"Peter Pan"

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- One hundred years after audiences were first invited out an upper bedroom window and steered toward the "second star to the right, straight on 'til sunrise," director P.J. Hogan brings J.M. Barrie's classic story of a boy who refuses to grow up to the big screen in his resplendent "Peter Pan" (Universal). While Barrie's timeless fairy tale has inspired countless retellings over the years, including Disney's beloved 1953 animated version, few can rival the luminous charm and technical bravura of Hogan's lavish interpretation -- the first live-action feature-film adaptation since the silent era.

Set in buttoned-up Edwardian London, the story opens in the upstairs nursery of the Darling household. On a chilly winter's night, precocious Wendy Darling (Rachel Hurd-Wood) mesmerizes her two younger brothers, John (Harry Newell) and Michael (Freddie Popplewell), with stories full of skull-and-crossbones swordplay. But after a visit from their straitlaced, matriarchal Aunt Millicent (Lynn Redgrave), Wendy's doting but milksop father (Jason Isaacs) heavy-heartedly informs his raconteur daughter that she is to be groomed for womanhood and must, therefore, in the words of St. Paul, "put away the things of childhood" -- namely pirate hats and bedtime stories.

Enter Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter), a mischievous imp who invites Wendy and her tag-along siblings to escape with him back to Neverland, an enchanted realm of perpetual adults-free fun and adventure populated by Indians, mermaids, fairies and, best of all, pirates. Once there they meet Peter's prepubescent posse, the Lost Boys, a tribe of orphans who adopt Wendy as their den mother. They also cross swords with the villainous Captain Hook (also played by Jason Isaacs), a steel-clawed knave obsessed with exacting revenge on Peter for depriving him of his right hand and feeding it to a monstrous, ticking crocodile.

At its fairy-tale heart, "Peter Pan" is an elegy to the tender fleetingness of childhood. Yet underneath its pixie dust facade it touches on the deeper issues of fear and loss -- lost youth, lost parents, lost ambition (what other fairy tale has a complex named after it?). It is also a hope-filled invitation to the greatest adventure of all -- love. "Neverland" is a double-edged sword. Within its boundaries one need "never" grow up. But such magic comes at a steep price. By staying an eternal child, Peter can "never" experience mature love with Wendy or have a family of his own.

The film also imparts a valuable message about bravery, explaining in one scene how it manifests itself in many forms, some more subtle than others, including the heroism of parents who sacrifice personal ambitions for the good of their children.

As in most fairy tales, the day is saved by a kiss -- in this case a magical "hidden" kiss. Unlike many films which foster cynicism by depicting goodness as pie-in-the-sky naivete, and therefore ultimately powerless against the seemingly overwhelming darkness of sin, the film presents a very Christian understanding of "good" and "evil" by making Wendy's love and Peter's childlike wonder more potent than Hook's malice and jealousy. It is the warmth of Peter's childlike wonder which enlivens Neverland in eternal spring, as opposed to the life-destroying, freezing effect of Hook's cold-heartedness.

Sumpter, the first boy ever to play the role in a feature film, is well cast as Pan. Trading in the standard-issue green tights for a leafy couture, Sumpter's soulful eyes imbue the role with the perfect blend of trickster glee and foundling forlornness. Hurd-Wood is radiant and, along with the towheaded Sumpter, seems more a citizen of the ethereal Neverland than this world. Rising French starlet Ludivine Sagnier also gives a glowing performance -- literally -- as Tinker Bell, Peter's jealous fairy sidekick. The filmmaker's decision to have Isaacs play both Mr. Darling and Hook adds some Oedipal undertones to the tale, and suggests that a father figure represents both love and menace.

The sumptuous visuals -- many lifted lovingly out of the Disney classic -- give the overall production a rapturous storybook feel, especially a sequence involving a forest full of waltzing pixies, which will have viewers repeating along with the cast, "I do believe in fairies, I do, I do, I do!"

And while most of the violence is of the swashbuckling variety, the film does contain one sequence involving the black-hearted Hook casually shooting several of the Jolly Roger's scurvy crew. Parents should also be warned that the man-eating crocodile in this film may prove scary to young children whose only exposure to the story has been the tamer animated Disney version. Yet apart from these mild cautions, there is little in this "Peter" to pan.

If, as Peter instructs Wendy, happy thoughts facilitate flight, then this is one holiday film that will send moviegoers and box-office numbers soaring -- happy thoughts indeed for Universal.

Due to some action violence and a few frightening images, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested.
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DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.