‘Pan’ is cool for kids

THE thing about ‘Pan’ (2015) is that if you’re an adult still bathed in the wonder of ‘Hook’ (1991), still mourning the passing of Robin Williams and really just a big fat nostalgia geek, you’re going to be sort of disappointed.

Reducing pixie dust to some kind of youth giving opium to bring Blackbeard back from the brink, throwing in an acapella pirate rendition of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and flying, falling and fizzling through a CGI overload, Joe Wright’s prequel to J.M Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’ is a visual feast that could have done with some simplicity and lots more good, clean, Neverland fun.

That said, children in the cinema couldn’t stop laughing and ducking below 3D cannonballs while seemingly oblivious to the spectre of the Disney animated film ‘Peter Pan’ (1953) and Robin Williams’ lost boy who comes home and gets a day job.

Though adults may remain underwhelmed, young kids sure seem to love it. It being a revised plot with themes of child labour, violence and some Matrix style ‘chosen one’ malarkey.

Starring a highly watchable Levi Miller as young Peter Pan, Garret Hedlund as exceedingly twangy James Hook, Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily and Hugh Jackman as the anti-aging Blackbeard, the film boasts a strong cast that runs wild through plenty of action, duels and escapes.

Well worth it for the young ones with some promising set up for sequels in the last few scenes, ‘Pan’ is no ‘Hook’ and no ‘Peter Pan’ (1953) but it’s certainly cool for kids.

‘Pan’ 3D (2015) is now showing at the Grove Mall and Maerua Mall.

– martha@namibian.com.na; @marth__vader on Twitter and Instagram

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