Jason’s Disney Movie Review - Peter Pan & Wendy

The next movie in my quest to watch and review all the movies and films made by Disney is the 2023 Disney+ release 'PETER PAN & WENDY.' Not sure how long this will take or if I will be able to complete it but I am going to have some fun trying and hopefully watch some some great movies! All the movies and films will be chosen at random and right now come from the Walt Disney Pictures library which will include Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar movies as well as the True-Life Adventure movies. It will not include at this time movies and films from Touchstone Pictures or Hollywood Pictures or from any of the studios that were acquired by The Walt Disney Company such as Marvel Studios, LucasFilms and 20th Century Studios to name a few. Those may come later. My goal is to post at last one review a week and possibly more in some weeks. For each movie I review I will include some basic information such as release dates, synopsis, cast and crew as well as my thoughts and a rating or score that can be used to put together my all-time favorite Disney movie list.

'Peter Pan & Wendy’ was released exclusively on Disney+ on April 28, 2023. I watched it on Sunday, April 30, 2023 on Disney+. A Walt Disney Pictures and Whitaker Entertainment production and distributed by Disney+. A live adaptation of Disney's 1953 animated feature film Peter Pan, in turn based on the 1904 play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J.M. Barrie. 'Peter Pan & Wendy' introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind to go to boarding school, who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Along with her brothers and a fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Never Land. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever. 

Directed by David Lowery. Produced by Jim Whitaker. Written by David Lowery and Toby Halbrooks. Music by Daniel Hart. Starring Alexander Molony (Peter Pan), Ever Anderson (Wendy Darling), Jude Law (Captain Hook), Alyssa Wapanatahk (Tiger Lily), Jim Gaffigan (Smee), Joshua Pickering (John Darling), Jacobi Jupe (Michael Darling), Molly Parker (Mrs. Darling), Alan Tudyk (Mr. Darling) and Yara Shahidi (Tinker Bell). 

Film Technical Specifications - Rating: PG | Runtime: 1 hour and 46 minutes (106 minutes) | Sound: Dolby Atmos - Dolby Digital | Color: Color | Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1.

'Peter Pan & Wendy' Trailer

Jason's Thoughts

***SPOILER ALERT***

With this movie being so new, I don't want to spoil anything for anybody that hasn't seen it yet. So stop reading now and go watch 'Peter Pan & Wendy' and then come back and read my thoughts. 

I tried not to look at any reviews before watching 'Peter Pan & Wendy' for the first time. I did hear some rumblings on social media about the changes being made and the casting but wanted to form my own opinion after watching the movie. First off, I wish Disney would stop doing live-action reimagining's! I have seen all them all and with the exception of a few, I find them not to be very good. There were some liberties taken with this movie and some things changed which wasn't that big of a deal to me since Walt Disney did the same with the animated feature film from the J.M. Barrie version. So let's start with some of the characters. Wendy seemed like the focal point of the movie with Peter Pan being pushed to the side. It could have been called just Wendy! In the original version she was the mother figure and voice of reason but I wasn't getting that vibe here. Peter Pan is supposed to be a child that never grew but he just seemed like he didn't know how to have fun in this one. I like Jude Law and he was okay as Captain Hook but he didn't seem like a real villian, he needed to be more evil. I was not a fan of Smee when it started but by the end he grew on me. Tick Tock, the crocodile was huge and scary, not like the cartoon version. Probably the character I liked the most was Tinker Bell, she seemed happy and looked like she was having fun but she had her shortcomings. In the cartoon version she was very jealous of Wendy and her relationship with Peter Pan, but in this version she seemed more like friends from the very beginning. 

As far as some of the story changes I wasn't a huge fan of. The first one is the fact that the Lost Boys are not all boys but also girls. This is the one I read about most on social media and such and although it didn't really effect the movie I suppose, I think they could have left them all boys. Tiger Lily is not in need of saving in this one, but instead saves Peter Pan. I believe the director, writers and Disney made these changes to be little more inclusive and correct some of the things that they think were wrong with the original animated feature film version?

A few changes I did like was the backstory of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, or James. James was once a Lost Boy who started to miss his mother. Peter Pan, not liking that banished him from the group and from Never Land. At one point during the final fight, Peter Pan actually apologizes to his former best friend and attempts to save him from falling from the flying pirates ship. I like the scene at the end of the movie with Smee and Captain Hook floating in the water when the pirate ship and Peter Pan return and Captain Hook has a big smile on his face. Lastly, the reason for possibly Peter Pan returning to the home of the Darling's so much was the fact that he had lived there as a child, even carving his name in the bricks on the fireplace on the roof. 

Here are some fun fact(s) about 'Peter Pan & Wendy' you may or may not know: 

- This is David Lowery's second Disney live-action reimagining after Pete's Dragon (2016). 

- Noah Matthews Matofsky is the first actor with Down Syndrome to have a major role in a Disney film. He plays Slightly, Peter Pan's second in command of the Lost Boys.

My Score: 55.00 (Check out the Jason's Movie Review page to see all the movies I have watched and reviewed).

Have you seen 'Peter Pan & Wendy' . . . what are your thoughts on the movie? Share in the comments below, I’d love to hear them!