Peter Pan
Reviewed by Shelley Cameron for Reel Movie Critic
HH ½
Cast
Jeremy Sumpter	Peter Pan
Jason Isaacs	Mr. Darling/Cpt. Hook
Rachel Hurd-Wood	Wendy
Ludivine Sagnier	Tinkerbell
Directed by P. J. Hogan. Fantasy. Rated PG for adventure action & peril. Running time 105 minutes.

P. J. Hogan's version of J. M. Barrie's classic story comes to the screen full of the action and quick editing that seems to have become the benchmark for many big studio movies. For my money it detracts rather than adds to this faithful adaptation of the story of the boy who would not grow up. Fortunately, two strong performances from Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy and Jason Isaacs, in dual roles as Mr. Darling and Captain James Hook, pique interest beyond the sword fights. The darker and more subtle aspects of the tale suggest the push-me, pull-you struggle of a father to let his pre-pubescent daughter move into womanhood. If Wendy seems innocently, blissfully aware of it, Hook's inner voice is close to the surface, even as he silences it at every turn. Hurd-Wood's Wendy is not the meek motherer of many another screen and stage versions, but a feisty, fearless, if naively so, imaginary adventuress with little brothers John and Michael.

A second element that distinguishes this adaptation is a rather heavy romantic leaning. From the early fly-about in the Darling nursery where Peter has lost his shadow after being nipped by the family's protective Saint Bernard, it's clear that love has found Andy Hardy. We can't miss this from such signposts as the heart shaped carvings of the bed that frame Peter and Wendy's faces. This coming romance is met with the mischievous jealously of Tink (Ludivine Sagnier, "Swimming Pool"), wordlessly effective as the energetic and feisty fairy. She flits about without much focus but is there at the needed moment to save Peter by consuming the poison meant for him. The bitter brew of malice, jealously, and disappointment mixed up by Hook fails again to be the perpetual boy's undoing. Unfortunately, Jeremy Sumpter as Peter is the weak link in forging an emotionally satisfying story, largely because he is just too, well, boyish. Romantic love further makes its presence known in a flirtation between Indian princess Tiger Lily and Michael, and again in the enduring bond between Mr. and Mrs. Darling. In spite of nicely paced rhythm, shifting between the pirates' pursuit of Peter and the budding love story, the characters and motivation of supporting roles including Tiger Lily and the lost boys are all but gone.

The sidebar of Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave), although ably played, does little to complement the whole. Visual aspects that work well are the trip across the galaxies to Neverland and the interiors of the Jolly Roger. The island itself seems lifeless, the cotton candy clouds too fake, and the treacherous waters flat. With the exception of the mysterious mermaids that fascinate Wendy, the unremarkable computer aided special effects lack the seductive power to pull us into the magic that we'd like to feel.