The great Peter Pan story is once again wasted on a sub-par film adaptation, this time with P.J. Hogan's Peter Pan. Staying faithful to J.M. Barrie's story & play, there are some enjoyable moments, and the great Jason Issacs is perfectly cast as Captain Hook, but overall this remains fairly uninvolving and at times irritatingly cheesy. Jeremy Sumpter makes for a sub-par Pan, Hogan playing up the teen idol aspect of the role and any kind of charisma Pan might have is lost. Rachel Hurd-Wood is slightly better as Wendy, but it's Issacs who steals the show as both Hook and Wendy's father--or rather he would if only he was used a little more. He's clearly so suited to both roles I was unhappy he didn't get a chance to really show off, especially as Hook, a truly great villain. Ludivine Sagnier is also perfectly wily and foxy as Tinkerbell, and also sadly underused. The Lost Boy/Pan and Wendy scenes are simply not interesting enough, and thus I kept drifting as the film cut back to them. A great movie is waiting to be made from this story, and if the Pan/Hook dynamic was truly explored it would make for an engaging, exciting film, but sadly Hogan just doesn't pull it off here. It's rather nicely designed, there's a moderately exciting finale and a slightly worrying subliminal 'sexual awakening' undertone, but overall I came out underwhelmed.
** 1/2