Peter Pan & Wendy, 2023.
Directed by David Lowery.
Starring Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Jude Law, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Jim Gaffigan, Joshua Pickering, Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker, Alan Tudyk, Yara Shahidi, Florence Bensberg, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez, Noah Matthews Matofsky, and Caelan Edie.
SYNOPSIS:
Live-action adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of a boy who wouldn’t grow up and recruits three young siblings in London to join him on a magical adventure to the enchanted Neverland island.
There might be as many Peter Pan movies as there are Disney live-action remakes. Admittedly, I haven’t done the research, but in my roughly ten years as a film critic, it seems like I write about a variation on this fantasy tale (not always from Disney or family-friendly) yearly. However, the selling point (for older viewers and cinephiles, anyway) with Peter Pan & Wendy is filmmaker David Lowery (not only known for artsy stunners such as The Green Knight but also responsible for one of the only decent Disney live-action remakes in Pete’s Dragon), invested in putting his unique spin on the beloved bedtime story.
So, there’s a persisting frustration that Disney, at a corporate level, doesn’t seem interested in letting David Lowery (working alongside his Pete’s Dragon collaborator Toby Halbrooks, basing this take on the 1953 animated version and, of course, the novel by DJ.M. Barrie) on utilizing creative freedom and artistic liberties without a healthy dosage of familiarity and live-action interpretations of shots ripped right from previous animations. David Lowery is an innovative storyteller with bold ideas and sincerity regarding emotional storytelling, meaning it’s shocking to watch roughly the first 45 minutes, where it feels as if Peter Pan & Wendy is going through the motions repeating a classic, but perhaps with more dignified representation from minority and women characters (fairy Tinkerbell is not a jealous traitor, for example).
Somewhere in London during the 1950s, and before bedtime, Wendy (Ever Anderson) is acting out the Peter Pan myth with her younger brothers John and Michael (played by Joshua Pickering and Jacobi Jupe), eventually being scolded by her parents (Molly Parker and Alan Tudyk) to grow up and prepare to receive an education. She doesn’t want to. She wants to stay young and have fun goofing off with her brothers. Meanwhile, Peter Pan (an upbeat and carefree Alexander Molony) and Tinkerbell (Yara Shahidi) show up for unknown reasons, whisking the children away to Neverland, an island where children never age.
Cue the introductions to several more staple characters, such as the misfit friend group The Lost Boys, indigenous Princess Tiger Lily (Alyssa Wapanatâhk), who speaks in subtitled Cree, and iconic pirate villain duo Captain Hook (Jude Law) and first mate Smee (Jim Gaffigan), the former of which uses a hook for a missing hand that Peter Pan is responsible for lopping off.
It’s not until the inevitable major battle that the heroes win that Peter Pan & Wendy begins to take on an expanded, fresher direction. Simply put, the dynamic between resisting growing old and the revelation that growing old is part of life is more prominent in the back of the narrative, as are some intriguing takes on the relationship between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. A theme of friendship runs through the story, involving the natural feeling of missing one’s parents that would unquestionably creep in from running off to Neverland for so long.
And although Peter Pan & Wendy still suffers from the typical Disney live-action syndrome of muted colors and lack of expression, David Lowery is enough of a visionary director to conjure up exciting action sequences, make use of natural lighting and gorgeous environments, and toy around with playful camera movements imbuing a sense of magic into an otherwise washed out color palette. There’s also a particular shanty that is strangely chilling, feeling more in line with the serious thematic exploration the second half is attempting and that David Lowery presumably wishes the whole experience could have been. Unfortunately, there is also no real standout performance, although everyone mostly succeeds at successfully bringing some weight and gravitas once the story shifts into something more thoughtful and character-driven, but still with swashbuckling set pieces involving pixie dust and more.
It’s as if David Lowery was forced to agree to a compromise with Disney; remake Peter Pan using roughly the first hour and then run wild creatively. That’s also much to sit through before a film becomes moderately worthwhile. There’s a version of this movie where David Lowery has full creative control that likely soars. Peter Pan & Wendy takes too long to fly.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
