Neverland

This is a prequel dealing with Peter Pan (Charlie Rowe) as an orphan on the streets of London. Peter and his band of thieves work as pickpockets. Their evil mentor Jimmy Hook (Rhys Ifans) gets them to steal a magical treasure which transports them to Neverland. Once there Hook join with a group of pirates led by Elizabeth Bonny (Anna Friel) in search of more magic dust. Peter lands with the Indians and the beautiful Aaya (Q'orianka Kilcher) where the people don't age.

The story lack any pace. It drags along. With 240 minutes, this is way too long. It doesn't help that they explain away the magic. It reminds me of Star Wars explaining away The Force. Why can't they leave it alone? The acting is acceptable. All the big name give the expected performance. Charlie Rowe as Peter Pan is average. As for the production, it's got TV movie level. It's nothing to brag about. It's dark and dreary. Again all the magic is gone.

I thought this was a very interesting take on the PETER PAN story - I liked Rhys Ifans' Hook and the Fagin-like origin with the "lost boys" and Charlie Rowe as Peter was a fairly rounded character and is certainly the stand out performance of the film - And Anna Friel is gorgeous as pirate Capt. Bonny!... Sadly the film falls apart with the tech side of things... the direction on this film is so boring and lack-luster, there are some edits that are just plain horrible and lazy - and speaking of horrible Q'orianka Kilcher as Aaya (tiger lily) is just awful... She is beyond wooden, she is lifeless and drains any life out of every scene she is in... which is too bad! Overall the film is visually interesting and well worth a courtesy watch!

Last night we rented NEVERLAND from RedBox and upon coming home I spot previewed the titles before my wife came down, and since it advertised several SCIFI channel films, such as the dreadful RIVERWORLD, I thought I had chosen poorly. (See IndyJones and Last Crusade). So when we began to dig into this, the casting of Bob Hoskins as Smee was a surprise jolt!!! An homage to HOOK by old Spielberg. OK, good casting. Then Kiera Knightly as voice of Tinkerbell. OK, a knod over to Pirate of the Carribbean. Better still.

Then we forgot the world for 4 hours straight!!! We never do that, but this one HOOKS you, pun intended, and takes the viewer for a surprisingly intelligent ride into fact and fantasy. I shall not give plot points away, enjoy this one yourself, but it is even better than the PETER PAN of a few years ago. It catches all of the plot points that BEGAN the story quite well. Rhys Ifan is almost a younger David WARNER in every respect and Charlie Rowe makes Pan a living, breathing young boy straight out of the world of Dickens in Edwardian London. Anna Friel - a charming, sexy counterpoint to the pirate legend. And Hoskins, only a six day shoot as Smee, bring a welcome touch of nostalgia for the show.

We did not get tired at all. 4 hours right through which we never do, only Sir Francis Urqhart in the classic HOUSE OF CARDS trilogy was so compelling. And this is a smart tale too. Again, intelligent thought and writing here.

Find it, clear the decks, grab some rum and splice the main brace for a wonderful evening just off the second star to the right straight on till morning.

I wondered just how much similarity SyFy's version of a Peter Pan prequel would have with the Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson "Peter and the Starcatchers" series, and come to find out there actually is some. A powder that has the ability to make one fly ("Starstuff"), an obsessed crocodile ("Mr. Grin"), and the names of Peter's mates -- not the first group, who returned to England at the end of the first book, but the next group: Slightly, Tootles, Curly, Nibs, and The Twins.

There's also a bit of a hat tip to Michael Scott and his "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series in "Dr. Flood", who introduced himself as the Alchemyst to Queen Elizabeth the First. Of course, her majesty's Alchemyst was Dr. John Dee, who actually had nothing to do with the Philosopher's (or Sorcerer's) Stone; that was Nicholas Flamel...which brings us to yet another great series of books, this time by J.K. Rowling!

By the way, I'm almost 68 years old and I still enjoy books and movies of this sort!

Ingredients; Handfuls of Oliver Twist, Cap'n Hook, Peter Pan, Pocahontas, The Pied Piper, a pinch of Pirates of the Caribbean, and cup of Harry Potter.

Stir well as you throw in some sugar & bitter herbs.

Over-bake for 3 hours.

Top generously with cheeze.

Yeh - it's slightly weird-good-bad-interesting like that. Like a strange dish thrown together with similar, familiar ingredients you have on hand, and which you use in large amounts for volumn bc extra people may show up.

I typically pick out the green beans, and select more of the stuff I like.

Probably infuriates the cook . . .

Not a terrible kids movie. But no block buster.

Not a complete waste of time, but not anything to write home about.

Somewhat engaging, but not totally immersive.

Got kids?

Need 3 hours of quiet?

Feed them this.

The little ones will fall asleep from the digestion overload . . .

For the ADDs, around halftime, possibly promise a desert or treat if they sit still & keep watchin' . . .