While the trailer did a good job of underplaying the potential of Pan, the latest in a long line of J.M. Barrie adaptations, the film itself has turned out to be a little better than expected with bright colours and vivid imagery. That’s not to say that the negatives that were evident in the trailer didn’t turn out to be just as frustrating in the film, but they’re slightly more forgivable in the wider context of the film and the more positive aspects of the production.
Having arrived on the big screen towards the end of 2015 it failed to light up either the box office or critics’ reviews, which sort of made the film as being easy to overlook. As a result you may have missed some of the visual impact of it, which is a real shame because this is one of its most redeeming features.
Yes, the story is pretty loose and some of the acting is atrocious, but there are some truly stunning moments that you can’t help but be impressed by. Visually, it’s a bit like Hook meets Mad Max: Fury Road with a little Disney Magic thrown in for good measure. It still looks good on the small screen, but it’s not quite as impactful, unless you’ve got a very swish TV with 3D specs and surround sound brilliance.
Special effects are a big part of what makes the visuals in Pan work so well with well crafted CGI blending in with decent traditional stunts and some good set construction. The style is colourful and quirky and works well within J.M. Barrie’s Neverland, contrasting with a grungie take on the lost boys and some crystalline edges for the introduction of the fairy world into the mix.
The story itself takes a fairly significant departure from what we know of Peter Pan, giving it a new origin tale where the orphan fly boy is kidnapped by pirates and bundled off to Neverland, which has become overrun by the dread pirate Black Beard. However, it works quite well with its Pan/Hook friendship stance on things as they team up to take on the pirate horde, while Peter tries to get to the bottom of the mystery of his mother’s disappearance.
The problems though start to creep in when you take the performances into account. While Roony Mara (Carol) is solid as an action-packed Tiger Lilly and Amanda Seyfried (A Million Ways To Die In The West) adds a good amount of gravitas to the story as Peter’s mother, but Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy) gets it all kinds of wrong as Hook with a very dodgy accent and overblown delivery. Levi Miller makes for an annoying Pan who is difficult to support as his accent grates almost as much as Hook’s does and his attitude feels a long way away from what we know and love about the boy who never grew up.
On a positive note, Hugh Jackman (Eddie The Eagle) puts in a decent turn as Black Beard, mixing camp with an unrelenting vicious streak and just a little of the self doubt that was such a clever element of Dustin Hoffman’s performance of Hook. Adeel Akhtar (Four Lions, The Dictator) fairly funny as Smee, Kathy Burke (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) does a good job as the self-serving Mother Barnabus and Cara Delavingne (Suicide Squad) looks very impressive as the mermaid.
You can also look at it all with different eyes if you think about it in terms of big, panto-style performances to entertain kids, and in all fairness it does, so while Levi and Garrett might grate on the bigger viewers, the littler ones will probably be looking on with imaginations reeling. As a kids DVD, that’s not a bad thing and as a continuation of J.M. Barrie’s legacy it helps to bring a new take on the story for a new generation.
However, there’s definitely something not quite right with Pan, whether it was the performances, the direction from Joe Wright (who’s previous credits are heavily weighted towards period dramas), or the dialogue from screenplay writer Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift). Overall, it feels like all of them played their part, so while the film entertains, it still misses the fairy dust brilliance that you expect from a Peter Pan adaptation.
Pan (2015) review: 3/5
