Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)
Disney +
Starring: Alexander Molony; Ever Anderson; Jude Law; Jim Gaffigan
Dir: David Lowery
Writers: David Lowery; Toby Halbrooks; JM Barrie
by Paul Bernardo (paulieb2003@gmail.com)
Alexander Molony is a voice actor for Disney Junior projects. He is also a British theater veteran at such a young age. He has done musicals like South Pacific to MacBeth in the Royal Shakespeare Company. So he is seasoned and knows what he’s doing – but he looks and acts NOTHING like Peter Pan!! This is a major problem – and if you can get passed this huge mistake – this movie still stinks. I mean it’s horrible.
David Lowry has directed The Green Knight (2021) and Pete’s Dragon (2016). The horrible Pete’s Dragon, not the good one that everyone loves. Now, Green Knight I saw in theaters and the production value was just horrible. David does not know how to glorify things or make things look good. Pete’s Dragon looked cheap, Green Knight looked cheap and now Peter Pan is just God Awful.
I don’t want to blame Alexander, because judging by his credentials he obviously can act, but I think maybe the fault is with Lowry. Peter Pan here, has no bravado, is not exciting, is not thrilling, daring, funny, spontaneous, nothing. It is quite disappointing.
Let me tell you who did have fun in this movie – Jude Law as Hook. Jude Law relished this role and made it fun for us to watch him. Jim Gaffigan as Smee is a huge swing and a miss, but we all know how funny Gaffigan can be. So again, I think Lowry just did not know what to do with his material.
Something tells me that this was just a throwaway for Disney. You got Directors and Actors already in house, you got a famous beloved story – send it straight to streaming. Keep it cheap, make it fast and turn a buck. That’s what I think happened here and it shows greatly.
No magical wonder in this film, no fun, and no excitement. It’s like a very cheap, bad British play. The only one who remembered that this was for kids was Jude Law, and I praise him for keeping it fun. If you want to see Peter Pan, watch the cartoon, or watch Hook with Robin Williams. Those are the ones that make the kids and adults smile.
