Neverland: The Legend of Peter Pan

Year of Release: 2011
Director: Nick Willing
Starring: Charlie Rowe, Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel, Charles Dance, Q'orianka Kilcher, Bob Hoskins, Keira Knightley

Anybody that knows me well will know how much I adore the story of Peter Pan. It was my absolute favourite movie as a kid and to this day I still love it. I've lost count of the amount of times I've sat and watched the original Disney adaptation (1953) of the story, but I know it was an awful lot. I know a lot of people’s love of the story stems from the fact that Peter Pan never grows up and this idea of holding onto childhood has been a major attraction for most. Me? It was the fact that he could fly. As a kid, nothing seemed more thrilling than the thought of leaping out of my bedroom window and flying off to a magical place filled with adventure and pirates! Ah the thrill of it all! My love of Peter Pan did not fade away with childhood as the story is still very much a favourite of mine to this day. Over the years, I have accumulated a variety of different versions of the film including Hook (1991), Return to Neverland (2002), Peter Pan (2003) and one of my all-time favourite films Finding Neverland (2004). Whilst all these versions were enjoyable enough, it was Finding Neverland that really sparked my love of Peter Pan all over again. Perhaps it was because it told the story of how Peter Pan and the wonderful, magical world of Neverland originated. It might also have had something to do with the amazing cast, including Kate Winslet, Freddie Highmore (as Peter) and Johnny Depp as J. M. Barrie. I will fess up now and admit that I am a huge fan of Johnny and I will happily sit and watch anything just because he happens to be in it. So you can imagine my excitement when Johnny Depp and Peter Pan came together in one film. Amazing. Anyway, watching Finding Neverland rekindled my interest in the story, and resulted in me stumbling across this little gem called Neverland. 

     Neverland, a two part mini-series, relates the story of Peter Pan as it has never been told before, telling the legend of how Peter Pan came to be The Boy Who Never Grew Up. I have to admit I did squeal a bit when I saw this original and exciting new take on the legendary tale (I know, lame). The story is set in London, 1906. Peter (Charlie Rowe) is a young orphan who is taken in by a crook and talented fencer named Jimmy (James Hook played by Rhys Ifans). Peter, along with a gang of other young orphans who are similarly taken in, work the streets of London as a group of juvenile thieves who pick-pocket the townspeople to provide loot for Jimmy. When the boys and Jimmy break into Harbottles Antiques, a store which Jimmy has had his eye on for quite some time, they discover the artefact that he so desperately wants. The artefact in question is a strange, glowing orb, which, when knocked, causes Jimmy and the boys to vanish leaving Peter behind. After his panic subsides, Peter manages to find someone in possession of a similar orb which he then uses to magically transport himself to Neverland. Upon first glance, Neverland wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. It’s an icy, desolate and rather unwelcoming place - a far cry from the exotic island that I had anticipated. But as it was, this was just one of the many parts of Neverland. The beautiful beaches, pristine waters, rocky mountains and wild forests are all later brought to life as Peter explores all aspects of the island.

     After Peter’s gallant rescue of his friends from the clutches of the pirates, they take refuge in the Indian’s camp. Here, we are introduced to Tiger Lilly who helps Peter discover the orb that will enable him to return home. But after a rather violent encounter with the pirates, Peter appears to come to a rather sticky end. Luckily for him, the tree spirits (basically the fairies) come to his aid and he is healed by being immersed in a pool of magical mineral dust which gives him the ability to fly. With his newly acquired power, Peter, along with the help of Tinkerbell (voiced by Keira Knightley), embarks on a mission to stop Jimmy and the pirates from finding the spirit colony and the magical dust. It is during this showdown that we see Jimmy transform into the villainous Captain Hook, intent on exacting his revenge on Peter for cutting off his hand and feeding it to the crocodile. The story then comes to end at the precise point that the original story begins, with Peter losing his shadow and heading off back to London in search of it during which time he meets Wendy.

     This original and adventurous twist on the classic story was thoroughly enjoyable. I think it is a fabulous adaptation that will appeal not only to fans of Peter Pan, but to anyone who loves fantastical, adventurous and magical films. The film is visually stunning and the acting performance is similarly commendable. I thought Charlie Rowe did a fantastic job as Peter, capturing his playfulness, innocence and slightly cocky nature perfectly. Rhys Ifans as Captain Hook also did a great job of portraying the pirate that we all love to hate. Packed full of adventure, magic and humour, Neverland is certainly worth a watch, particularly if you’re a lover of Peter Pan like me! The only criticism I can think to offer is that it came to rather an abrupt end and as Peter discovered his shadow was missing, I couldn't help but desperately want the story to continue.

My rating: 9/10 

The Brothers Grimm

Year of Release: 2005
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Lena Headey

This is a film that I just happened to randomly stumble upon whilst moseying around DVD aisles. I've always been a fan of fantasy type films so I thought this would be very much up my street. The film is based on the fantastical fairy tales written by the legendary storytellers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Grimm brothers, played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, are a pair of con artists who travel from town to town promising to rid them of terrifying monsters and demons in exchange for large sums of money. But their good deeds are not all what they seem as the brothers use cunning trickery to stage these attacks from all kinds of ghostly and mythical creatures. Following the defeat of these non-existent creatures, the unwitting town is left feeling joyous and safe whilst the brothers leave as victorious, slightly richer heroes. But their reign of trickery is brought to an abrupt end when the two find themselves in a real enchanted forest wherein a number of young girls have gone missing. Unsurprisingly, the forest proves to be no match for their tricks and traps and so the brothers must learn how to fight against real magic in a desperate bid to find the missing girls before it’s too late.

     I have to say, I thought this film would be much better than it was. I'm a big fan of fantastical, magical movies but this one really failed to impress me. The visual effects in the film are probably its strongest point. It is very visually entertaining and it has a lot of impressive special effects, such as the moving trees in the forest and the ageing queen. The effects do look quite realistic and so you can happily sit and watch it without having to sit there and exclaim “well that didn't look real!” I always find that if things look too unrealistic it’s hard to really get into the story. But visual effects aside, I felt that the plot just wasn't strong enough. The scenes in the enchanted forest and the rescue of the village were drawn out for far too long that towards the end I found myself rapidly losing interest. I also found that some scenes were just far too absurd that they were almost laughable. The scenes in which a young girl is captured in a sticky spiders web type substance hanging from the mouth of a horse which then promptly swallows her whole was one such ridiculous example. But nothing compared to the part where a giant blob of muddy water, complete with beady eyes and a devilish grin, captured young girl in the village who then turned into a rather psychotic version of the gingerbread man. Whilst this did give me a bit of a laugh, it was just a bit too daft to ever find believable. With its promising storyline and strong cast, including highly acclaimed actors Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, I was expecting this film to make much of an impression than it did.

My rating: 6/10