Speak Now Storyteller

Summary: Wendy Darling, a young girl looking to avoid boarding school, meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Wendy, her brothers, and Tinker Bell travel with Peter to the magical world of Neverland, where she encounters an evil pirate captain.

There’s gonna be spoilers as this review is way overdue. Sorry lol.

Pros:

Cast and Characters. So there are a lot of characters in this film but I’m only going to talk about the four leads in detail.

• Alexander Molony as Peter Pan. Peter Pan seems to steal kids away who vocally state they don’t want to grow up, at least according to his dialogue to Wendy. He’s fun loving and likes to spy on and torment the pirates, especially Captain Hook, which he tries to do some verbal jabs at him whenever they encounter each other. He also seems to like to do things on his own, not accepting help from others, as he is Peter Pan, the living legend who is badass and doesn’t need any help. This is basically his downfall in the movie. This is Alexander’s first film and while it shows I think he tries to do his best with what he was given. When he’s playing the Peter Pan who is having fun and just being a bit arrogant, I think he does that well. However, during some of the emotional bits of the film, that’s where he struggles the most but there is also an endearing quality about him that didn’t make me annoyed watching him.
• Ever Anderson as Wendy Darling. Wendy is upset that she has to go away to boarding school because she isn’t ready to grow up and become a woman like her mother. She isn’t even sure if she wants to be a mother. She seems to long for adventure, though I think we learn this later on more so than we do in the beginning of the film. She is also low-key a bit mean in the beginning. She doesn’t want to grow up so she willingly goes away to Neverland in hopes that she won’t have to but it’s not what she expected and she finds herself being one of the few “grown up” people in the group to the point where she scolds Peter for his rash actions. I don’t think some of the changes they made with Wendy were terrible but I feel like the movie didn’t really give enough time to explore a lot of these changes. Wendy is basically the main lead of the movie, which I had a slight problem with, but we’ll get into that later. Ever Anderson was good, I’ve only ever seen her in Black Widow and she does a good job at being sympathetic
• Jude Law as Captain Hook. Captain Hook is a bitter man who leaps at any opportunity to kill Peter or knock him down a peg. He lost his right hand in a duel with Peter and he fears ticking clocks and crocodiles because it signals his end. He also harbors other reasons for hating Peter that we learn about later in the film. I think he’s interesting and Jude Law’s portrayal is probably the best thing about the movie overall. I think he adds a gravitas to the role that could otherwise be silly but he manages to be menacing but also sympathetic. I think it sucks that he doesn’t also play Mr. Darling as the juxtaposition of the two roles make a lot of sense, or that he isn’t attractive as he also tends to be symbolism for Wendy and her growing up but whatever lol. I think all of the scenes he is in are really good, especially the ones he has with Wendy in the latter half of the film. I just wish he got to have more with Peter considering how they changed the story and their connection. I think Jude Law was a great choice.
• Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell. Tinkerbell isn’t mean and jealous as she usually is portrayed. She’s Peter’s most loyal friend. It seems that Peter sends her in first to magic Wendy away and she just seems willing to work with him. There’s not a ton to her personality in this but it just seems that no one listens to her, that’s she’s not heard, even by Peter who she is fiercely loyal to. I was concerned about Yara because I don’t think, from my limited experience, that she’s a great actress. Yara seems to be a wonderful, intelligent and kind human being but acting doesn’t come naturally and while I don’t think she’s a natural here, I think she does well. I didn’t find myself thinking “Wow, she’s miscast”. I thought her look worked for Tinkerbell and there were some really great moments for her in the film where it’s literally just her expression as Tink doesn’t speak, or at least we can’t hear her until later. When Hook attacked Peter and he was falling and she was trying to catch him, I thought she did really well there. If anything, I wish we got to see more of her and I wish she glowed.

