Most of us have seen the animated version of Peter Pan when we were growing up. I remember not seeing it in the theaters but watching it at home with my daughter. We laughed, we cheered, and we watched it over and over again until she became tired of watching it. My daughter loved Captain Hook. She loved him so much that we bought her a plush of the Captain and she would take it with her whenever we went out. I am not so sure where the Jude Law version of Captain Hook will sit with my daughter.

This new adaptation of Peter Pan called Peter Pan & Wendy brought a lot of joy to this father who watched this movie while the kids were asleep. I will admit that I was not really that excited about this movie. I just felt like it was going to be ok. I mean, why would Disney put it on Disney+ instead of putting it on the big screen? The film was originally announced in 2020 and was supposed to play on the big screen. It seems that Covid delays and reshoots moved the release of this movie a few times and it ended up being on Disney+.

The release on Disney+ will bring the movie to a bigger audience and if you are a parent like me, you can pause or rewind when you missed something due to your kid asking a million questions. The new adaptation of the movie is fun but does feel a little lackluster at times. The movie give us the familiar tale that we have seen but gives us a little more insight into the background between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. I don’t remember if this was ever talked about before in previous versions but this information humanizes Captain Hook a little. You will start off hating him at the beginning of the movie but by the end you feel some sort of sympathy for him.

The movie is filled with a diverse cast that just feels right on Neverland. The kids have the same spunk and tenacity as we have seen before but seem a little more stronger than the previous version. I will backtrack for a moment and say when Peter, Wendy and the boys fly to Neverland, the visuals of their flight there is pretty cool. One of the standouts on Neverland is Alyssa Wapanatâhk who plays Tiger Lilly. Her character shows Wendy what it truly means to be strong and is a source of encouragement to Wendy in the movie’s climatic fight.

Captain Hook and Smee are played by Jude Law and Jim Gaffigan and they are fantastic on the screen. Law’s Hook is creepy at first but as the movie progresses we see a softer side of him. Smee is just the comic relief and I wish we could have seen more of him. If we have Hook and Smee we are sure to have Tick-Tock Croc and when he appears it is a stunning scene. Just the sheer look of Croc makes that scene terrifying.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Peter and Tinkerbell, played by Alexander Molony and Yara Shahidi. Since Tinkerbell does not talk, Shahidi’s acting is hindered in how much she can do, but I felt she was great in portraying Tinkerbell’s mannerisms and joy. Alexander is fun as Peter and you can tell that he enjoyed playing this role. Peter Pan & Wendy is a fun movie that families will enjoy together and maybe this will lead them to rewatch the animated movie to compare notes.

Final Thoughts: Peter Pan & Wendy is a perfect adaptation of the animated movie and the Broadway play. There are a few nods to those in the form of music and things the characters say and do. The imagery is fantastic and would have been great to be seen on the big screen in a theater. There are a few changes here and there to move the story along but families will enjoy seeing this movie together.

Kid-Friendly: The movie is very kid-friendly. Some of the images of Captain Hook and his band of pirates might scare or intimidate younger kids but they are not too scary.

Violence: There are some fight scenes with Peter, Hook, Wendy, and the rest of the Lost Boys and pirates. There is a lot of swordplay and one use of a gun. It is a children’s movie so the violence is toned down.

Disney’s epic movie event, “Peter Pan & Wendy” is a live-action reimagining of the J.M. Barrie novel and the 1953 animated classic, directed by David Lowery (“The Green Knight,” “Pete’s Dragon”), streaming 2023, only on Disney+. Directed by David Lowery (“The Green Knight,” “Pete’s Dragon”), the film introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever. The film stars Jude Law (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Alexander Molony (“The Reluctant Landlord”), Ever Anderson (“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter”), Yara Shahidi (“Grown-ish”), Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering (“A Discovery of Witches”), Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker (“House of Cards”), Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), and Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”). “Peter Pan and Wendy” is directed by David Lowery from a screenplay by David Lowery & Toby Halbrooks (“The Green Knight”) based on the novel by J. M. Barrie and the animated film “Peter Pan.” The producer is Jim Whitaker (“Pete’s Dragon”), with Adam Borba (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Thomas M. Hammel (“Thor: Ragnarok”), and Toby Halbrooks serving as executive producers.