In London, Wendy Darling (Ever Anderson) is a young girl who is preparing to be sent off to boarding school and must soon leave behind her childhood. Later that night however, Wendy is visited by pixie Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi) and Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) after hearing that Wendy doesn't wish to grow up and offers her and her brothers John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe) the opportunity to travel to Neverland where they never have to grow up. Once there they have encounters with Peter's nemesis Captain Hook (Jude Law) who bears a grudge against Peter for cutting off his hand and feeding it to a crocodile which leaves Wendy conflicted with the reality of Neverland not matching the stories.
Peter Pan is the latest live-action remake of a Disney animated film in this case being the 1953 film of the same name adapted from the stage play and book by J. M. Barrie. I was honestly rather skeptical of the need for yet another Peter Pan movie not only because they haven't made one that was financially successful since Hook, but with the last one I actually say is good being the 2003 version most Peter Pan movies have been rather underwhelming such as the 2015 film Pan that tried to shoehorn Peter Pan into a "hero's journey" type narrative with questionable results and not one but two Peter Pan adjacent films Come Away and Wendy that failed to leave much of an impression. The fact that David Lowery signed on to direct and write the film after doing one of the better Disney remakes with 2016's Pete's Dragon did make me at least a little curious as to what he could do with the material especially since Lowery was responsible for the fantastic fantasy drama The Green Knight. The end result of Peter Pan & Wendy doesn't fully escape the shadow of its predecessors, but I did like it a lot more than I thought I would.
In terms of the performances, I thought Ever Anderson was good as Wendy and made a strong co-lead to the material conveying the adventurous spirit you'd expect from the character while also serving as a grounding element upon which Neverland and its various denizens can bounce off against. I also rather liked Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell and while the character is no longer as vindictive and malicious as she was in either the 1953 Disney version or the 2003 adaptation she does give the character a personality of being maybe a touch arrogant even if it's not to the level of where most people are used to. But it's still more in line with the character than Julia Roberts' take from Hook. I also rather liked Alyssa Wapanatahk as Tiger Lily and how they position her as something of a big sister for Peter Pan giving her more presence in the story without stumbling over themselves (cough *Pan* cough). Alexander Molony is a bit of a sticking point for me because while he does get some moments right, he doesn't quite dive into the character's more abrasive tendencies and feels like he plays Pan with a bit too much softness to him. I don't think Molony is to blame. The movie feels like it wants to dive into that darker subtext of the story including commentary on the character's more sociopathic tendencies, but there's something of a disconnect between the performance and the material that just felt like a sticking point. However, stealing every scene he's in is Jude Law's take on Captain Hook who is very intense in the role and you can tell he's giving his all to this performance and as a result gets some of the best scenes.
In terms of the writing the movie feels much more ambitious than last year's Pinocchio especially since the movie does go a fairly different direction from how events played out in the original film. While the setup is mostly abridged and Nana and George are massively shortshrifted (Alan Tudyk is rather wasted here to be honest as George) there is a good idea at play in Neverland where it looks at the feud between Captain Hook and Peter Pan and how it's basically a creation of Peter's to give him an excuse for his adventures and feuds. This is a really rich idea as it basically reframes Peter Pan as potentially being a villain in his own story and it's a rich idea that offers a lot of possibilities but because this is a Disney film it's only really flirted with while very much retreating to the old standards. The movie moves at a decent pace and I was never bored by the film unlike Pan, Come Away, or Wendy, but it very much felt like a movie where there was a strong underlying idea that just wasn't allowed to be explored as much as it clearly wanted due to Disney emphasizing brand integrity.
If you are going to watch a Peter Pan movie, both the 1953 and 2003 versions still feel like the best way to go as they're the closest to capturing the spirit of the original play and story. Peter Pan & Wendy has some interesting ideas and if they had gone full force with them and made Peter Pan a villain I really think this could've been a unique version of Peter Pan that stood on its own. The end result is just okay but at least it wasn't a mess like Pan was and I'd rather watch this than Hook if I'm being honest because at least it isn't two and a half hours.
Peter Pan is the latest live-action remake of a Disney animated film in this case being the 1953 film of the same name adapted from the stage play and book by J. M. Barrie. I was honestly rather skeptical of the need for yet another Peter Pan movie not only because they haven't made one that was financially successful since Hook, but with the last one I actually say is good being the 2003 version most Peter Pan movies have been rather underwhelming such as the 2015 film Pan that tried to shoehorn Peter Pan into a "hero's journey" type narrative with questionable results and not one but two Peter Pan adjacent films Come Away and Wendy that failed to leave much of an impression. The fact that David Lowery signed on to direct and write the film after doing one of the better Disney remakes with 2016's Pete's Dragon did make me at least a little curious as to what he could do with the material especially since Lowery was responsible for the fantastic fantasy drama The Green Knight. The end result of Peter Pan & Wendy doesn't fully escape the shadow of its predecessors, but I did like it a lot more than I thought I would.
In terms of the performances, I thought Ever Anderson was good as Wendy and made a strong co-lead to the material conveying the adventurous spirit you'd expect from the character while also serving as a grounding element upon which Neverland and its various denizens can bounce off against. I also rather liked Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell and while the character is no longer as vindictive and malicious as she was in either the 1953 Disney version or the 2003 adaptation she does give the character a personality of being maybe a touch arrogant even if it's not to the level of where most people are used to. But it's still more in line with the character than Julia Roberts' take from Hook. I also rather liked Alyssa Wapanatahk as Tiger Lily and how they position her as something of a big sister for Peter Pan giving her more presence in the story without stumbling over themselves (cough *Pan* cough). Alexander Molony is a bit of a sticking point for me because while he does get some moments right, he doesn't quite dive into the character's more abrasive tendencies and feels like he plays Pan with a bit too much softness to him. I don't think Molony is to blame. The movie feels like it wants to dive into that darker subtext of the story including commentary on the character's more sociopathic tendencies, but there's something of a disconnect between the performance and the material that just felt like a sticking point. However, stealing every scene he's in is Jude Law's take on Captain Hook who is very intense in the role and you can tell he's giving his all to this performance and as a result gets some of the best scenes.
In terms of the writing the movie feels much more ambitious than last year's Pinocchio especially since the movie does go a fairly different direction from how events played out in the original film. While the setup is mostly abridged and Nana and George are massively shortshrifted (Alan Tudyk is rather wasted here to be honest as George) there is a good idea at play in Neverland where it looks at the feud between Captain Hook and Peter Pan and how it's basically a creation of Peter's to give him an excuse for his adventures and feuds. This is a really rich idea as it basically reframes Peter Pan as potentially being a villain in his own story and it's a rich idea that offers a lot of possibilities but because this is a Disney film it's only really flirted with while very much retreating to the old standards. The movie moves at a decent pace and I was never bored by the film unlike Pan, Come Away, or Wendy, but it very much felt like a movie where there was a strong underlying idea that just wasn't allowed to be explored as much as it clearly wanted due to Disney emphasizing brand integrity.
If you are going to watch a Peter Pan movie, both the 1953 and 2003 versions still feel like the best way to go as they're the closest to capturing the spirit of the original play and story. Peter Pan & Wendy has some interesting ideas and if they had gone full force with them and made Peter Pan a villain I really think this could've been a unique version of Peter Pan that stood on its own. The end result is just okay but at least it wasn't a mess like Pan was and I'd rather watch this than Hook if I'm being honest because at least it isn't two and a half hours.