Supporting Characters. There are a lot of supporting characters, such as Mr. Smee, the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily, Mr. and Mrs. Darling and I think all of the acting across the board is good. I don’t think anyone is bad enough where I was like “wow, that’s bad”. I think everyone works in their roles and I liked how Mr. Smee and Tiger Lily had a bit of expanded roles in this film. Tiger Lily giving sound advice to Wendy and helping Peter in a way she’s never really helped him before in the past. Or how Mr. Smee’s connection to Hook was given more depth that I was okay with, even despite how the background of it turned out. So good job to everyone. I was disappointed to see that Hook and Mr. Darling weren’t both played by Jude Law.

Peter’s Introduction Scene. I really liked the scene where Peter first meets the Darlings. Tinkerbell goes into the room to steal Wendy away it seems and she gets caught by John and they call her a bug and Peter appears and then there’s a whole scene with his shadow. I was truly into it and was thinking the rest of the movie was gonna maintain that kind of tone and high with me. I loved how he rummaged through their room trying to find his shadow and how unbothered he seemed, not to mention, how Tinkerbell was trying to help him find it. Also, Wendy sewing it on to his feet. I thought the entire sequence was extremely cute and well done.

Peter and Wendy. I think there are some good moments between the two but I’ll also talk about them in the cons. I really did love Peter’s introduction and I think it’s clear that maybe he harbors some feelings for her but we’re unsure about her feelings for him, outside of him being a story she and her mother tells. But I really thought it was cute when Peter was fighting Hook at Skull Rock and he notices that Wendy was there and he literally gets distracted in the middle of the fight and is like “Oh Wendy… you’re alive… hey…” lol, that made me laugh. Or how he opens up to her and tells her about his history with Hook. I thought the scene where Peter doesn’t have his magic to fly and he falls and Wendy catches him and I guess because she has pixie dust on her, it transfers to him… I don’t know lol but it was cute. I also liked their conversation at the end where she discovers he used to live in her house. I think their relationship was a bit more antagonistic than I would have liked, even if it wasn’t romantic (first crush kind of thing) I would have liked it to be more friendly then it was. I think Alexander and Ever had chemistry that wasn’t really explored enough.

Rewatchable. I think the movie has a lot of rewatchability to it, I’ve rewatched it already and my enjoyment of it didn’t change. I feel like I can see some kids latching on to this movie and watching it over a few times.

Story Elements. While I have some issues with the story, I think there was a lot of potential. In the beginning, Wendy is kind of rough around the edges because she’s mad that she’s being sent away to boarding school, but at the same time, she blames her brothers for something she did when they got into trouble for playing a little too rough. Wendy herself didn’t seem to be much of a storyteller, but having learned it from her mother, but she was unsure of what she wanted when it came to what was expected of women at that time, which is fine. We even see a little bit into her thoughts when she’s thinking of her happy thoughts near the end, I liked the montage. I didn’t mind that Wendy and Tink weren’t one-sided enemies but that Wendy was actively trying to understand her. I liked that she received some advice from Tiger Lily (who is much older than she tends to be depicted) to put some things into perspective. There was some good stuff there I think that just wasn’t quite as fleshed out as it could have been. The movie is about 1 and 30 minutes long and it goes by quickly I think. It could have benefited from another 20 minutes or even another 40 minutes personally to help the stories it wanted to tell.

Cinematography. While I didn’t care for the kind of sepia tones the movie seemed to have overall, I think the movie looks amazing. It’s so clear and clean looking lol. Bojan Bezelli worked with David Lowery before on Pete’s Dragon and there seems to be a style that they both have that I think on paper really works for a Peter Pan movie. There are some really good shots that I would frame as a photo lol.

Cons:

Peter and Wendy. I think there was a lot of potential here but because they chose not to go the route with Wendy kind of having a crush on Peter, I feel like they dropped the ball on their relationship. Usually it’s Wendy who has a crush on an oblivious Peter (who also hides it as time goes on because she challenges him on his feelings) but it seemed like Peter had a bit of a crush on Wendy more than she had on him… which is fine. A lot of the time after the Skull Rock stuff, it felt like she was scolding him and not trying to understand him. But I would have liked to have seen more of them interact, even if she was scolding him for being reckless and trying to do everything on his own, I would have liked to see more of it. I also wish that the first time we ever heard anything about his background with Hook was just him telling her on his own and not a LB telling her that Peter and Hook have history prior to the hand cutting thing. I think it would have helped their relationship if the first time he spoke about it was to her. I just wanted more of their friendship. Honestly, there were times where it seemed like she didn’t even like him that much as a person lol and I don’t think that works in a Peter Pan story.

