Peter Pan’s live action visibility had only really been showcased in the realms of theatre before the 2003 film adaptation by P. J. Hogan was released. There were a few outings previously for the titular boy who would never grow up like the popular 1953 Disney cartoon as well as a Soviet live-action TV film, and the story’s origin as a play meant it always existed in a visual format (which has lasted several decades at this point), but the only other live-action version the character has had was a 1924 silent film that even then, took a lot of qualities from the stage play, so this film was given the opportunity to showcase the story in a purely cinematic fashion. So, as a first-time outing, how well did it fair? Wendy Darling (played by Rachael Hurd-Wood) is the oldest child of the Darling family, and although she envisions an adventurous future for herself which she displays through her dramatic storytelling, it becomes clear to her that she will have to grow up sooner than expected and leave behind the childhood fantasies she’s loved for so many years. Before this can happen, she is visited in the night by Peter Pan (played by Jeremy Sumpter), a boy who has come to take Wendy back to Neverland to act as a mother to him and his lost boys. Seeing the chance to never have to grow up, Wendy and her two younger brothers, John and Michael (played by Harry Newell and Freddie Popplewell) travel to the magical realm of Neverland and start to readjust to their new lifestyle, with Wendy even forming a crush on Peter (which he may unconsciously reciprocate). The fun and games don’t last however, as the kids are opposed by the fearsome Captain Hook (played by Jason Isaacs), a long-time hated enemy of Peter Pan and one that exploits the jealously of Peter Pan’s fairy friend, Tinker Bell (played by Ludivine Sagnier) and Wendy’s naive innocence in order to finally kill off Pan once and for all. Swords are clashed, emotions are felt, and all the while Wendy comes to understand the importance and even necessity behind growing up, and Peter must be willing to let her take that next step. The film managed to do decently from a critical standpoint but failed to make a profit at the box office due to its large budget. Despite being flawed in several ways, this adaptation brings enough color, energy, and memorable performances and moments to result in a decent flick.

The film was dedicated to Dodi Al-Fayed, who tragically passed away in a car accident along with his romantic partner, Diana, Princess of Wales. He originally acted as executive producer on the 1991 Robin Williams Peter Pan adaptation, Hook, and his father, Mohammed Al-Fayed, decided to help co-produce this film in honor of his son’s memory. This movie has been credited as sticking closer to the original J.M Barrie story than any other adaptation prior to this, while still being able to retain its own identity and style that makes it feel very different to most other versions. Much like previous examples, it captures the whimsical enchanting aspect of what this kind of story can deliver, while also carrying with it that grounded sense of reality seeping into a childhood fantasy and discusses several themes of growing up, the passage of time and the changes that children go through when evolving from one state of life to the other. This one definitely has the most teen-angsty element to it, but for once that isn’t entirely a bad element, as exploring the story of Peter Pan through a teenage lens means it has similar beats and steps but features a newer edge and bite that helps make it its own. Some of it does seem a little too forced and ill-fitting, like the romance between both Wendy and Peter feels a little too ‘’playing to the crowd’’ in parts and doesn’t feel organic, but the idea of Wendy actually being attracted to Peter and Peter’s dismissal of that attraction are qualities that are nice to explore in this framework, as even though they are touched upon in the original source, they aren’t explored too in-depth. The script written by Michael Goldenberg follows the beats of the book pretty nicely, detailing them out with that nice sense of timelessness as well as a surprising level of honesty in certain parts, at least in terms of some of the harsher, meaner elements of the story (Tinker Bell gets pretty close to actually killing Wendy in this), but that also conflicts with the direction. Australian director, P. J. Hogan was mostly known for his rom coms like My Best Friend’s Wedding, and his most popular film, Muriel’s Wedding, so this seems like a pretty odd next step, but for the most part, it’s a decently handled job. Sometimes the time period the film was made in can show itself in the delivery through ill-fitting comedic moments, certain camera shots and some over-the-top performances, but the story structure is passable and even if it isn’t quite to the level of complexity that the film probably could reach, it has an awareness that makes it clear that it does at least understand the source material, even if It does feel strangely horny in moments (it is more of a teen film, but still).

