"Pan" touts to be a worthy modern revisit and prequel to well-known classic characters and in all honesty, "Pan" has a lot of ideas that we could easily consider adventurous and bold - worthy even. Unfortunately, most of these failed to be compelling due to the film's penchant to rush things. Couple that with an extreme knack for less-than-stellar CGI then what we get is a film that never really takes off.
Peter (Levi Miller) is a mischievous 12-year-old boy with an irrepressible rebellious streak, but in the bleak London orphanage where he has lived his whole life those qualities do not exactly fly. Then one incredible night, Peter is whisked away from the orphanage and spirited off to a fantastical world of pirates, warriors and fairies called Neverland. There, he finds amazing adventures and fights life-or-death battles while trying to uncover the secret of his mother, who left him at the orphanage so long ago, and his rightful place in this magical land. Teamed with the warrior Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) and a new friend named James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), Peter must defeat the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) to save Neverland and discover his true destiny — to become the hero who will forever be known as Peter Pan.
"Pan" opens up with a thought that enemies can start off as friends and enemies as friends firsts. It was and still is an interesting thought especially knowing that Peter actually teams up with James Hook a little while later. That same thought is also the best example why "Pan" turns out to be an uninspiring watch overall. Without spoiling much, let's just say that "Pan" feels like a jumping point to something bigger and better - a sequel perhaps. "Pan" forgets that this is the first film, the starting point, and needs to be solid as a rock in terms of its plot and characters. While the characters themselves are an interesting lot and well-acted, the plot is rather all over the place. Things are either vaguely explained or just written off. For example, Peter needs to fly to prove his is the chosen one. He never really does prove it but he is still taken to whichever place he needs to go. The soundtrack was amazing though but the visuals were mixed. Battles were epic in scale but also riddled with obvious CGI. Overall, "Pan" could have been a wonderful prequel if it only tried to concentrate on what needs to be done now and not what the future holds.
Rating: 3 reels
Why you should watch it:
- the soundtrack was amazing
- the film plots out some interesting twists to familiar characters
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the plot is all over the place and the film feels incomplete
- the CGI was a mixed lot
Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
"Pan" touts to be a worthy modern revisit and prequel to well-known classic characters and in all honesty, "Pan" has a lot of ideas that we could easily consider adventurous and bold - worthy even. Unfortunately, most of these failed to be compelling due to the film's penchant to rush things. Couple that with an extreme knack for less-than-stellar CGI then what we get is a film that never really takes off.
Peter (Levi Miller) is a mischievous 12-year-old boy with an irrepressible rebellious streak, but in the bleak London orphanage where he has lived his whole life those qualities do not exactly fly. Then one incredible night, Peter is whisked away from the orphanage and spirited off to a fantastical world of pirates, warriors and fairies called Neverland. There, he finds amazing adventures and fights life-or-death battles while trying to uncover the secret of his mother, who left him at the orphanage so long ago, and his rightful place in this magical land. Teamed with the warrior Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) and a new friend named James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), Peter must defeat the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) to save Neverland and discover his true destiny — to become the hero who will forever be known as Peter Pan.
"Pan" opens up with a thought that enemies can start off as friends and enemies as friends firsts. It was and still is an interesting thought especially knowing that Peter actually teams up with James Hook a little while later. That same thought is also the best example why "Pan" turns out to be an uninspiring watch overall. Without spoiling much, let's just say that "Pan" feels like a jumping point to something bigger and better - a sequel perhaps. "Pan" forgets that this is the first film, the starting point, and needs to be solid as a rock in terms of its plot and characters. While the characters themselves are an interesting lot and well-acted, the plot is rather all over the place. Things are either vaguely explained or just written off. For example, Peter needs to fly to prove his is the chosen one. He never really does prove it but he is still taken to whichever place he needs to go. The soundtrack was amazing though but the visuals were mixed. Battles were epic in scale but also riddled with obvious CGI. Overall, "Pan" could have been a wonderful prequel if it only tried to concentrate on what needs to be done now and not what the future holds.
Rating: 3 reels
Why you should watch it:
- the soundtrack was amazing
- the film plots out some interesting twists to familiar characters
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the plot is all over the place and the film feels incomplete
- the CGI was a mixed lot
Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
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