it front and center, along with a cusp-of-adolescence, pre-sexual tension between Peter and Wendy Darling (Rachel Hurd-Wood).

Of course, that same choice may surprise parents who take their kids expecting merely a cotton-candy romp through Neverland.

Peter first captures Wendy's fascination when she finds him on the floor of her nursery, crying over his attempt to re-attach his severed shadow (one of Barrie's many lovely, fanciful touches). But teardrops are rare for Peter, who loves to boast about "the cleverness of me."

With a helpful shake of fairy dust from the winged, jealous Tinkerbell (a slapstick Ludivine Sagnier), he flies away with Wendy from London to Neverland, along with her brothers John (Harry Newell) and Michael (Freddie Popplewell). They're thrilled by the prospect of a place where real Indians (Native American variety), scary mermaids and, especially, pirates exist. As our narrator explains, "What troubles a grownup will never trouble a child." Not even if Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, also doubling as Mr. Darling) is determined to kill Peter (and all his friends) with the fierce hook he wears as a replacement for the hand the boy cut off and fed to a crocodile.

Director Hogan ("My Best Friend's Wedding") creates a pseudo love triangle for Hook, Peter and Wendy, who on first sight of the pirate is "not afraid, but entranced." Hogan shrewdly observes that Pan and Hook are twisted mirror images of each other, destined to end up alone in life - Hook, because no one can really love him, and Peter because he refuses to love.

Another Hogan invention, in a movie that sticks close to the original text while striking some interesting variations, is the Darling children's Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave), determined to teach Wendy how to grow up to be a lady. It's a nice addition, making it clear that the kids are being stalked as much by puberty as by Hook.

"Peter Pan" has lovely touches, including creepy mermaids, a wonderfully spooky castle, a generous assortment of hooks for Hook, and an "I believe in fairies" sequence that sweeps from Neverland to London. It's like an Edwardian variation of "Network's" "I'm mad as hell" chorus, ringing through the world.

The movie is far from perfect. Some folks may hate the way the Freudian undertones collide with the broader, kiddie-pleasing comic bits. And you won't truly believe a boy can fly. The special effects are sometimes herky-jerky, and while some of the countless computer-generated images are breathtaking, at times they threaten to overwhelm the story.

Among the movie's chief assets is Isaacs, as dashing, sexy and scary as Hook as he is adorably timid as Mr. Darling. Sumpter makes a fine, boisterous, selfish Peter (though purists won't dig his American accent). Newcomer Hurd-Wood is pretty and endearing; Richard Briers makes a wonderful Smee; and while she's little more than decoration, Olivia Williams' Mrs. Darling is a vision of Edwardian beauty. The movie may not soar, but this awfully big adventure is far from earthbound.