A Greater Monster by David David Katzman

Anderson, she’s the closest thing to a breakout among the young cast - so assertive and compelling at times that the movie could just as easily be called “Wendy,” had Benh Zeitlin not gotten there first with his post-“Beasts of the Southern Wild” spin on the legend. The daughter of Milla Jovovich and director Paul W.S. The older sister is an equal participant in the mischief, which Anderson embodies quite convincingly.

Lowery, whose script was co-written with longtime producing partner Toby Halbrooks (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”), doesn’t seem particularly worried about re-creating the earlier cartoon, beyond a few obvious costuming choices: Peter (Alexander Molony) appears in his trademark Alpine hat and tattered green ensemble, John Darling (Joshua Pickering) sports a top hat and specs, while kid brother Michael (Jacobi Jupe) brings a teddy bear along for the ride.Īs expected, the film opens in the Darling home, where Wendy ( Ever Anderson) and her brothers play pirates with wooden swords. Where “Peter Pan” was a phenomenon, this straight-to-streaming version is but a shadow, scampering off and trying to have fun on its own. Lowery has a full plate of agendas to balance here, only one of which is taking an animated classic from the Disney canon and translating it into live action, and the result is far more safe than it is satisfying. These are thoughtful advances to the ever-evolving Disney formula, admirable to a point and sure to be scrutinized in the lead-up to the studio’s massive “The Little Mermaid” reboot next month. Sharing hero duties, Wendy gets to announce, “This magic belongs to no boy!” Even Captain Hook, once treated as irredeemable crocodile fodder, is revealed to be a misunderstood figure from Peter’s past who’s fallen out of touch with his happy thoughts.

The beloved Tinker Bell character can now serve as a role model for a wider range of children. The vintage toon’s shameful Native American stereotypes have been corrected. In conception and casting both, the new movie presents a diverse and empowered ensemble. But the sensibility is very much of the moment, as director David Lowery (who did an admirable job of updating “Pete’s Dragon” for Disney) refreshes the 1953 classic according to contemporary priorities. Barrie’s play and the animated feature it inspired were.

The studio’s latest remake is still set in Edwardian England, the way both J.M. With “ Peter Pan and Wendy,” Disney sets out to bring the boy who refused to grow up into the 21st century - not literally, like those taxing live-action/cartoon hybrids, where computer-generated Smurfs get loose in Manhattan or Tom and Jerry wreak havoc in a high-end hotel.

A Greater Monster by David David Katzman