- Released: April 28, 2023
- Directed by: David Lowery
- Running time: 1 h 46 min
- Rating: 3/5
Synopsis
My Thoughts
Full disclosure before I go in: This is not a great movie. Heck, I wouldn't even call it good. Decent at most. Overall just mediocre and basic. But I also wouldn't call it bad.
I get it, everyone gets it: People hate the modern Disney remakes. Me, I'm not one of the people to hate these remakes until I've seen them and actually consider them bad. Most of them I consider to be either bad or bland, but there's also been a few I quite liked (e.g. The Jungle Book from 2016, The Lion King from 2019, both Maleficent movies). People are of course fully allowed to dislike these remakes as much as they want, but I am very much the type of person to first watch them before I judge them. Of course, most did still turn out to be bad or incredibly forgettable and bland, but I do not judge a Disney remake movie just because it's a remake. I get that there's people that do and don't blame them for it, but for me it's very much a case by case basis.
Another disclaimer beforehand just so you know why I gave the movie this "high" (if you could call a 3/5 high) a rating is because...quite frankly, I cannot stand the original Disney Peter Pan. I know a lot of people consider it a classic and think it has amazing characters and a wonderful world and a great villain and I just do not see it. I didn't grow up watching this movie, so perhaps it is because I simply have no nostalgia for it whatsoever, but I have seen it a few times in the past few years for my Disney marathons and each time I just feel so bored.
I'm not gonna go on a huge tangent here so I'll keep this brief: I don't give a shit about any of the main characters, they're forgettable and boring. I hate Hook as a villain, I don't find him engaging, I just hate his "comedy" shtick and when it comes to him being a villain he is neither threatening nor funny. The animation looks nice, but again I don't like the Neverland setting (which never even made any sense for me personally for various reasons, but that's a rant for another day) and of course there's so much blatant anti-indigenous racism in this movie. Whenever people bring up the original Disney animated Peter Pan they usually talk about it being a good movie outside of the racism, and I just really do not agree here.
So what about this version of Disney's Peter Pan? Like I said before, I do not consider it to be good, it's just mostly mediocre. But honestly that's enough for me, compared to how much I dislike the original even this bland film that takes itself way too seriously is a major step up.
This film again does quite a few things wrong. Like I just said, it takes itself too seriously. Even if I don't like the original this is based on, I still know that Neverland is supposed to be this place full of whimsy, fun and imagination and this movie turns it into a bland grassland with not a lot to it; we barely even get to explore it. The characters take themselves really seriously, too, and while I get what they where going for I just don't think it's really fitting with a story like this, where childlike wonder is supposed to be so much of the appeal. Characters mope quite a lot here and it gets old fast.
The colors, like everyone has brought up, in this movie are also drab as fuck, which also adds to the more dour atmosphere. Everything constantly looks like dull shades of brown or green or gray and it's just not appealing to look at. Even if a movie wants to take itself seriously, there can still be some bloody color. Especially in a supposedly whimsical and fantastical land. I think it'd actually be a great way to distinguish Neverland from the real world here, by giving it a different color palette. Also, the lighting is way too dark. I don't know who was in charge of the color correction and lighting here, but this really shouldn't look so drab and dark.
The characters I consider...okay. They're pretty darn basic and whatnot, but at the same time I feel that they are (very minor) improvements over the original, where I considered them all to be very one-note and boring. Sure, this movie takes itself too seriously and the characters still fall into basic categories, but I didn't hate our cast or anything. Just...bland and forgettable, like most of the film.
There's a few rare changes I am actually positive about. Not a lot but, more so, at least. First: Tinkerbell. I really liked her in this movie as opposed to the original where she really just acts unlikable a lot of the time. This Tinkerbell here is more neutral and helpful, so I genuinely like her, more than any of the other characters. There's also of course the thankful improvements on the godawful racism of the original, and the cast overall is rather diverse which was neat to see.
I also thought the whole idea of an actual backstory between Peter Pan and Hook, and Hook being a past Lost Boy who grew up, were neat. At least, I think it's neat in concept. The final execution I just felt so-and-so about. It was mostly a whole lot of talking about the backstory and trying to get the audience to sympathize with Hook and it just doesn't really work as well as it should have. Again, this is a good and interesting twist to the story, but the execution ultimately botched it a bit.
Overall a mostly bland, dull and forgettable movie, but I do still prefer it over the original. At least I like the characters a little more here and it has some neat concepts. Not much, but it's something.
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