Review of Peter Rabbit (2018) by Connor S — 12 Feb 2018

Will there ever be anything Hollywood won't make a movie out of? So far this year, we've had movies based on a song, a minutes-long incident, and now Peter Rabbit, the old children's tale from British author Beatrix Potter. It makes for a companion to Paddington 2, as both are about British animal cartoon characters, only while Paddington 2 is about a friendly bear in London, Peter Rabbit is about a rambunctious rabbit in the countryside.

True to the setting, Peter Rabbit has a bright visual design. Vibrant foliage and garden plants litter the film. The countryside setting is itself picturesque (maybe literally, because I'm pretty sure the backgrounds are matte paintings). Bizarrely, that's the most delightful part of this movie. Even though Peter Rabbit is known for being a wholesome family story, the movie adaptation opts to base its style entirely on slapstick comedy. Most of it is too crude or immature to stick, but some gags managed to make me chuckle. Peter himself is characterized as a hard-to-like rogue. As for animation, most of the animals have lifelike CGI, with some exceptions, like a rooster who looks blocky and unfinished.

However, Peter Rabbit has one saving grace. While the movie features, narration, training montages, and alternative and hip-hop (get it?) hits like any cliched family film, it utilizes these tropes to display self-awareness. At times, it feels insincere, but it brings a much-needed moral that redeems the otherwise blasphemous slapstick. Peter Rabbit tries to succeed by disregarding the source material and going down a conventional path. Barely, just barely, it pulls it off.