Pan is the latest remake of the childhood fairy tale Peter Pan, and acts as a prequel to the classic story that almost all children know and love. The story was written by Jason Fuchs and directed by Joe Wright, starring notable actors such as Amanda Seyfried, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, Hugh Jackman, and an appearance by Cara Delevingne.
Pan begins by promising to explain the state of things within Peter Pan, the feud between Captain Hook and Peter, the existence of the lost boys, why they have no mothers, and the war dynamic between the pirates, the tribe’s people, and the fairies.
In Pan, Peter (Levi Miller) is whisked away to Neverland after the sisters running the orphanage he lived at sold him away to orphan-snatching pirates. During this escapade World War II is unfolding, and the pirates are attacked by the British during their escape to Neverland. The scene was one of the visual highlights of the film. It isn’t very common to see a brilliantly colored pirate ship fight with small planes in midair.
At this time Neverland is governed by the pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), who kidnaps orphan boys to mine pixie dust to remain youthful. Jackman did a phenomenal job as a pirate, putting on a deeply strange façade during his performance.
Blackbeard’s introduction scene was exceptionally theatrical, appearing on the side of a flying pirate ship with thousands of small boys looking up at him chanting the Nirvana song “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
These interesting visual scenes were some of the strongest parts in a film with a story which promised more than it was able to produce. The story began with a narrative by Amanda Seyfried explaining that to understand Peter Pan it is first imperative to understand the origin story. This was not fulfilled.
The prequel posed more questions than it answered. With the development of a new villain and a friendship story with Captain Hook, the rivalry became exceptionally confusing to comprehend. The film even ended with Peter asking Hook if they would always be friends, which Hook confirmed.
In addition, the film didn’t stay true to the original Peter Pan story, creating a new Pan all in itself. The premise of this story was the unfolding of Peter’s destiny as the saviour of Neverland, completely changing the character he was in the original J. M. Barrie play.
Another poor choice was the casting of Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily. Although Mara is a talented actress, a lot of the depth and cultural impact of the tribe’s people are lost in the casting choices of many characters, but this is especially the case with Tiger Lily.
This is true for several other portions of the film. The film’s potential strength was lost by the over-exaggeration of key aspects of the original story. The film ran off a budget of $150 million, and managed to disappoint in terms of both plot and graphics, which looked to have been created in the early 2000s. The green screen was painfully evident and was unsatisfactory to say the least.
The film was magnificent at times despite these key flaws, as there were many beautiful sets as well as interesting scenes. Taking the film apart there was enjoyment, but it was definitely a letdown for anyone who grew up admiring the original.
