'Pan' prequel falters mid-flight Movie studios are profit famished entities, consuming current film trends for monetary sustenance. The current fad of reboots and prequels has producers salivating – eagerly pouring through source materials for any possibilities of spawning a franchise, like pirates pillaging unsuspecting vessels for treasure.
'Pan', the latest retelling of author J.M. Barrie's beloved Neverland fable, does little to unearth box-office gold.
The film, directed by talented Joe Wright (so capable with 'Atonement', but lacking with his latest efforts of 'Hanna' and 'Anna Karenina'), is at times creative eye candy that sweetens the senses, but also putrid fluff that wrinkles the nostrils.
'Pan' begins with Peter as a baby, abandoned on the doorsteps of an orphanage by his mother Mary (Amanda Seyfried), who harbors secret ties to Neverland. She drapes a necklace adorned with a pan flute around the babies neck, and vows an eventual reunion with her son, murmuring "I'll see you again, in this world, or another."
Peter (Levi Miller) grows up as a rambunctious orphan; he eagerly disobeys oppressive nuns, and seeks out mischief as World War 2 desolates London.
During an airborne bomb raid, the orphans are plucked from their beds by bungee jumping pirates, descending from the roof and snatching them up onto their levitating pirate ship.
The captives are taken to Neverland, where they labor within mines presided over by Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman, clearly having fun with a role with limited depth). The pirate has a fondness for Nirvana and the Ramones, hosting sing-a-longs with his slaves and belting tunes like a displaced character from 'Moulin Rouge'.
Blackbeard desperately seeks 'Fairy Dust', a fossilized crystal that possess the keys to immortality.
After Peter is falsely accused of pocketing 'Fairy Dust', he is sentenced to walk the plank. When he tumbles to his death, he flies for an instance, and captures the attention of fellow miner James Hook (Garrett Hedlund).
Blackbeard takes Peter to his personal chambers and tells him a prophesy of a half- human and half-fairy boy who is destined to defeat him. To prevent this from happening, he imprisons Peter. While in captivity, Peter agrees to use his flying abilities to help James Hook escape, if he returns the favor by aiding his search for his mother.
Accompanied by Smee (Adeel Akhtar), Peter and Hook flee. Shortly after, they are intercepted by the Natives, where they meet Tiger Lily, who pledges herself to assisting their plight.
Their adventure is an interesting and flawed addition to the Peter Pan myths, but lacks originality or relevance to distinguish it from past movies from a clunky script.
Prior Peter Pan movies ranged from the good – 'Peter Pan (1953)', 'Hook (1991)', 'Finding Neverland (2004)' – to the awful – 'Return to Neverland (2002)', 'Peter Pan (2003)'.
The latest telling ranks somewhere in the middle – a decent adaptation that lingers between the realism of early 1940s London and the fantasy of Neverland, but never quite showcases the enthralling magic exhibited by it's finer predecessors.
Its unusual that Wright's 'Pan' was created, when superior material existed for a better adaptation.
Within the last decade, authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson wrote a fine young adult trilogy entitled Peter and the Starcatchers – prequels that garnered both praise from critics and audiences alike.
Anticipate a redux in the future, especially when the taste of a possible blockbuster series is a financial delicacy for those profit hungry studios.