Pan Movie Review

Pan, the latest adaptation of the beloved boy who never grows old, delivers great performances but underwhelms in its plot. The story of Peter Pan’s origin was told too quickly without fully developing the character.

The film relies on the audiences’ familiarity with Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Neverland. Because of this, we never get to fully see and feel how Peter became Peter Pan. In the film, he starts as an orphan boy who is scared of heights and in a singular moment commands a huge army of fairies flying around and taking down pirates. There were several scenes in which he tries to overcome his fears but they never really followed through.

Given that this is Peter Pan, there are fight scenes and sword fights. But the fight sequences were too fast and only involves a few characters. The moves are not clearly shown and the camera angles are at times too close to fully picture the fight scenes. The climax of the film is not very memorable. It is sort of cliché. At least they could have shown Blackbeard to be even more resilient in the end or at least showed Peter why Blackbeard really needs the fairy dust in the end.

The story telling in the film drags at some point. Well, it drags in several scenes and what makes up for it are the acting. Hugh Jackman basically stole this film. Any scene that he is in is a must see. You cannot see any hint of Wolverine in Jackman’s performance. He made the character of Blackbeard his own and it is one scary pirate.

Garrett Hedlund’s Hook is sort over the top given his accent but it works. Because of this the audience will wonder how he becomes Hook given his friendly and charming personality. He has good chemistry with Rooney Mara’s Tiger Lily which gives the love story part of the film. Rooney Mara is both enchanting and fierce as Tiger Lily. She shows us her tough and soft side while still keeping some mystery to her character. New comer Levi Miller as Peter delivers a good performance. He manages his own while on screen with Jackman, Hedlund and Mara.

Another plus for the film is the score and the songs. When you hear miners and pirates sing Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, you pay attention. The score is magical as it brings to life the world of Neverland. It guides us through all the running, the fights, the jungle, the river and the fairy hive. The score added life to the sometimes dragging areas in the film.

The visuals in the film are good. They made the world of Pan full of colors and sunsets, rainbows and clouds. Each part of the island of Neverland has its own feel from the mines to the crocodile infested river.

Pan will be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Like I said before, the film is relying on your knowledge of Peter Pan so the character development is not thought out well. Given that this is an origin story, they could have at least added some memorable twists and turns. The film Hook (1991) had its unique take on Peter but it was a memorable one. At least they could have done it with this.

Pan is an adventure to a new and familiar land. It delivers action, some laughs and sighs. It is good but it could have been better with some tweaking on the plot. As the movie repeatedly says, “think happy thoughts” and you’ll get through this one.

I give it 6 out of 10.