Peter Man

Steven Spielberg is one of America’s most famous directors, considered one of the founders of the New Hollywood era whose career has been ongoing for more than four decades. Spielberg has directed many famous films such as the Indiana Jones series, the Jurassic Park series, Catch Me if You Can and Saving Private Ryan. But one of Spielberg’s films that is completely underrated would be Hook. Released in 1991, it is the story of Peter Pan, now as an adult, after he left Neverland. This lively spin off of Disney’s Peter Pan has viewers hooked (see what I did there) from the moment it is displayed on screen.

Hook was directed by the known screenwriter, director, and producer Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is widely famous for making many crowd-pleasing movies and winning several Academy Awards. Spielberg co-founded the studio Dreamworks SKG in 1994 which was later bought out by Paramount Pictures in 2005. Spielberg has many different styles of films that express different emotions and reactions from viewers. Jaws (1975) was a thriller about a man-eating shark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. (1982) left viewers in wonder about what else could be living in our solar system, and audiences fell in love with the adventurous and action-filled plot of the Indiana Jones series. Spielberg has been all over the place with different types of films such as war movies, animations, thrillers, sci-fi, and more. Hook was a very different approach for Spielberg, creating a fantasy feel for viewers, who simultaneously could reminisce about the days when they first heard the story of Peter Pan.

The story of Hook reveals what Peter Pan’s life would be like if he left Neverland and decided to live a normal life. The beginning of the film shows that Peter is a married workaholic with two children. He tends to ignore his family, making his job his priority. There are situations where Peter gets caught up in his work over his family, like missing his son’s baseball game or constantly having to answer business calls. The story progresses when Peter gets sucked back into the world of Neverland. His son and daughter were captured by Captain Hook in effort to lure Peter back for a rematch. Peter decides to go on the quest to win back his kids and bring them home safely. Along the way he re-encounters the Lost Boys, mermaids, Tinker Bell, pirates, and more. Peter does not remember Neverland, but when he is brought back with the help of his old side-kick, Tink, things start coming back to his memory. There he meets back up with his old buddies, the Lost Boys, and they help him remember that he is in fact, Peter Pan. Peter is reminded of what life is like in Neverland. A place where you can do anything with your imagination, like fly or imagine a whole feast is in front of you. The magic makes it real. The Lost Boys train Peter daily, getting him back into shape and strengthening his fighting skills so he can take on Captain Hook. At the end, we get our fairytale ending. Peter wins back his kids, defeats Captain Hook, and returns home. The journey helped Peter to remember how important family is and that they should be his priority in life, not his work.

There is a unique depiction of technical elements in Hook. When Tinker Bell is helping Peter believe that he can fly, she drags him along with her to Neverland. Peter is lifted into the air, wrapped in a blanket, and shown flying out of a shaking window towards a bright light. This is supposed to symbolize the promise of magic and imagination right on the other side. Tinker Bell and Peter are shown flying through the London night, heading towards the “second star to the right”. It then shows Neverland in as a rocky, dark island that has been taken over by Captain Hook. Some viewers were disappointed with this depiction of Neverland, because they were expecting an extravagant, luscious, green island. Peter then is dropped into the middle of what seems to be some type of gathering of pirates. Viewers said it looked like just what it is, a movie set, and that it did not seem very believable. Instead of just taking off the blanket that was on Peter, he rips it open slowly, and the camera cuts a few times from his eye, to what is being shown out of the blanket. At first he sees a clock, which looks very similar to Big Ben in London. This gives the perspective that Peter is still back at home. As he rips the blanket open more, the pirate scene is revealed.

There are many elements to the movie Hook that make it to be as great as it is, and that is the depiction of magic and imagination that is portrayed throughout the film. Hook has a major theme, imagination. Peter is encouraged to use his imagination throughout the film, and that doing so will help him remember that he is Peter Pan. This film does not necessary grapple with imagination, but instead it is a take on imagination. Peter uses his imagination and he begins to fly, he can see things that he normally would not. In the real world, people use imagination in their everyday lives. Our imagination does not give us the ability to fly, like Peter, but helps us in other ways. People can use imagination to escape a feeling. If one is stressing out, they can imagine they are in a happier place and it can help calm them down. Imagination brings a positive attitude to our everyday lives. It can also help in other ways. Writers use their imagination to make up a story. They need to imagine a plot, characters, setting, details, etc. Musicians use their imagination to write songs that people would listen to. Imagination makes humans creative. It helps us make ideas, create, and invent. Essentially, we would not have anything unless we imagined it first. Without imagination, there would not really be anything in the world.

Personally, I very much enjoyed Hook and the emotions it gave me as a viewer. You go from frustration that Peter does not remember who he is, to loving every second of his self-revelation. Hook has been a movie I have watched since I was little. Peter Pan has always been my favorite Disney movie, and this spin off answers every kid’s question, “What if Peter Pan grew up?” People who have watched Peter Pan have wondered what Peter’s life would be like if he did stay in London with Wendy, if he did not return home to Neverland. Hook was enchanted, funny, and a perfect film for family entertainment. I also think that the casting was perfect. Robin Williams played a perfect Pan, bringing the character to life. He went from stingy old businessman to the Peter we all know and love. Hook is just the right amount of magic and imagination that reminds you of what it is like to be a kid again.