The Lost Boys/John & Michael. I don’t think the acting from these kids was bad, nor do I think these characters were bad but they were so underutilized and underdeveloped. I didn’t feel like the Darlings kids made a bond with the Lost Boys. Wendy has a whole thing about not knowing if she wants to be a mother and that’s fine but I didn’t think she felt like a big sister either. They just happened to be there together. I don’t even think any of them introduced themselves to her, at least not that we saw. Tiger Lily says some of theirs names and that’s how we learn who is who (and the closed captions). As for John and Michael, if they weren’t there in this movie, they wouldn’t really be missed. They are a plot device when they get to Neverland and I think there was an interesting dynamic created prior to Peter finding them. But that’s never explored. I think Wendy apologizes to John and Michael at some point for how she reacted in the beginning. This also applies to Peter and Tinkerbell. I don’t think any of the LBs talk to Tink on their own and Peter hardly talks to any of them either. The whole “mother” “father” thing isn’t happening in this film but there’s hardly a dynamic with Peter and the LBs. I think because of the whole “Peter doesn’t seem to let people help him” thing probably prevents that but the LBs clearly look up to him, that should have been used as part of their dynamic, the proud big brother type. All of the LBs tend to have jobs or some kind of role and I didn’t get that here.

Neverland- No Personality? I have seen many versions of Neverland and why was this one so bland? Disney?? Why was this one so bland? There was no personality for Neverland whatsoever. When Peter and the Darlings return, it’s just looks like a giant island in an ocean, that was literally it. We saw mermaids quickly, but we never see them again. The Lost Boys’ hideout was an old like castle-like building, which was fine, instead of a tree, but there was nothing special about it. If I was a kid watching this, I wouldn’t want to live there. The whole point of Neverland is to be enticing to kids! The audience is like the Darling kids, experiencing it for the first time! But there was no personality. I don’t want to compare it to previous versions, but the 2003 Peter Pan, Neverland was like part of Peter, his emotions and presence governed the island. When he was gone, the island was icy and frozen over and when he came back, it was like Spring. When Tinker Bell died and he was trying to bring her back, it was snowing and the sun went away and when she came back and he was happy, the sun came back out. That was such a great addition that I feel like this movie really needed something like that for Neverland, to make it stand out. We should have been able to see more of the island, while flying, we should have gotten a little colorful tour.

• Kind of Dark Looking (Sepia?) To continue this point about Neverland, this director, David Lowery, directed The Green Knight (2021) and I thought that was a movie with a unique vision and interesting look to the film. I was excited to find out he was doing this movie but there isn’t any pops of color. I don’t know if he was in charge of that or if Disney didn’t let him breathe more life into the aesthetic. I don’t know… but I was disappointed.

Why is Tinkerbell?? So, I wasn’t that upset that they took away her antagonistic relationship with Wendy, that didn’t bother me, but I knew that would change the story since Tink doesn’t try to betray Wendy (and get betrayed and die instead). But, I didn’t like that it was implied that Peter doesn’t actually understand her. While I think Yara was fine, I do think they did too many random closeups on her face to the point where I questioned it aloud and I think a big reason why I didn’t like it is because she wasn’t lit up at all! It slipped my mind after a while but I noticed it more on my second watch that she is not glowing. In the original play, Tinkerbell has always been played by light and bells, why would you not have her glowing? The movie is so dark in places that when she’s there, you hardly ever notice, unless Peter is looking directly at her. There are parts in the movie where she’s clearly casting light on someone else but she herself isn’t lit up… I don’t understand that. I believe David Lowery made a comment about it but no, she’s a fairy, she should have been a ball of light. Can you imagine having Yara’s beautiful melanin lit up from the inside?? Missed opportunity.

