
Joe Wright directs Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller and Garrett Hedlund in this fantasy adventure prequel where Peter, Hook and Tiger Lily team up to take on the evil pirate Blackbeard.
Derided and unprofitable back in its day, this came out just before I started blogging about every movie I watched. My decade old memory of it was that Wright got the short end of a critical pile on. Yes… the over reliance on CGI is garish but also ambitious. And Rooney Mara’s casting as Tiger Lily did not read the room of what was culturally appropriate… but she looks splendid and actually handles most of the combat action. One step forward, two steps back. I was spellbound by the cacophony of colours and hubris when I first saw this on the big screen. At home, on belated revisit, I do acknowledge the flaws but the only true terminal criticism is the set-up first hour is so much stronger than the second half. If you fancy The Greatest Showman meets Fury Road but “y’know for kids” then Pan is worth a gamble.
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Perfect Double Bill: Peter Pan (1953)