Ironically this was a first in the realms of Peter Pan portrayals, not so much in being one of the live-action versions, but that it was the first time a Peter Pan was portrayed by a man. Even though he’s known as ‘’The Boy who Never Grows Up’’, the character has always had females portray him in the theatre space and even in that 1924 silent film, making this the first cinematic movie to do so (although the Soviet tv movie had a man portraying the role). In many ways, you can feel some of the actors struggling in parts due to the tone of the film making things a little overly goofy, which results in some less-than-favorable reactions, but overall, most of the actors understand their roles and portray them effectively, whether young or old. Both Jeremy Sumpter as Peter and Rachael Hurt-Wood as Wendy can feel a little artificial at times with their overly pronounced ‘’summer child’’ demeanours, and you can feel some of their inexperience with a few line reads, but both do feel like they capture their roles nicely from the physicality and passion put behind their performances, and while they don’t have much romantic chemistry, the two do share good chemistry between each other as co-stars. You can feel an honesty to their deliveries that is willing to some more shades to the roles than usual, like Peter feeling more openly bratty, obnoxious, and very immature in parts, and Wendy also bringing a nice mature balance to the world while still getting lost in the fun and theatrical side of the situation. Jason Isaacs as Hook is a lot of fun; it’s a role that a lot of actors have done before and done well, and Isaacs captures a lot of the character’s charming demeanor, deceptive nature, brutal actions and even his comedic timing. Ironically, his over-the-top portrayal as Mr Darling doesn’t work very well (even though he’s only in the movie for like three scenes), but his Hook utilizes that bombastic nature and makes the character feel nicely rounded between entertaining and threatening. Other performances that leave an impression involve Ludivine Sagnier, who doesn’t get used a lot as a character, but the pantomime work from the actress does bring a lot of personality to her, and Richard Briers as Smee, who gets a few laughs here and there.

This film was given quite a substantial budget at the time of about $130 million, and you can tell and feel that when watching the movie with the amount of visual spectacle that is presented. Peter Pan is a story that thrives of creativity and colorful imagery, providing something that would give off the impression of a child’s greatest dream, and you can tell the movie is going out of its way to really capture that and look really impressive. Sadly, with time, some of the effects haven’t aged particularly well and it’s very evident in moments when they are just in front of a green screen, but even with that said, some of the effects do still hold warrant even if they can be distracting. They are visually pleasing, colorful, inventive in certain moments, and are going for a big bombastic scale that wouldn’t have been showcased for the story at the time, and it does feel like they succeed in that department. Some of the times that they’re flying look really fake, while others still look decent through the use of wire work, the environments (both physical and CGI-created) look very nice and fairy-tale like, and the costume design done by Janet Petterson does capture elements from both the time-appropriate feel of early 20th century London, and the wild, fairy-tale esque and ”outside-of-time” world of Neverland. The world has a very good design, even if it doesn’t all look real or hold up to well, and that’s handled through its great use of color, where even the mundane is made to look more interesting through some color saturation. Elements like the climax bouncing from scarlet red to deep-sea blue through the sunset, or even the purple and yellow hues of the sunrise over London looks really nice and elevate what could be generic scenes into being more memorable and visually pleasing. The musical score by James Newton Howard is also really effective and brings an adventurous, upbeat track that carries with it this almost-80s synth tune to it, while also feeling properly cinematic, fun, and memorable.

The 2003 Peter Pan doesn’t seem to have stayed in most people’s memory as strongly as some other versions that came out in the more recent years (despite being awful, people probably aren’t going to forget Pan), but there does seem to be enough people that grew up with this film and remember it fondly to say that it managed to succeed in that regard. Overall, the film is a solid portrayal of the story and brings its own life and flair to the source material through good performances, memorable visuals and music, and enough understanding of the mature themes of the story to make it feel a little bit more than just a simple kids adventure. There are definitely flaws that come from the time period and certain character and story decisions (Wendy’s dilemma of growing up being replaced entirely for just being into Peter is a little weird), but it’s not too distracting and doesn’t take away from what it does well. There’s a Peter Pan version out there for everybody, check this one to see if this is the one for you.

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