Pan (Viaje a Nunca Jamás)

I had Joe Wright pegged as a director of stunning film adaptations of literary classics, like Atonement and Pride & Prejudice. So my hopes for Pan were higher than for 2003's Peter Pan (which wasn't bad, but mediocre), even if I wasn't particularly taken with Wright's previous Anna Karenina. What I didn't expect, however, was what I got in the cinema as a final result. The new retelling of Barrie's play is an overly goofy and modern-laden hodgepodge of something disgustingly colourful without any internal consistency, which is a real shame considering the big names surrounding the film. I've never been a fan of Nirvana, but even so, the cover to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in a movie like this irritated me to a degree. A very big fail on many fronts that not many people expected, myself included. (19.03.2016)

I didn't really know what to expect from this movie, and what I ultimately got is... well, conflicting for me. The cast is wonderfully chosen, Rooney Mara is excellent in it, visually it's a beautiful spectacle. However, I found it incredibly flat and just a film for the sake of effects, missing what a story about Peter Pan should have - the enchantment of childhood and that beautiful carefreeness. It simply wasn't there. (11.12.2015)

I watched the movie because I like fantasy as such. I had no idea, though, that the not very popular world of Neverland would influence me so much as to make me detest the whole movie. The actors aren’t the reason why you should watch this movie. Neither is the world, which is a combination of everything and anything, including the Caribbean pirates. On the other hand, I appreciate that somebody wanted to film a proper fantasy because all of it looks very nice, expensive, and apparently also high-quality. It’s a pity, though, that the creators had to stick to the world of Peter Pan, who is apparently more popular around the world than in the Czech Republic. The creators could have afforded to take a risk and come up with something new and unique for that amount of money. But here you can see that not even an established brand can salvage a studio. Even when it is otherwise filmed pretty nicely. If you see no other reason to watch this movie, believe me when I say that the cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” will demolish you. For a while, I kept thinking about where I know the melody of the song the kids are singing from and after a while, I realized it was Nirvana. And you don’t see that in a fairy tale every day. I wonder what Kurt Cobain would have said. (01.01.2017)

The fairytale, which does not become a staple, but has a soul so sincere that a single look into Peter's eyes was enough for me to know that I was once again that same lost boy as years ago in Neverland. The biggest surprise is the absence of a direct continuation of the classic story, and the characters' motivations are less heated within a more family-oriented approach, but the transformation into almost classically cut adventure show does not harm J. M. Barrie's characters in any way. The most principled fans of the original will probably struggle with a singing Hugh Jackman, but I had no hope of resisting him. After all, I still believe in fairies and in the irreplaceable magic that their dust brings. (09.07.2016)