Z/Web

Author: J.M. Barrie

Director: P.J. Hogan

Fantastic film! When I first heard of this I thought it was crazy and pointless: why remake Peter Pan? But this film is everything Hook was not: imaginative, fantastic, child-like, and meaningful. The Disney animated version never intrigued me: it was too happy, too light, and too innocent. There was no depth. This version is a marvel. The sets are literally fantastic, with pink clouds, supersaturated colors, and exotic textures. Even the “real world” of 19th Century London is unrealistic — it’s a pretty London of fantasy, not grim reality. The result emphasizes the movie’s point about fantasy and adventure. The casting of unknowns in the children roles is brilliant: not only are they physically perfect but there’s a touch of rawness to their performances that is delightful and endearing. They seem like real children, not polished actors. Equally important, the adults, while accomplished actors, don’t make the mistake of overacting and turning their roles into camp (like Hook did). The story’s true J.M. Barrie, much darker than the animated movie (for instance, Hook gets eaten instead of chased off into the sunset by the giant croc), and filled with philosophical insight into the whole problem of “growing up.” There were some really brilliant lines of dialog between Peter and Wendy (both characters are well fleshed out). With the theme repeated throughout, it’s obvious this is an important story and not mere entertainment. This is an excellent movie for the whole family. There’s humor and adventure, silliness and fun, and a genuineness to everything that all will enjoy. Within the world of Peter Pan this is a great movie: it’s the best Peter Pan ever. But if I had to come up with a negative, I’d say that it’s still Peter Pan. The film is trapped in a fantasy world within a fantasy world, and the story’s never going to go beyond those borders. For example, the story’s about young children — it’s never going to be about adults. That’s a minor nitpick, however. I generally liked everthing about the movie, even stuff I expected not to like (the amateur actors, the familiar story, etc.). This is a real gem. I hear it’s been a disapointment at the box office so far (duh, it’s competing with Return of the King), but it should have long legs as people who’ve seen it give it positive reviews. It’s really charming and wonderful, and if you’re not a kid, it will remind you of what being a kid was like.

Author: Philip K. Dick (story)

Director: John Woo

I was looking forward to this film when I first heard about it. Based on a PKD story and directed by Woo? Wow! But unfortunately, Woo was not the right director for this film. The best aspect of Dick’s work is psychological complexity. Woo’s an excellent action director. The two compete against each other in this: it’s not a great action film, and it’s not deep enough to qualify as psychologically interesting. The story’s a great concept: an engineer does work of questionable legality for corporation and has his memories erased afterward so there’s no record. After his biggest job — three years of work erased — he discovers his big payday is nil. As he investigates, he discovers the FBI wants him, and his former employer is now trying to kill him. He has no idea why since his memories were erased. But a package he sent himself that contains twenty ordinary items (cigarettes, hairspray, matches, etc.) turns out to be exactly the items he needs to get himself out of troublesome situations. It’s like he knew what was going to happen and planned for it, sending himself exactly what he needed. It’s pretty cool and well done, but Woo throws in over-the-top action sequences that aren’t the least bit believable (two scientists outrun a dozen gunmen and the FBI on a motorbike, the engineer beats up fifty trained bad guys, etc.). The film suffers in other ways as well, including a weak beginning (it doesn’t get going until the big job presentation). The film’s best moments are the science fiction and psychological impact of the invention, but those are glossed over. Woo himself said he doesn’t like sci-fi and changed the script to be more action-oriented: a sad mistake. None of this makes for a terrible movie, but just not a great one. The middle of the film is the best part. The ending’s predictable Hollywood. Still, when it’s good, it’s excellent, and overall I liked it. Just don’t expect a great film and it’s enjoyable.