When Captain James Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to. The Most Controversial Movie Endings of All Time. This Robin Williams movie wasn't terribly well regarded by critics at the time, but it found new life among kids of all ages after its release on home.
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I watched this movie with my 8 year old son and 9 year old daughter; we all enjoyed it. Very nice special effects and visual appeal: snowy London, Neverland sunsets, etc. This would make the movie particularly enjoyable on a large-screen TV. The story stays faithful to the themes of the original Peter Pan, which means that if your children know and like that story they will particularly enjoy this one. No greater violence and scariness than in the original.
Hook is menacing but doesn't do a lot of significant damage so any children who know the story but can't handle seeing characters really get hurt will be ok. I took minor objection to 5 things: 1. A pirate who has betrayed Hook is put in the 'boo box' - a cramped barrel where small yucky creatures (spiders? Snakes?) are fed through a window into the box with him in order to scare him. If you're sensitive, this feels like a nasty torture scene; however, it lasts for only a few seconds and the worst part is the part where the pirate is forced into the box. At one point Tinkerbell turns herself human-sized, and she is wearing an off-the-shoulder gown; she kisses the adult Peter Pan romantically and somewhat breathlessly, and reveals that she loves him.
He rejects her because he loves his wife and kids. The scene is brief and not too explicit, but if you feel as I do that romantic scenes have no place in children's movies, then it was an unnecessary disappointment. Really, shouldn't Tinkerbell stay a fairy? Why do romance and unrequited love have to be introduced into this story?
In one scene Hook slashes the adult Pan's arm with his hook; you don't see blood but you do see the slash; again, it's quick; 4. Hook stabs and kills one of the main Lost Boys - you don't see blood but the death is sad; 5. One of the lost boys is overweight and this is sort of exploited - he rolls up into a ball and knocks pirates over; 6. The movie continues upon and expands the themes of sad/painful loss from the original - the lost boys wish they had a mother, the dying lost boy reveals his wish that he had had a father, Tinkerbell will never see Pan again, etc. Overall, however, I recommend the movie as fun and visually appealing especially for kids who like the original.
This movie is much more violent and disturbing than people seem to be implying. For those of you who only care whether or not there is bright red blood, you're good to go. For the rest of us who feel like there is more to it than that, this one is pretty rough. Two scenes in particular come to mind. The 'boo box' scene has been mentioned before. I was 10 when I saw it and it struck me as a terribly disturbing torture scene. It bothered me for a long time.
The other scene that doesn't seem to be getting attention is the 'he's stealing second' scene. During a baseball game, a player tries to steal second and Hook shoots him dead. That's the joke. He murdered somebody in cold blood and everybody laughed.
I didn't find it particularly disturbing at age 10, but it was even clear to me then that that is not a good message to be sending to the PG crowd. There are many other scenes where unsavory things are displayed or implied, but they have mostly already been covered.
Long story short, this movie is fun, but it is far from a harmless thing to show your young family. This movie is fine for children 7+. There are childish name calling scenes and whatnot but if you're a decent parent you can tell your kids not to repeat that if you think it's too much. I know some people are complaining about the scenes with the mermaids.but he was drowning and they were just breathing Aaron to his lungs they weren't kissing him in that scene they were saving his life by breathing air into him there's nothing nefarious happening I know a lot of parents on here didn't understand that but then again this site is filled with people who don't really understand things. It's a magical, fun movie that anyone in the family can enjoy.
I created an account just to add this review and refute some things that people apparently are too obtuse to understand.First of all, for the love, the mermaids are not kissing Peter Pan. They are blowing air into his lungs so he doesn’t drown.
Seriously are people this thick that they can’t figure this out? Yes he’s married, but would you rather him drown? Get real.Second, the scene with tinkerbell getting bigger and kissing peter must have gone over everyone’s head or something. Freaking tinkerbell HELPED Hook kidnap peters kids.
That’s the entire point of the scene to clue the audience into this fact in case they missed the 100 clues in the first half of the movie. I mean how else would pirates have flown to London? Tink was Madly in love with peter, helped hook kidnap his kids because it was the only way she could get him back there, felt guilty about the whole thing and did all of that to A: help peter remember his kids and his life B: Confess to peter that she was the reason he was in never land.“Why are you in never land” -tink“We have a sworn affidavit from T. Bell and I have his medical history” -SmeeYes there are a few words I could have done without “Ass”, “Hell” and the suicidal ideation, though funny at the time, did not age well so I can understand the beef there.
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But please, stop ragging on these “kiss” scenes just because your too unintelligent to be able to understand and explain the context to your children. This is a family movie. Despite the harsh review Common Sense Media wishes to impart, and takes several leaps of faith to establish why they believe it's 10+, the kids in this film are depicted at ages 5-10 and most kids in that age range identify with them.
There are parents in the movie played well, but they have lessons to learn that kids will appreciate.There isn't 'too much' of anything except kid fun. The CSM censorship really needs a gran of salt to believe as they want to establish overarching harsh ratings systems, that I wonder why some parents stick with them. Did not enjoy this movie neither did my 7 year old boy. We changed it half way through. Suicidal tendencies by Hook, 2 mermaids kissing Peter Pan ( my son commented on that saying why would they show this if it's for kids and why would they kiss Peter Pan if they are not even in a relationship ) it was a U on sky movies.
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Don't see how this movie can be a U. I'm a parent who is careful about what my boys watch and I'm always looking at the underlying messages of children's movies as not all of them are as innocent as they may come across. If you are like me I'll say stay away from this movie if you have young children.
My boys are 7 and 4. Not sure what the rest of the movie was like but I'm sure it got progressively worst. I had not seen this movie since it was originally released, and watched it with my almost 8 year old daughter the other day. To me, it's right up there with 'The Princess Bride' for quality, originality, creativity and superb acting. Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Smith, and Arthur Malet top my list from this all star cast. Julia Roberts is perhaps the weakest link, but she was in her hay day in 1991. I was so surprised when I discovered that this movie was made that long ago.
It is truly timeless. The cell phones are ridiculously large and a big deal is made of traveling overseas, which is commonplace for execs now, but the 'Cat's in the Cradle' theme along with the fantastic adventure of the lost boys is timeless. I was struck by the difference in my experience, seeing this movie before having kids the first time, and now as a parent. It pulled at my heart in so many more ways. My daughter was nervous in some parts - when Hook comes to take the children (I would not have wanted her to see this in the theater at 7), and also the boo box was freaky for her. The movie is long - over 2 hours, and she was fully engaged the whole time. Again, it made me yearn for more movies of this quality instead of the formulated fart joke films that the studios churn out today.
The costumes, the creativity, the story line. This is truly a collective work of art vs.
Just a movie product. I can't wait to watch this one with the whole family, it is a perfect family movie night pick in my opinion.
Perhaps my favorite thing about the movie is that it is truly for boys, and portrays boys as they truly are with no compromise to make sure girls feel included or empowered. How refreshing! There is some swearing and some violence, however, I HIGHLY recommend this movie for anyone 8 years old and up. More sensitive kids may need to be 9.
Enjoy this great film!
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