Peter Pan

Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Action

Jason Isaacs	Mr. Darling / Captain Hook
Jeremy Sumpter	Peter Pan
Rachel Hurd-Wood	Wendy Darling
Lynn Redgrave	Aunt Millicent
Richard Briers	Smee
Harry Newell	John Darling
Freddie Popplewell	Michael Darling
Olivia Williams	Mrs. Darling
Ludivine Sagnier	Tinker Bell
Geoffrey Palmer	Sir Edward Quiller Couch

Director	P.J. Hogan
Producer	Lucy Fisher; Patrick McCormick
Writer	J.M. Barrie; P.J. Hogan

Fine casting, genuinely special effects and a keen combination of whimsy and danger make this Peter Pan the one to beat among all previous adaptations of JM Barrie's classic children's fantasy. The technical advances of CGI make the magic of Barrie's tale come alive and the spectacular effects combined with luminous live action create an action-packed Neverland that's both believable and breathtakingly artificial, like a Maxfield Parrish landscape springing vividly to life before your eyes.

More importantly, however, is the fact that director PJ Hogan (whose films include Muriel's Wedding and My Best Friend's Wedding) has taken care to develop a substantial, pre-adolescent affection between the boyish sprite Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and resourceful London girl Wendy, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood in a marvellous screen debut. This emotional bond--and the mixed blessing of Peter's eternal childhood--is what gives Hogan's Peter Pan it's rich emotional subtext, added to an already bountiful adventure that's equal parts delightful and menacing, especially when the villainous pirate Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, doubling as Wendy's father) threatens to spoil the fun. With a mischievously dazzling Tinker Bell (played by Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) and no expense spared on its lavish Australian production, this Peter Pan gets it entirely right by presenting childhood as fun and frightening, in all its wondrous joys and sorrows. --Jeff Shannon