Hook

Starring: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Gwyneth Paltrow, Glenn Close
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
1991

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: An adult Peter Pan (Robin Williams) is all grown up and has completely forgotten about his adventures in Neverland. He doesn't remember anything before coming into the real world. When his children are kidnapped by Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), he must venture into Neverland, remember who he really is, and save them.

Review:

Tim: I used to absolutely love Hook when I was younger. I remember watching it over and over again. Since that time, I haven't seen this film at all. It's been at least 15 years since I last saw it. I was interested to see how it held up over time. I can say that although the movie is still very good, it wasn't quite as good as I remembered.

I do believe Steven Spielberg deserves credit for creating such an elaborate, impressive world here. Neverland has never looked so good. This film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards- Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Song. Four out of the five relate to the visual look of the film- it's certainly impressive by 1991 standards.

The film is pretty fascinating because of that central question- "What if the boy who would never grow up actually did grow up?" I always think it is fascinating when familiar stories are given a new infusion (that's probably why I enjoyed Wicked- the book and the play). I loved watching the continued adventures of Peter and Captain Hook.

The cast is pretty good. Robin Williams works well as the adult Peter. He's more reserved than in many films, but he does have the opportunity to showcase some of his trademark humor and energy. I liked him in the role and think he was very well cast. I loved Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, although he did go a bit over-the-top with the performance. Hoffman typically doesn't do movies like this, so it was great to see him in this light. It was cool seeing Julia Roberts in a smaller role as Tinkerbell. I thought she did a good job. It's also fun to see Gwyneth Paltrow in an extremely small, very early career role. I even have to mention Bob Hoskins, who's pretty excellent in a small role. He was very fun to watch.

There's a few aspects of this movie that I didn't like, and wouldn't have been aware of as a 10 or 11 year old. It's actually pretty disturbing to think about Peter Pan abandoning the lost boys for decades, returning, getting their leader killed, and then abandoning them again. It's a bit disturbing. The story itself is occasionally hard to believe. The story definitely could have been tighter and more effective. The movie is surprisingly long, at 144 minutes. It needed to be shorter.

Still, I loved Hook as a kid, and I still very much enjoy it today. The film is flawed, but it's still a pretty good adventure that gives a new spin to a familiar story and characters. It is a very entertaining adventure movie and quite a lot of fun.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Peter Pan, Jurassic Park, Jumanji