"Who's the shrub?"

Hook          01/02/12

Director: Steven Spielberg     

Writers: J.M. Barrie, James V. Hart, Nick Castle, Malia Scotch Marmo

1991

            What happens when a lost boy grows up? In this film we are told that all adults are pirates, and that pirates must be killed. From the original Peter Pan story we know that Peter Pan was all about the eternal youth thing, but in this version he finally grew up, into a fast talking, business running, suit wearing, cell phone craving, super adult lawyer. Robin Williams has the lead role of Peter Banning, and is joined by a great cast; Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts and Bob Hoskins are all known to audiences for good reasons and the less familiar faces are up to standard too.

            Opening with typically memorable John Williams music which never fails to supply a film with that sense of having something extra (in this case a mix of playful magic and adventure) we open on to a dimly lit room where children gaze mesmerised at something, not a cinema screen but a stage where a school production of Wendy and Peter is going on. So the children watching this film were watching children watch other children (one of whom is related to Peter Pan) act in a play of a book which in the film was a true story but also is a book in our reality....well that fits with the theme of magical worlds merging with the mundane reality.

            Many fantasy stories feature the children of our world travelling to another reality, and Peter Pan is one of those. This serves as a device enabling the viewer or reader to go on the journey with the character; it justifies the suspension of disbelief and makes the unreal as good as fact. Spielberg of course kept this element of the story, and spent half an hour dealing with the grown up Peter Banning (Williams) who is making business deals during his daughter’s school play and in a meeting when his son has a baseball recital thing. He builds to Neverland and its magic slowly, and the anticipation is every bit as important as the pay off just like a horror film. Banning is ironically afraid of flying, but is finally getting round to visiting Wendy in London, he promised every year, but it has been a decade.

            All of the scenes in London are meant as a shock to the system (from the scream when they open the door) and Spielberg is depending on London in the snow at night to seem older and more magical than the American setting. We meet eccentric characters like Tootles, who has lost his marbles, and we hear Banning’s wife (also Wendy’s grandchild) talk about the magical times they had in the house where J.M. Barrie was inspired. Then, accompanied by the magical soundtrack which seems to float in from another world, Wendy descends the stairs. She tells Peter that he has become a pirate. He doesn’t get it.

            We get further glimpses of magic in the children’s bedroom, it is slightly dark and mysterious, and with a skewed camera angle we see wallpaper depicting scenes of pirates and an island. We glimpse one pirate in particular. This is all leading to a payoff, heralded by a barking dog, an eerie wind and Toodles remembering how his followers chant his name....Hook. Now the music is invading the restricted and organised world of Banning, and so is Hook. He leaves beastly scratches in the door, a note pinned up with a dagger and takes Banning’s children. But we don’t see him, just a green smoke. Simple and effective.

            From here on in Banning’s world is broken down as he is confronted with his past, even if he tries to rationalise Tinkerbell with Freud. To save is children he will have to regress and learn to use his imagination. Spielberg has equated Pan’s resistance to growing up with the inevitable taking on of responsibilities to provide for a family, and it has come at the cost of having any fun. Banning’s wife (Caroline Goodall) tries to remind him that there are only a few years where children want to play with their parents.

            Apparently the director was disappointed with the end result of this film but I don’t see why. He got the mix of involving an adult audience as well as children right. The cast is great, I especially appreciated Hoffman playing Hook somewhere between a celebrity showman and a moody adolescent in pirates clothing. And there is a noticeable lack of CGI compared to family adventure films of today; Neverland is tangible with good sets and interesting design. Furthermore, I stopped taking notes for this review when Banning arrives in Neverland because from then on it is a chance for Williams to shine opposite Hoffman and humour and action to do their thing, all the set up was in the real world and here is the reward. The reason I reviewed this film is because it is a childhood favourite that actively celebrates nostalgia, even though it would stand up on a first viewing. If you saw it as a child, re-watch it. If not, watch it anyway.