PAN 111 minutes. See Movies. Rating: NN
There is magic in not knowing a legend’s secrets, you know, like Darth Vader’s midi-chlorian count.
In Pan, a Phantom Menace-like prequel to J.M. Barrie’s fairy tales, the mischievous boy who refused to grow up (Levi Miller) is an orphan plucked from WWII-era London to discover that he is the chosen one meant to liberate Neverland from the tyranny of Hugh Jackman’s Blackbeard.
Peter finds an ally in Garrett Hedlund’s James Hook. The future nemesis steals Indiana Jones’s wardrobe and Hans Solo’s purpose in this bombastic, CGI-heavy adventure, where crocodiles, mermaids and big birds come and go.
Hook’s got both hands intact and no ticking clock to fear. Once a resonant metaphor for adulthood – and the passage of time as approaching death – here Hook is just a meaningless stock supporting player trying to stand out amidst the clutter.
Director Joe Wright’s visual artistry seeps through in dazzling and colourful designs that look like hallucinations from a pixie dust high. But amidst the plot’s chaos, this can also become abusive, as if your eyes were being carpet-bombed by rainbows.
