Peter Pan and Wendy – An Empty Adaptation

Let’s face it, there are so many Peter Pan adaptations out there that it’s hard to get excited for yet another one. most audiences more or less know the story and a lot of its many variations over the decades, Peter Pan and Wendy had the makings of being something different, at least on paper. Based on just his name alone, David Lowery brings hype to any project he happens to be associated with. This isn’t the first time he’s worked with Disney, previously adapting Pete’s Dragon in the 2016 film of the same name. Developing a distinctive style as he tackled several different genres over subsequent films, Lowery’s has created a little niche for himself. With Peter Pan and Wendy, this latest adaptation is a misfire in virtually every way. Boasting some style with little to no substance whatsoever, the film is merely a hollow and emotionless shell that will make for a slog of a watch. Battling tones while aimlessly trying to seemingly establish a new angle for the story, it simply didn’t work. Overselling and underdelivering, the lack of character development undercut any potential emotional impact.

Even though the film is an adaptation of a well-known story, an effort still has to be made to generate a connection between audiences and its characters but this arguably never happened here. It goes without saying that whether or not a connection can be made is where Peter Pan and Wendy ultimately lives or dies. In terms of the story, this film pretty much has all the basics where the boy who never wanted to grow up, Peter Pan (Molony), saves Wendy Darling (Anderson) and her two brothers, John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe), and along with Tinkerbell (Yara Shahidi), magically transports them all to Neverland. There, they run into Peter’s arch nemesis, Captain Hook (Law), who was once again up to no good. Running at a mere 103 minutes, the film barely gives audiences any time to breathe as it awkwardly stumbles its way through. Essentially a series of scenes, it indecisively fumbles from one tone to another, supported by thin character development. Treading the line between silly and serious, it struggled at both as it tried to grow up itself.

The eventual progression of the story came with very little in the way of fanfare as the film’s underdeveloped characters and subsequent subplots mounted while giving audiences enough of a reason to care. This pattern quickly amounts to a dull watch regardless of whatever new direction it takes the familiar story. All that buildup was meaningless as a pretense for the climax of Peter Pan and Wendy. While the theme of the perils of growing up remain for all the characters, that held especially true for Peter and Hook. In order for that relationship to evolve, the story attempted to look back as the root of their contention appeared to be the need for some sense of closure. Meanwhile, Wendy and her brothers, outside of a handful of predictable cutesy moments, were relegated as window dressing, only serving as a plot device to move the story towards the aforementioned climax. In the end, the problem with the climax and everything leading up to it was that none of its emotional scenes were earned seeing how the film failed to do the work to support them in a meaningful way.

Narratively lacking, the technical aptitude of Peter Pan and Wendy failed to do much to move the needle. The aesthetic audiences have come to expect from a David Lowery film were nonexistent for the most part while its climax was butchered by horrendous editing. Boasting a fairly standard score, its purpose was basically to accentuate the story’s forced emotional moments. However, the most glaring technical misstep was the CGI work done to bring the character of Tinkerbell to life. A distracting presence within the story, the lack of emotion on her virtually dead face did not help her case. Despite this, none of it is Shahidi’s fault as she purely their for the ride, or at least her likeness was.

In terms of performances, they could only go as far as the script could take them which was not that far. While not necessarily good or bad per se, the performances of its primarily young cast just rang hollow. The most noteworthy of that cast is of course Jude Law as Captain Hook. Though he was asked to do a lot, his range was definitely up to the task at keeping up with the tone changes. The campier side of Hook was the more entertaining one but the more serious the character became, the more disconnected he became from the rest of a film that could never quite reach his level.

At the end of the day, Peter Pan and Wendy is an empty adaptation of a familiar story lacking the emotion or substance to keep audiences engaged.

still courtesy of Disney

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.