When Ant-Man jumped from the holidays to July 17, it did so to directly challenged this film: Pan. Pan then took a leaping hop backward to October 9, 2015 into the spacious early autumn. From what I’ve seen, after two trailers, I think this movie could have seriously beaten Ant-Man down and out of the two I’d be going to this. Not out of disloyalty to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but because I’d love to see James Barrie’s book (and he’s credited as a co-writer on the script) come to life over several films and watch the characters evolve.
There’s no Wendy, Michael or John in this story. This is the story of how Peter came to Neverland, how he met James Hook, and how that went so legendarily wrong. I love Barrie’s book; it’s one that means a lot to me, so a cinematic tribute to that work, expanded with the kind of care shown Lord of the Rings,would be an absolute triumph. Joe Wright is directing (Atonement,) and you have and actual boy playing Peter Pan in Levi Miller. Any adaptation that uses a grown woman has lost me before it’s begun. Hugh Jackman plays Blackbeard, the Pirate initially in charge and Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) plays Hook, and we all know where that’s headed. I don’t recognize the actor playing Smee,but hilarious if he was fit as could be and on his way to pirate super-stardom,then we just see him slowly unravel over the course of the films. Rooney Mara plays Tiger Lilly, and pirates and Indians just don’t socialize well.
Below you have your first look at the individual character posters. Pan opens on July 17, 2015, hopeful it will be as strong as I’m hoping it will be.
Peter Pan was always about mortality, wasn’t it? To kids, adulthood is so far off it’s basically an abstraction, and when kids do think about growing up they look forward to it. Barrie’s concept of never growing up is not there as a wish fulfillment for kids, it’s there as a wish fulfillment for adults. The other side of the coin is Hook, dogged by the alligator with a clock inside it, like the specter of death. Again, kids won’t understand.
I hope the new films are true to the spirit of the book and are aimed at adults as much as kids, because it’s one of the most universally appealing stories ever told.
LikeLike
That’s the tone I’m getting from the trailers and a true adaptation of Barrie’s book in the spirit he meant it has NEVER been done, so if this can start a multifilm exploration of Neverland and those themes, I’ll be doing backflips.
LikeLike