“Lookie Lookie I Got Hookie”

Whenever I cast my mind back to the 1990’s, an era of upbringing and fondness for myself and many others who maybe reading this review, there are only a certain few things and aspects that I remember which greatly imbue this overwhelming sense of nostalgia. Whether it was the great many animated T.V. shows of Batman: The Animated Series and Pokemon, or even the animated features that comprised Disney’s ‘Renaissance’ era, that are a certain shows, films, and music that instils a wistful sense that lingers ever so subtly. If there’s a standout aspect of this yearning for yesteryear however, it’s the ever omnipresence of Robin Williams and the memorable films that he’s featured in that do nothing but makes my own heart leap for joy and comfort. Upon reflecting the many characters that he’s so effortlessly enacted through the likes of Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji and Aladdin – films that had culminated the viewing space of a 90’s child, what’s immeasurably powerful yet so natural to perceive of each and everyone one of these performances of Robin Williams, and many others, is not only his manner in fully-devoting himself to the character in which he’s playing, showing no sings of doubt or pretentiousness that’s seen to the point of being begrudging, but how he notably includes his own comical twist that enriches his personas as well as our own viewing experience. This is very indicative when it comes to his performance in Steven Spielberg’s Hook, a fantasy adventure film which serves as a potent yet waggish continuation of J.M. Barrie’s 1911 novel of Peter and Wendy. As much as it’s a Spielberg film that I have great fondness with, despite the film receiving heavy criticism of its initial release in 1991, how does the said film fair amongst the many of the ‘Peter Pan’ adaptations that all respectively uphold their own twist of Barre’s novel?…

Continuing on from J.M. Barrie’s 1911 novel of Peter and Wendy, Hook’s story resides around an adult Peter Pan who has forgotten all about his childhood and his adventures in Neverland. In his new life, he is known as Peter Panning, a successful yet unimaginative and workaholic lawyer with a wife, Moira (Wendy’s granddaughter) and two children named Jack and Maggie. However, when Captain Hook, the enemy of his past, kidnaps his children, Peter returns to Neverland to not only save both Jack and Maggie, but leans and reclaims his once lost past and becomes the Pan once again…

What’s going to be norm going forward in relation to me watching and reviewing films of my own upbringing is how much these features, such as Hook and many others, can be perceived in this day and age and whether or not they still provide their filmic qualities despite their age. Arguably, when you’re younger, it’s rather fair to say that you can be rather oblivious to film flaws since you’re naturally infatuated by the effects that are provided. This was most certainly true when it came to watching A New Hope for the very first time. So, going into watching Hook for the first time a long while, it can’t be ignored – when putting my analytical and film studies cap on – that there were preconceptions from myself where the quality from said Spielberg film wouldn’t live-up to the nostalgia I had for the feature when watching it for the first time. Having said this however, what’s apparent to take note of from the film is how much it profoundly upholds a subtly whimsical tone that slowly invests you into Peter Panning and his family who are visiting Wendy Darling in a beautifully decorated London home (my mum often remarks how alluring the house is). As much as we get an inkling that Peter Panning is in fact Peter Pan – the boy who never grows-up – it’s a premise which is handled with meticulous care and sets-up intrigue as to why the said central character forgot how he ever was Peter Pan. The story than proceeds, near towards the end of the first-act, to be surprisingly suspenseful; forever illuminating a mood that we’re transfixed by through the application of the artificial lighting and John Williams’ score which is purposefully used to highlight a ‘magical’ moment. This is best typified within the sequences of which Peter, Moira and Wendy come home to see that the glass of the front door of the London home is slashed where the camera punctiliously and continuously deviates the frame so that the characters are positioned in different areas of said frame to not only simulate different takes, but to also provide is with the different perspectives of the characters in the scene without needlessly and abruptly cutting back-and-forth. It’s from this suspense where Wendy tells Peter the truth about his past and we see Williams’ character pose in the stance from Barrie’s famous novel. It’s from this suspenseful yet whimsical tone where Hook takes a more expectedly buoyant tone with the introduction of Tinker Bell – played by Julia Roberts. While the tone may seem abrupt through Peter’s interaction with Tinker Bell, it serves to be a rather comical scene which demonstrates Williams’ delivery; in portraying a-now psychotic Peter who willingly accepts that he might be actually having a mental breakdown. Williams plays it off with a comedic tone and captures that perfect line between hilarity and drama. It’s thanks to Williams character amalgamation which deems Hook to be rather re-watchable on multiple viewings. While I can be said that Spielberg’s film does provide a premise that intrigues you through its whimsical suspense, it’s this very ‘tone’ of Hook where everything all of sudden – when Peter finally arrives to Neverland – feels abrupt and somewhat out of place. It’s a precedent which feels very rushed on re-watching since all of that suspense that was beautifully building-up is just scarpered with story-point that feels as though you’re not supposed to see yet. It’s because this abrupt tonal inconsistency where many audiences are going to feel divided in terms of investing their time into what happens next, or completely voiding Peter’s task in saving his children and becoming the Pan. As much as there are wonderfully poetic sequences to follow, whether it’s the scene in which the Lost Boys finally recognise the Peter they once knew or the moment in which the central protagonist finds the treehouse, where Wendy and her brothers stayed alongside Peter and the Lost Boys, and recalls his lost memories of finding himself in Neverland, meeting Wendy and falling in love with Moira, it’s thanks to hasty narrative sequencing where certain scenes feel out-of-touch in relation to a beginning that steadily unravelled and fearful and scared version of Peter that brought such promise. The same can be said in regards to Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal as Captain Hook who’s provided with a tendency to not live-on anymore thanks to being old and seeing Peter Pan to be a shadow of what he once was. It’s interesting to see how Hook feels as though taking his own life is the only adventure he has left and it’s very well realised in a scene in which he’s arguing with Smee about having an epiphany. However, non of this is ever really established and instead we’re presented with a myriad of scenes where Hook influences Peter’s son to hate his father and make him like the notorious pirate. As much as the film sets-up a very broken father-and-son relationship which ends with Peter and Jack hugging and dismaying their past animosities with one another, it’s just an aspect of the narrative that feels in comparison to whats initially seen from Captain Hook and his suicidal tendencies. It’s this specific arc, of the father-and-son relationship, which felt shoe-horned to the point of the audience knowing fully that they’ll both rekindle their love for one another.