The Story between Peter and Hook. So, I didn’t hate the new plot between Peter and Hook, but I don’t think it quite lands the way it wants to. I personally don’t see the reason in changing it, Hook could have just been a bad guy who hates children and especially Peter because of youth, reckless abandon and he cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile! I didn’t really see the need in having Hook be one of the first Lost Boys and he’s just been harboring a grudge against Peter for banishing him (though he also wanted to go anyway and find his mother). It’s an interesting idea and I think the movie really tries to make this storyline work and I think it almost does but there isn’t enough interaction between Peter and Hook for me to really nail in this kind of animosity for this particular story. If the story just maintained the fact that Hook (who is also generally handsome in the original tale so I’m low-key mad that Jude Law wasn’t handsome lol) was angry that Peter was a jokester and he just hated “bad form” (especially since he says that to Peter at some point) and he wanted to kill him because of revenge for his hand and that he bested him or whatever then that’s fine. I really hate that Disney wants to try and “humanize” some of their villains in these live action remakes, you don’t have too. They’re just villains and loved for a reason. They don’t need to have a reason as to why they’re the antagonist to the protagonist, at least not all the time.

Not Enough Peter Pan. I feel like there wasn’t enough Peter Pan in the movie, when he gets the Darling kids to Neverland, they end up being split up and we don’t see Peter for like 15 minutes and I kept asking where he was. Then I don’t think they really knew what kind of Peter they wanted, I liked Alexander Molony because he’s likable overall but I don’t think he was up to the task for the more emotional parts of Peter’s story in this movie. If he maybe got to do more of the fun-loving and kind of cavalier Peter, he might have settled into the role way more. The movie follows Wendy more, which is fine, but I feel like they do this at the expense of Peter, like you can uplift girls without neglecting boys. Certain things with Peter we’re told and not shown and that’s a shame because I’m sorry… I came here for Peter lol. I like Wendy too but I’m here for Peter Pan. Also, I hated the line where Hook sees Wendy flying and he says “You have the boy’s magic” and she says “Oh… this magic belongs to no BOY!” I rolled my eyes so hard lol, this is what I’m talking about. You can do “girl power” without taking digs at boys. She could have just said “it’s my magic too” or “our magic” or not have that interaction at all lol. So stupid.

Overall, I guess there are way more cons than pros but I didn’t hate the movie. I feel like there was a ton of missed potential and I want them to try again lol. I think the cast was overall good, with unfortunately Alexander Molony being the weakest link, even though I did enjoy him. Jude Law is truly the standout though and Ever Anderson was really good as well. I liked some of the interactions and relationship between Peter and Wendy and I particularly loved the scene when the Darling kids first meet Peter. I think Jude Law truly shines as Hook in this film and he’s the strongest thing about it, Ever Anderson is also great as Wendy. I think there is a ton of potential within in this movie, in its story and the character relationships but it doesn’t quite follow through the way I think it could have. I think it’s really rewatchable and there are certain scenes and moments that really work for me. However, there is a lot that didn’t work for me or the potential was there but the movie didn’t deliver the way I wanted it to. I think the movie looks good and has a rewatchability factor… to me. The cons, a lot of it is really storytelling for me and I feel like the movie really dropped the ball on a lot of the story. I also didn’t like that Tinkerbell didn’t light up or that Neverland didn’t seem to have any personality. But overall, it’s like… it’s fine lol.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

I debated on whether or not I wanted to give this a solid three or something higher in the 2 range but I decided that I did overall enjoy it so a 3 is middle of the road for me. I think the movie is fine, it’s not as bad as I’ve seen other people say. It’s not the worst of the live action remakes but there are some missteps in the film.

Did you see Peter Pan and Wendy? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment! Am I being too generous? lol and which Peter Pan property is your favorite?

By miles, mine is Peter Pan (2003) lol.

Thanks for reading!