Wednesday Review: Hook

This week’s review is a favourite from the childhood, a Disney classic, and a story about a beloved factional character. Hook!  Okay, the beloved fictional character isn’t Hook, it’s Peter Pan, but the movie is Hook!  Well, I suppose Hook could be the beloved fictional character too ...

Anyway, Hook  is a story about a grown up Peter Pan who’s left Neverland, married Wendy’s granddaughter, had kids, and forgotten all about Neverland and what he had learned there. Then Hook shows up and takes his kids so Pan will go back there and face him one last time. So let’s begin shall we?

Hook title card.

Review after the break.

Tri Star Pictures ... such an old production company intro ... oh man.

So the film starts with a bunch of kids putting on a school play of Peter Pan, albeit, very poorly as the director is whispering lines to the cast. We’re then shown the grown up Peter Pan (Robin Williams) watching the play because his daughter, Maggie, is playing Wendy. His cell phone rings and he begins to talk business stuff to an associate. We’re shown his disorganized lifestyle and his lack of attention for his children in this scene. As he ignores the play to talk on the phone and he tries to set up a meeting during his son’s baseball game.

Peter Pan shows up very late for his son’s baseball game, and by very late I mean he missed it by a long period of time. During the game we’re shown his son, Jack, very disappointed that Peter didn’t show up to his game. We can tell there is some history of similar things like that happening in the past a lot, and we can see that this disappointment will alienate Jack from Peter.

Peter Pan Airlines.

Wow ... the airplane is called “Pan Am”. So much Peter Pan references everywhere!

Peter Pan is ironically afraid of heights. That’ll stop him getting back to Neverland!

Peter tells his son to grow up, how very unlike Peter Pan. This one line shows a real character change from the Peter Pan we’re used to, one who never wants to grow up. Another big difference is the young Peter Pan is daring, courageous, and adventurous, whereas this one is very finicky, cautious, and afraid of everything.

Tootles is the best! First scene, he opens the door, exclaims “It’s snowing!” and slams the door in Peter’s face. Hilarious!

Dame Maggie Smith plays Wendy Darling!! I almost feel there is still some love between her and Peter when they first meet in the film, even though he is a man in his mid thirties and she is well in her eighties.

“So ... Peter ... you’ve become a pirate?” Key line of the film, I think, that defines the young Peter from the old.

Kinda ominous that the window lock is shaped exactly like Hook’s hook.

Another defining scene is when Peter chooses his work over his family. Man, leaving Neverland had a terrible affect on him.

Dustin Hoffman as Captain James Hook.

“That mean scary man at the window” eh? Says he’s a window washer eh? Captain James Hook eh?

The parents leave the kids and then Hook shows up and takes the kids away. It parallels the original story where the parents leave and Peter shows up and takes the kids away. I’ve never actually read the book ... I’m just going of the old Disney cartoon on this one.

Everyone loves Wendy! She is a miracle worker. She has helped so many people. I know this may sound cliché, but if only there were more people like her in our world, it would be a much better place.

HA! Michael's teddy bear and John’s hat and glasses are in Wendy’s house! Nice character references there.

22 minutes in: the music playing sounds like Harry Potter music. John Williams does the score for both.

HA! The cab driver’s name is Neville. Oh Harry Potter.

Peter’s been drinking alcohol ... maybe this entire film is a figment of his imagination ...

Here’s a fun fact. During the scene where Tinkerbell is taking Peter to Neverland, she sprays dust on a couple kissing and they begin to fly. The guy is George Lucas.

Neverland. Strange how there's a compass in the water...

It saddens me that the crocodile is dead. He was cool.

Dustin Hoffman plays Hook, and man does he do a great job of it. The film has a great cast, but I’d say Hoffman is by far the best.

Awkward jump cut in the scene where Peter first reaches the Lost Boys’ home. He’s talking to Tink in her little house thing, then there’s an awkward jump cut to a slightly different angle.

Rufio Rufio Ruf-I-OOOO!!!

Rufio Rufio RU-FI-OOOOO!!!!

The Lost Boys’ place looks freaking sweet though. I wish I had a place like that. That’d be an awesome place to just hang out at.

I like the little kid who plays with Peter’s face to find out it’s really him. I don’t know why, but I just like the kid.

Wait a minute now ... Hook just said he hates living in Neverland. If he hates it ... why doesn’t he just leave and go back to the real world? I mean, he went there to get the kids, we know he can leave Neverland. And Peter came back permanently, so we know you can do that. So why not just leave?

A thought just occurred to me ... why to all the kids always visit Neverland in their pyjamas?

Man, it’s creepy how Hook and Smee know everything about those kids. How the Hell’d they get all that information?

The Lost Boys' place looks awesome!

CAW CA DOODLE DOO!!! That’s the best rooster crow I can write and have it make sense. The scene where Peter finally begins to become his old self again is strange. He just warps into a brand new character. I suppose the magic of Neverland can account for that though. He starts using his imagination then he picks up his sword and suddenly knows how to use it. At that moment you hear a rooster in the background and you know that the young Peter has returned. I like the set up they do there, it signals his return.

I think it’s funny that the pirates are really kind hearted, loving people, but they’re just really stupid and follow Hook and act like jerks.

Hook tries to bring Peter’s kids over to, for lack of a better phrase, the dark side. Fortunately Maggie is still young enough to have total faith in her parents, however Jack is at that point in life where he doesn’t know what’s what. He finally let’s out his frustrations and is consumed by Hook’s plan when he smashes all the clocks that Hook has stored over the years. This is a good scene for the development of both Jack’s character and his relationship with his father and with Hook.

Okay, so the pirates are playing a game of baseball ... one question ... where’d they get the baseball uniforms?

The face in the tree looks cool.

The only reason he remembers everything is because he picks up a thimble? Why that specific one? Why didn’t he remember anytime he looked at another one?

I find it funny that during the scene where Peter is remembering his past and remembers the first time he met Wendy, when he’s struggling with his shadow we can see the boy’s actual shadow to the right of him.

Hey it’s Gwyneth Paltrow!

Wow, there’s a literal compass in the water on Neverland.

Aw man the crocodile's dead. I liked him.

Okay, so Peter Pan remembers his past, then forgets he’s all grown up. Tinkerbell asks if he remembers that, he doesn’t, so she wishes she were big so she can kiss him and tell him she loves him. But the kiss makes him remember his wife and kids. Tinkerbell then looked disappointed. Did Tinkerbell have an ulterior motive? Did she want him to forget he grew up so she could have him all for herself?

Why is it in movies where its kids versus adults, the kids always win by a landslide?

OH MY GOD, THEY KILLED RUFIO!

“Bad form” I’m gonna start saying that now.

Death by giant, dead (?) crocodile!

Okay, this has been bugging me all movie ... what the hell is a bangarang?

Yep ... Tootles has finally lost it ... the old kook.

“Seize the day!” Tootles shouts as he flies out the window. Robin Williams played John Keating in a film called Dead Poets Society where the phrase “Carpe diem, seize the day boys” was his recurring line.

Second star to the right and straight on till morning.

Hook  is a great family film with a spectacular cast. The plot is strong and the characters are well developed, several characters change throughout the film. There are no special effects used so everything looks real and have a believable feel to it. All the small references to other Pan related things, or even other non-Pan related things, make the film more enjoyable if you’re trying to spot them. The acting is great, and visuals are strong. There’s never a dull moment on the screen and it never feels rushed either. I’d recommend the film to anyone of any age.

8/10 stars and straight on till morning.

The Pan family.