Where Hook really shines is through it’s performances, particularly through Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman’s enactments of Peter Banning and Captain Hook respectively. What’s ultimately seen from both performances that makes their characters so memorable to this day is their willingness in evoking a range of emotions that enriches the characters. Whilst Williams naturally provides a comical and surprisingly sarcastic tone when meeting characters from Neverland for the first time, Hoffman enacts a changed Captain Hook from what we know that, as mentioned before, revels in battling and feels as though everything that wanted is no longer there for him. It’s their clear on-screen commitment of their roles that makes the characters so lovable and both never feel as though they’re panning (mind the pun) to a certain target audience. It’s as if they were allowed to bring their own material to these characters which makes them 3-dimensional respectively. With a much older Peter who’s forgotten his previous adventures in Neverland, we’re given a character that’s cynical tone of his situation, provides hilarious moments that show awkwardly unmoral aspects of the Lost Boys; especially when Peter is bewildered in the likes of Rufio and the others imagining an array of luscious food presented on the dinner table. By far, the coolest of the bunch is Dante Basco’s Rufio, a character who, form nostalgic eyes, personified ‘cool’ in terms of his attitude and his black-and-red skunk hair. To this this, I still want that hair…What easily could have been a persona that could have begrudgingly annoyed audiences through different means, Rufio – like the suspense that Spielberg brought in the first act of the film – felt like a necessity to the story and his ultimate demise to Captain Hook is truly a sad departure. Julia Roberts does a fine job in her performance as Tinker Bell – providing moments of hilarity and enlightenment with her chemistry with Peter.

As stated before, when you’re younger it’s rather fair to state when you’re watching a film, you don’t necessarily ‘recognise’ the cinema majesty and the formal aspects since you’re naturally infatuated with the story and the effects that come along with the narrative. However, through recent introspection of me studying film at university and recently watching Hook, there’s a lot to be admired by in terms of what Spielberg presents on a technical level. Indeed, while it’s clearly obvious to fathom that much of the scenes that take place around Captain Hook’s ship are on a large film-set, especially within the third and final act of the Lost Boys and Hook’s pirate fighting one-another, it’s through the subtle implementation of the special effects that actually hold-up to this very day. A specific moment of this seen is through a scene in which we see Tinker Bell within a doll house and is brought to life through, what I assuming, to be miniatures and similar technology that was later used in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s a small moment where I found myself impressed considering what I was seeing didn’t look fated whatsoever. One of the better highlights of my recent viewing was also John Williams’ imposing yet beautifully impactful musical score which is heard throughout the films entirety. After hearing Williams music, it’s fair to say how much his work with this film can be considered underrated due to the fact that it adds so much to the imperative moments of the story. An example of this is seen through a little sequence where Williams’ score beautifully crescendos when one of the younger members of the Lost Boys notices that Robin Williams’ character is the real Pan.

For sure, in the film reviews to come from me where I’ll be looking back at the films of my own upbringing, there’s going to be a myriad of varying degree’s of success and films which ultimately don’t live-up to the nostalgia that you fondly remember every once in a while. However, while the film doesn’t necessarily hold-up to the nostalgia that I fondly remember as a youngster, there’s an equal amount to be admired by in re-watching Steven Spielberg’s Hook again, despite it’s 1991 age. Although the tone of the feature can sometimes be inconsistent, and how there are aspects of the narrative that are weird and somewhat out of place (leaving some promising characterisation to be side-swiped), much of Hook’s promise comes in the form of the performances; particularly that of Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. Both said actors engage with their respective characters in ways that don’t just go off from what’s written from the script, they both bring their own personality and originality to the roles that makes Peter Banning and Captain Hook so memorable. Even the character of Rufio, with his distinctive looks, paints Hook with so much abstraction and fun that watching the scenes in Neverland aren’t all that wasteful. However, it’s the way in which Spielberg open Hook where it brings everything together as it continues Barrie’s story with so much care and intrigue that it makes sense. It’s hard to know what else the sequel could be for the original novel but this. While there’s been a fair amount of Peter Pan adaptations on the silver-screen, Spielberg’s take on the proceedings is by far one of the more impressive iterations and doesn’t fail to still bring such mysticism in this day and age…

On that note, it’s time for me to end this week’s retro film review. As always’s everyone, thank you for reading my latest retro film review of Hook and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read! 😊 If anyone has an opinion on either my review or the animated series itself, you’re more than welcome to share your thoughts down below. For next week, I’ll be writing another retro film review on a feature that I was surprised to learn had won an Oscar…. Thank you once again for reading my latest Blog Post and I hope you all have a nice weekend! Adieu! 😊🏴‍☠️⚔️🌊

★★★☆☆ – Alex Rabbitte