- Genre Adventure, Fantasy, Family
- Director Joe Wright
- Producer Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Paul Webster
- Actors Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara
- Where we got our copy Ster Kinekor
- Reviewed on Cinema (3D)
- Available on Bluray, Cinema (2D), Cinema (3D), IMax
- Desolation Morris
- Published October 20, 2015
- 5 0
Pan is an adventurous retelling of a classic tale and though I shudder to admit to it – I thoroughly enjoyed almost every moment of it.
So before I actually went and saw the film I thought to myself – What more is there to squeeze from the Peter Pan story? After Disney got done with it back in the day and more recently ‘Once Upon A Time’ (also Disney) we had thought there wasn’t too much left to tell. Disney all but dissected the plot, story and characters and then slingshotted that around the sun into an asteroid which then exploded and sent fairy dust flying into your nightmares.
The story had been bled dry by endless reboots and spin-offs like Tinkerbell and a series of rather forgetfully weak attempts at breathing new life into an old idea. The rather delightful and underrated ‘Hook’ (or as we remember it – Ruuuufio) which starred the late Robin Williams as an adult Pan returning to Neverland to once more battle his nemesis was in fact the most original attempt at refreshing and continuing the tale since this newest film.
And so…enter Pan
Pan is an origin story meant to be seen before the original tale of Wendy and Hook – a coming of age sort of deal and what’s more – it’s good so go see it immediately or else a fairy will die.
Now there are spoilers if you read further, just fyi
The film presents Pan as an orphan (looked after by the Darth Vader of nuns) who escapes a life of torture and untold misery as he’s sold to and kidnapped by pirates who in turn fly to Neverland with Captain Blackbeard so Pan can join the rest of the workers who mine fossilised fairy dust. They mine the dust because Blackbeard turns into a really old version of The Wolverine if he doesn’t puff his fairy cocaine regularly.
Pan of course then meets a very American James Hook who’s aparantly been in Neverland since the cretaceous period and a romp around Neverland ensues with the typical ‘learning to fly’ ‘chosen one weeooh’ adventure scenarios unfolding.
Story wise the film does brilliantly at adding original ideas and concepts around every corner.
I enjoyed Jackmans Blackbeard, the newcomer portraying Pan, the twists on fairies and even Tiger Lilly…plus the unexpected musical additions were fun indeed. The native creatures and people of Neverland are portrayed in a believable way and you get the real sense of the dangerous and beautiful untamed wilderness that is Neverland.
The soundtrack is unremarkable though and aside from the occasional musical climax there really isn’t much to say about it. As mentioned previously there are some random lyrical outbursts that fit the whole pirate scene of merry making but those make little sense…the pirates shouldn’t know those songs…should they? I mean this does take place during the first world war? Okay, nevermind.
Overall there’s not much wrong with the film. The action scenes are fun and lively and Hook reminds you of Indiana Jones at the best of times – which was a little weird but forgivable. There are some cheesy and severely eye rollable moments too like the references to an obvious future rivalry between Hook and the young Pan.
When Tinkerbell suddenly showed up though – That was a completely unneeded, unnecessary, annoying addition which was done far too late in the film for anyone to care.
At very least the scene with Tinkerbell was brief…
Pan is an adventurous retelling of a classic tale and though I shudder to admit to it - I thoroughly enjoyed almost every moment of it. So before I actually went and saw the film I thought to myself - What more is there to squeeze from the Peter Pan story? After Disney got done with it back in the day and more recently 'Once Upon A Time' (also Disney) we had thought there wasn't too much left to tell. Disney all but dissected the plot, story and characters and then slingshotted that around the sun into an asteroid which then exploded and sent fairy dust flying into your nightmares. The story had been bled dry by endless reboots and spin-offs like Tinkerbell and a series of rather forgetfully weak attempts at breathing new life into an old idea. The rather delightful and underrated 'Hook' (or as we remember it - Ruuuufio) which starred the late Robin Williams as an adult Pan returning to Neverland to once more battle his nemesis was in fact the most original attempt at refreshing and continuing the tale since this newest film. And so...enter Pan Pan is an origin story meant to be seen before the original tale of Wendy and Hook - a coming of age sort of deal and what's more - it's good so go see it immediately or else a fairy will die. Now there are spoilers if you read further, just fyi The film presents Pan as an orphan (looked after by the Darth Vader of nuns) who escapes a life of torture and untold misery as he's sold to and kidnapped by pirates who in turn fly to Neverland with Captain Blackbeard so Pan can join the rest of the workers who mine fossilised fairy dust. They mine the dust because Blackbeard turns into a really old version of The Wolverine if he doesn't puff his fairy cocaine regularly. Pan of course then meets a very American James Hook who's aparantly been in Neverland since the cretaceous period and a romp around Neverland ensues with the typical 'learning to fly' 'chosen one weeooh' adventure scenarios unfolding. Story wise the film does brilliantly at adding original ideas and concepts around every corner. I enjoyed Jackmans Blackbeard, the newcomer portraying Pan, the twists on fairies and even Tiger Lilly...plus the unexpected musical additions were fun indeed. The native creatures and people of Neverland are portrayed in a believable way and you get the real sense of the dangerous and beautiful untamed wilderness that is Neverland. The soundtrack is unremarkable though and aside from the occasional musical climax there really isn't much to say about it. As mentioned previously there are some random lyrical outbursts that fit the whole pirate scene of merry making but those make little sense...the pirates shouldn't know those songs...should they? I mean this does take place during the first world war? Okay, nevermind. Overall there's not much wrong with the film. The action scenes are fun…
Movie Review – Pan
Movie Review – Pan
2015-10-20
Desolation Morris
One to watch!
Total - 8.5
85 8.5
Overall Pan is fun for the whole family and is definitely one to catch on a day out with the kids. My only true complaint about this film is that by the time they make another one the boy might be too old to portray Pan again. Crap like The Maze Runner gets prompt sequels but little gems like Pan seldom do. Let's think a happy thought though shall we?
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Desolation Morris
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Werner is a strange one...he quotes a lot of things...incoherently I might add, also he reviews stuff from time to time. We still don't truly understand what he is or where he came from.
To quote him verbatim:
Make sure they see my twitter handle so I can get hookers and drugs.
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