In the aftermath of the release on Disney + we offer you our review of Peter Pan and Wendy, a live action that fits into the vein of the numerous remakes of the Disney classics but at the same time remains faithful to the original novel
ORIGINAL TITLE: Peter Pan and Wendy. TYPE: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy. NATION: UK, USA. REGIA: David Lowery. CAST: Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Jude Law, Joshua Pickering, Jacobi Jupe, Yara Shahidi, Jim Gaffigan, Noah Matthews Matofsky, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez, Kelsey Yates, Florence Bensberg, Skyler Yates, Caelan Edie, Diana Tsoy, Felix de Sousa, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Alan Tudyk, Molly Parker, Deborah Ramsay, Paloma Nuñez. DURATION: 103 minutes. DISTRIBUTOR: Disney+. RELEASE DATE: 28/04/2023.
The most striking thing about seeing Peter Pan and Wendy on Disney+ is the strong imprint of regista David Lowerywhich starting from the novel and the animated classic Disney wanted to try a different path than the slavish reproduction. Far from simple copy and paste to which the Disney classics are increasingly subjected, even shot for shot, his live action flies in balance between the skies of tradition, anchoring itself to a completely new, unpublished and fresh imaginary.
As we shall see in this Peter Pan and Wendy review, what ensues is – as perhaps in the spirit of the classic – a mixture of fairy tale and reality, dream and fantasy, pain and emancipation. In the projection there is a constant dialogue directed to that little boy hidden inside each of us represented by Peter Pan, thus making it more realistic history. All with an extra boost given by the excellent, as always, presence of Jude Law. But let’s see in more detail what we liked about this film.
Plot and Trailer | Peter Pan and Wendy review
The film tells the origins of the characters of the magical world of Neverland, and in particular delves into the story of Wendy and her adventure with the boy who refuses to grow up and also the rivalry between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. The two young actors play Peter Pan and Wendy respectively Alexander Molony e Ever Andersonwhile it is Jude Law to play the role of Captain Hook, the infamous villain who will collide with Peter Pan, the child who can fly and who doesn’t want to grow up.
The one directed by Lowery is a cinematographic filter of a childhood that is only apparently lost, while his idea of Neverland is that of a bright colorful world in the shade of a desaturated photograph. All the stylistic choices thus make it possible to maintain an already seen flavor, however in a completely new context. Everything seems like a dream between the spaces of real, true and tangible contextsin a live-action that, after so many disappointments, does justice to the original material.
A winning photograph | Peter Pan and Wendy review
In addition to director David Lowery, we feel we can give part of the credit for the success of Peter Pan and Wendy al cinematographer Bojan Bazelli, who intelligently made Neverland a microcosm of desaturated colors, in order to mask the contemporary behind a classic veil. As a number of fantasy, painted in shimmering, iridescent hues, Neverland has its roots in the deepest layers of the earth, to the point of borrowing from an urban and ashy London, characterized by the mingling of the green foreboding of doom and the warm and welcoming yellow. A chromatic battle of cold and warm tones, which gives life to a shady, almost gothic world, the perfect container for the adventures of never grown up children.
In this world, the characters of the classic Peter Pan are not only two-dimensional sketches that move in the space of a fantastic environment, but they are the spokesmen for fears and dreams, anguish and recriminations for choices made by others and for never overcome misunderstandings, which dry up the soul and harden the heart. Their lives are followed in an almost natural way by the camera, which thus outlines their characters and also their evolution, guiding the viewer’s gaze with immersive sequence shots. In short, an excellent technical combination that gives an edge to the film.
Painful pasts and uncertain futures | Peter Pan and Wendy review
We know that Disney classics are rarely simple fairy tales, and that the story behind children’s stories usually hides a hidden meaning, and that of Peter Pan par excellence combines elements of drama in the childhood story. In the sequences of the film there is no shortage of such inserts, battle scenes between astonished gazes, bodies that fall in a flight that does not take place and mouths open in a silent scream. But even more the characters are imbued with this generally hidden conflict. For example, Hook is invested with a past and with it with a previously little touched humanity. A journey back accomplished with the power of words and memory, where every wound and every disturbance justifies ainvolution from man to very bad and feared Captain Hook.
Like Jude Law’s Hook, the character of Wendy is not immune to changes: with Ever Anderson, the young protagonist loses that maternal side with which she was invested in the Disney classic, to limit herself to simply being a courageous teenager, ready to shoulder the fate of an entire island that doesn’t exist. A new reinterpretation, this one, in which Peter is nothing more than a simple sidekick, among other things, sometimes a little stiff in his movements, and not the one and only protagonist.
Conclusions
Ultimately, David Lowery re-imagines the story of Peter Pan and related protagonists while visually sticking to the classic. The iconic image of the child who didn’t want to grow up is not thus distorted, but rather there are some little additions of humanity in characters that broaden the field of vision behind the story. Perhaps the result could have been even better if there had been a passage on the big screen, but we can undoubtedly conclude this review of Peter Pan and Wendy promoting with flying colours the film, which we recommend you see on Disney+.
Plus points
- Directed by David Lowery
- Impressive photography
- The use of real settings that limit the excesses of CGI
Points against
- The rigidity of Peter Pan’s movements
- Failure to step onto the big screen.
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