CyberCyst: Peter Pan

I saw the movie not too long ago, but in a theatre, and posted the following review at another board. Since I wrote it only a few hours after having seen it, I repeat it here because my opinion in it is a lot fresher than what I could give you know. (It's a positive review but keep in mind that I adore the book ardently! Some spoilers.)

[i]First things first - I'm reasonably sure the German version got cut a little. I didn't see how Hook wounded Peter during their fight in the cave as was told in the book and several stabbings, shootings and devourings seemed a little skimmed. (In case the German DVD has 100 minutes playing time like the movie I saw, I'm getting a British DVD.)
As for the movie itself - well, since Lord Of The Rings, I've more or less gotten used to changes in the storyline and I've even learnt to tolerate them to an extend. And rest assured, the changes in Peter Pan weren't nearly as 'creative' as those in, say, The Two Towers. Of course, it wasn't exactly the Peter Pan from the books. A couple of passages got merged and some scenes were added to help the general flow. In terms of themes and plot elements, the movie version takes several liberties which all pay off more or less well.
When I first saw Hook fly, I was a little outraged because it was clearly out of character and ran counter to the spirit of the book. They saved that bit from becoming sacrilege rather nicely by using it to orchestrate Hook's demise, though. And while Tinkerbell's resurrection was one of the nicest sequences in the movie, I'd have preferred them to work out her likeable characteristics a bit more. Speaking of characters - where was Tootles? Sure, he was in the movie but there was a lot more to his character in the book. Same goes, to a lesser extend, for the rest of the Lost Boys - the kids did a nice job but their writing needed improvement.
Other than that, several images and subtle details from the original were blown out of proportion and shallow-fied Hollywood-style like Mrs. Darling's hidden kiss. This was to be expected, of course.
The visuals were satisfactory (with the exception of a couple of gumby CG-shots and choppy blue screen montages) - the Jolly Roger sailing over the rooftops of London was extremely impressive on a large screen.

Final verdict: I'm pleased until the next, even better adaptation of Peter Pan gets released. And that 'better' adaptation should be longer, focus more on the main themes of the book and add a little more character to some of the players. Other than that, it was about time a decent live action flick of Peter Pan got shot.[/i]

And to add to the Hook-discussion: while that movie felt a lot more American and less dream-like, I'd say Hoffman takes the cake as far as portraying Hook is concerned. Isaacs did very, very well in my opinion, though, but he was just a little too young for the role.