Anyone who knows me knows I hate prequels, reboots, remakes and unnecessary sequels. That all changed with Warner Brothers’ Pan, the legend of Peter Pan that takes place before J.M. Barrie’s now legendary tale of the boy who refused to grow up and his adventures in Neverland.
In this go around, Peter Pan (Levi Miller) is a half human, half fairy prince that is left in an orphanage with an evil nun (Kathy Burke) who is selling boys to Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) in order to mine for fairy dust.
Pan is a mischievous pre-adolescent, who with his friend Nibs (Lewis MacDougall) gets in major trouble with the nuns, who are hoarding rations during World War II in England. The boys notice that several of the other orphans have been disappearing and want to find out what’s really going on, because too many of them have been sent off to Canada with various adoptive parents. When Pan and Nibs are taken by Blackbeard’s pirate’s to Neverland to work the mines, that’s when the real adventure begins. We meet James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), Sam “Smee” Smiegel (Adeel Akhtar), and Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara). [pullquote align=”left” cite=”Pan has you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, as you anticipate every scene. “][/pullquote]
Without giving too much away, the film is fantastic. There is swashbuckling, martial arts, amazing special effects, and a story that holds true to not only the original novel but the influence that Walt Disney had on their character over 60 years ago. What makes it stand apart is not just that it is a prequel, but it sets up a possible sequel for the actual legend of Pan, or even a full trilogy where the second installment can show the divide between Pan and Hook leading into a third that introduces Wendy and Peter. The options are endless with this amazing rendition.
I freely admit that this was far superior to the last two Pirates of the Caribbean movies combined and with a part five looming, we can only hope that Pan can rival Disney in the swashbuckling franchises.
There are a few issues with the film, like Tiger Lily being white… although the entire Pan tribe is mixed races and not specifically Native American, it was too much of a liberty to take away from the original story. The other was the choral versions of Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit and the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Pop. I’ve always hated Nirvana and a choral rendition was even more awful. The Ramones were immortalized in their own musical, Rock ‘N’ Roll High School, and really shouldn’t be tampered with in as it is not Queen’s We Will Rock You in Las Vegas.
There are a couple of cameos like Cara Delevingne as the mermaids and Amanda Seyfried as Mary, Peter’s mother. Nonso Anozie was great as Blackbeard’s first mate Bishop and even with the few hiccups, the movie is still the best fantasy film of the decade. Pan has you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, as you anticipate every scene.
Pan opens October 9, 2015 nationwide.
