Review of Peter Rabbit (2018) by Mike C — 21 Feb 2018

The American retelling of the British classic, Peter Rabbit, is adequate as fodder for parents who want to bring their young children to the movies for more than ten minutes of peace and quiet.

Headlined by amiable late-night host James Corden, the increasingly ubiquitous Domnhall Gleeson, comedy vet Rose Byrne, and the voices of "Star Wars stud" Daisy Ridley and recent Academy Award nominee Margot Robbie, Peter Rabbit was guaranteed to have some charm and the well-rounded ensemble helps keep Peter Rabbit afloat. James Corden's Peter Rabbit is sometimes obnoxious, always mischievous, but generally charismatic; at the end of the day, he's an animated rabbit you can get behind. Domnhall Gleeson plays the obsessive Mr. Thomas McGregor, who wants nothing to do with the wildlife of the area and may be too complex of a character for a movie like this (this is not a bad thing, it just surprised me that a character who is not presented as all bad or good showed up in a children's comedy). As far as his performance goes, Gleeson is pretty amusing to watch as he balances his fixation on getting rid of the rabbits permanently and hiding those feelings from Bea. Sometimes I heard a little General Hux (his character in the recent Star Wars movies for those unfamiliar) in his voice - I thought in one scene in particular he was about to go on a tirade about how the rebellion will bow down to the First Order. Rose Byrne and her character Bea go underused in the film; she shows up here and there, but the audience doesn't learn much about her other than she does not paint well and is a friend of the rabbits. The movie's ending would have been more dramatic and the audience more connected to the outcome if greater attention had been paid to her character.

The animation of all the critters is not stunning, but certainly good enough to not distract. The humor is primarily slapstick, with traps and chase sequences in the garden galore. There are also a lot of verbal jokes, some more clever than others. Overall the comedy isn't the laugh out loud variety, maybe more of a light chuckle. There are positive themes of family and the beauty of nature for children. Ultimately, Peter Rabbit is not as bad as I expected; I had a reasonably agreeable time watching it. P.S. I'm not interested in weighing in on the infamous allergy scene; the fact that I saw the movie after the controversy arose should say enough about my feelings towards the subject.