Review of Hook (1991) by Melvin W — 08 May 2014

Wendy Darling: So, Peter, you've become a pirate.

"What if Peter Pan grew up?".

Hook was one of the many movies I remember vividly from my childhood. It's also one I remember liking a lot more than I do now. The movie is nothing amazing. It's definitely one of Steven Spielberg's weaker movies, but still a fun and entertaining one. The production is pretty large and looks really good, for the most part. How they decided to do the Peter Pan story for Hook is interesting and although it could have been better, I liked it.

Peter Banning is a 40 year old lawyer who has no time for his two children, Jack and Maggie. He makes promises to them, but ends up always missing the important moments. Him and his family fly to London to visit Wendy, who is having a ceremony to dedicate an orphanage to her name. Peter remembers her as the lady who found him a family, but Wendy tries to explain to him that he's really Peter Pan. He's forgotten it all, but when his children are stolen from their beds in the night and a letter with a sword through it says Captain Hook; Peter is forced to remember as he is taken to Neverland by Tinkerbell.

I like the usage of symbols and foreshadowing in the film. My favorite part of the movie is when the family first arrives at Wendy's house and we get all these little clues from the dialogue. When in Neverland, the movie begins to get extremely silly and maybe to silly for its own good.

Hook is a decent family movie. I wish it was as good as I remember it being as I kid, but older eyes show the glaring imperfections. Dustin Hoffman gives a wonderful performance as Hook, which is nice, as the rest of the cast is pretty weak. All in all, it's a worthwhile movie if you like the Peter Pan story, just don't expect anything too amazing.