Review of Hook (1991) by Abel D — 21 Apr 2013

Skews towards a younger audience. So Peter Pan (Robin Williams) breaks his one rule and grows up, which subsequently leads to him forgetting all about Neverland. He has to return when his two children are captured by Hook himself (Dustin Hoffman), and he must dig deep to bring back the young Pan.

To be honest, this isn't a movie that I grew up with, so that nostalgia that this movie is shrouded in doesn't have the intended effect on me. I do see this playing better to kids, as it is very earnest with its adoration for Peter Pan.

However, I had difficulties connecting with this, and that was largely due to how the character of Peter is written. For one thing, I've never been a huge fan of fish out of water comedies, and that's where the majority of the jokes are derived from in the first half of this movie.

Also, add in the trope of a father who is working tirelessly to support a family, but is still vilified just because he misses some event, and you have some writing that I'm going to have serious problems with.

That said, I did appreciate Dustin Hoffman as Hook, who is almost unrecognizable in his get-up, and every time he was on screen, he had my full attention, because he was either dominating with his screen presence or chewing up scenery.

I also enjoyed all the Steven Spielberg-isms, as he is (obviously) a very talented filmmaker. Everything considered, this all equates to a relatively balanced review, and don't think the irony escapes me that I didn't enjoy this as much as I could have because I didn't experience this young enough.