All children, except one, grow up - but what would happen if he did…..? This was the idea that Steven Speilberg came up with when he made Hook. Based on loosely on Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M.Barrie, Hook explores the idea of what would happen if the boy that never grows up, grew up.
Now I'm not saying it is the most fantastic film in the World, it certainly doesn't rival any films made nowadays when it comes to the special effects and even some of the acting can be a bit dodgy at times. Put these little qualms to one side and you have what is one of my favourite children's films of all times. I know for a fact that the film is not everyone's cup of tea. I often have to sit and watch it on my own due to the fact that my mum is never in the mood for something make believe, but then I had decided long ago that she was obviously quite a strange child, having never liked the likes of Mary Poppins or Bed Knobs and Broomsticks due to the fact that, well she never saw how both cartoons and people could go together….surely it was obvious that that was just not physically possible…!?! Anyway as I was saying, its not going to be everyone's cup of tea but for me it contains all the elements that every good children's film has - a little bit of adventure, swordfights, pirates, fairies and mermaids, good verses bad, magic verses reality and of course Hook verses Pan. Obviously there is also a morel to the story as well, which still applies today,
possibly more than ever before.
Hook is primarily about one man, Peter Panning (Robin Williams) and his relationship with his children Maggie and Jack. He is over worked, extremely stressed, hates flying, and is always making promises to his children that he rarely for fills (due t o heavy work commitments). Therefore he is less than impressed when a family visit to London, falls right in the middle of a very important deal. However, as soon as he gets there things go from bad to worse. During a charity event to honour Granny Wendy, his children are kidnapped. Everyone returns home to find a dagger bearing a note signed Captain James Hook, admitting responsibility for then entire affair. The police are called in, Peter wants to get the FBI involved and so on and so forth, but there is only one person who can save his children….Peter himself.
There's only one problem, he doesn't know how. Even thought it is blindingly obvious to the rest of this slightly eccentric London household (except perhaps for Moira as she never knew her husband as Peter Pan) what he has to do. In the words of Tootles himself…. 'Have to fly, have to fight, have to crow, have to save Maggie, have to save Jack….Hook is back.' Now bearing in mind that Tootles has just spent the entire afternoon looking for his marbles, that he has supposedly lost, it's no surprise that Peter thinks he has gone a bit mad.
And so begins a swashbuckling adventure, the start of the war that will be remembered as the war of the century. Peter is whisked off to Neverland by Tinkerbell, his ever faithful sidekick, in order to rescue his children. However as we discover fairly early on Hook is not going to give up the children without a fight, yet at the same time Peter is no longer that cocky little boy who cut off his hand, quite frankly he's a bit of a disappointment. Somehow Tink manages to secure them 3 days, in which time Peter must convince the Lost Boys, Hook and most importantly himself that he is in fact the one and only Peter Pan. And so the training begins and Peter has to get back into the mindset of young, cocky, carefree rebellious lad that he once was in order to overcome all his fears and to rescue his children. All of which requires a little imagination.
*****
The cast has some well known names in it including: Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook Robin Williams as Peter Pan Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy Bob Hoskins as Smee.
I think Dustin Hoffman is great as Hook he just has an air about him that makes him perfect for the part. I also like Maggie Smith as Wendy.
The scenery to some could look a bit dodgy I guess, It does look as if it is scenery as supposed to being real, but then again you are in Neverland where everything is make believe so I don't really think that matters too much. In a way it does give the sense of being in another world, and you can therefore definitely tell the difference between the magical world and the real one. Bon Hoskins's performance is a fairly amusing one and there are some fairly funny lines throughout the whole film, one of my favourites being when one guy is selling some fish, and says 'we've left the eyes in so they'll see you through the week!' not funny at all really but I like it!!
Another thing I would point out….although there is a big battle scene at the end, it is in a sense almost play fighting, The only three characters that have swordfights are Hook, Pan and Rufio (head of the lost boys whilst peter has been away). The rest of the lost boys just use a combination of eggs, marbles and paint. Soooo, it might seem a little lame if your children are used to seeing fight scenes like that in Narnia or Lord of the Rings. But then again it all in the name of fun and as silly as it may seem at times I think its good that the violence is not too over the top. By the end of the film Peter is a changed man and I think if anyone gains anything from watching the film, it is to learn that there are more important things in life than work.
The film is 2 hours and 16 minutes in length, Cert U The DVD does contain a few extra features, but as DVDs were not around when the film came out there are not as many as you would perhaps find on a more modern DVD, where the features have been made especially for that purpose. The features include…
4 trailers - only one of which is for Hook, the others are for more recent films. I have to say the Hook trailer is laughable and I could probably create one fairly similar with some of the software programmes etc available today, so in that sense it is starting to show its age.
A Featurette - shows the making of the film. 3 Photo Galleries - fairly self explanatory
'The Lost Treasure' Set top game - I couldn't get my head around this….but I'm sure its not that difficult to understand, possibly could entertain you for a little while if you can actually get it to work!!
Filmographies.
*****
I still enjoy this film every time I see it, yes at the age of 20 my mother thinks I may be regressing, but that's not the point. All you need is a little imagination, a few happy thoughts, and of course a little bit of pixie dust.
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Whenever I find myself in a house, no matter who lives there or what they're like, they ALWAYS have this film. I think in some way, it's probably the law.
MissTopaz 09.09.2006 11:25
Great film, though the bit where they put the guy in the chest and add the beetles absolutely terrified me!!
stepho222 27.08.2006 21:44
i love this film and hadnt seen it in ages but it was on the telly the other day and i was over the moon excellent film good review stephaniexx
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