Hook (1991)

Hook (1991)

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts.

Plot: Peter Banning is a father who has too much time on his hands from his job to spend time with his wife and kids.  When the family takes a vacation to London to visit Granny Wendy, the woman who took of Peter when he was a boy, the children are kidnapped by a man known as Captain Hook.  As it turns out, Peter is none other than Peter Pan, who grew up after falling in love with Wendy's granddaughter.  Now he must travel to Neverland, and with the help of Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys, he will try to rescue his kids from the titular villain.

Good: Robin Williams may have been an unconventional choice to play Pan, but he fits into the role very well.  He effortlessly shows both sides of his character, from the overworked and stick in the mud father, to the boyish and energetic hero.  It's very cool seeing his character transitioning between these two extremes.  As per usual in a Spielberg film, the kids do a good job with what they're given, especially the actor who plays Jack Banning, who has a lot of good emotional scenes.  The rest of the cast does a good job as well, but the best performance would have to be Dustin Hoffman as Hook himself.  He fits this role like a glove, bringing a sophistication and charm to the role, while also being delightfully hammy when it's necessary.  This film also has great production design.  The sets look incredibly detailed and fun to look at, especially the pirate village.  The matte paintings of Neverland are also spectacular, adding to the great visual style of that world.  The sword fights during the climax are fantastically choreographed, with great banter between Pan and Hook.  The special effects are quite good, with the flying sequences being particular stand outs.  John Williams brings one of his best scores in this movie, especially in the scene where Peter remembers how to fly.  It's surprising that it's not as well remembered as some of his more famous scores.

Bad:  While Julia Roberts's performance is good, the way Tinkerbell is written is not that great.  Tink should be spiteful and jealous, while this version is too nice.  It feels out of character and makes her kind of boring.  Also, the climax, even though it contains some great sword fights, can feel a bit too cheesy, with the pirates being defeated with eggs, vegetables, and multicolored water.  This, along with some other scenes that are smothered in cheese, can take the audience out of the movie big time.  Plus, there are some major leaps in logic throughout the movie.  The biggest plot holes would have to be how Peter could understand what his mother was saying when he was a baby and how he grew up to be a ten-year old when he was in Neverland.

Trivia:

• The actor who played young Peter Pan is Dustin Hoffman's son.
• Glenn Close plays the pirate who gets sent to the Boo Box.  It's unclear as to why.
• The Peter Pan book that Granny Wendy is reading to the children is a first edition copy from 1911.
• The word 'bangarang', which is said multiple times throughout the movie, is Jamaican slang for disorder, hubbub, or an uproar.  

Final Verdict: Despite some of it's flaws, I still recommend Hook.  It has great acting, fantastic production design, and amazing music.  If you can suspend you disbelief pretty high, and focus on the charm of the film, you can enjoy it a lot.

Next time, we'll go on a weekend inspection of John Hammond's new attraction on Isla Nublar.  Jurassic Park.

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