“Come Away, Come Away!”
Review on Peter Pan

Directed by P.J Hogan (My Best Friend’s Wedding)
By: N.T Nguyen

A classic of children’s literature, Peter Pan will be boldly and digitally brought onto the silver screen for audiences of all ages come Christmas Day. Peter Pan (1904) by J.M Barrie tells the story of a little boy (Peter) who refuses to grow up. After Peter teaches the Darling children how to fly, they journey to Never-Never Land, where high adventure of wicked mermaids, gnarly pirates, and a jealous fairy ensues.

“All children grow up except one.” With this begins the story that will forever be remembered as magical. We seldom recall that this tale of Peter Pan and the imaginative paradise of Never Land has been a play, a witty novel, various stage musicals, and an animated feature film.

Written at the turn of the century, this dreamlike tale is brilliantly composed that even Hollywood can’t screw up. The mischief Lost Boys and the Darling children are beautifully cast, each equipped with a sugary dose of British humor and charm. Newcomer Rachel Hurd Wood plays the angelic role of Wendy with grace and a child’s playfulness. Child actor Jeremy Sumpter (Frailty) plays the coveted role of Peter Pan, yet not as gracefully as his fellow cast. Apart from physically resembling past Peter Pan, Sumpter exudes a hidden angst that screams teenager, not child. Sumpter’s failed attempts to capture Pan’s emotional state between love and aloneness are empty and at times dreadful to witness.

Actor Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) wonderfully plays Captain James Hook, whom is constantly chased by the monstrous ticking crocodile. Look even closer and you may find him rather familiar, just ask Mr. Darling.

Perhaps not as wickedly entertaining as the Harry Potter movies, Peter Pan does soften the blow of a late summer release of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Nevertheless, Peter Pan supplies a high dose of magical adventures that begs audiences from age five to eighty, to come fly away to a place that is “second to the right and then straight on till morning;” it is both digitally irresistible and a timelessly original fairy tale.

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