Hook

November 6, 7:05 PMSteven Spielberg ExaminerJustin Murphy

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     Peter Banning has been bogged down by life as a practicing lawyer. He is not even able to go his daughter Maggie’s school plays or his Jack’s baseball games. Even though he does get the chance to spend with them on a trip to England. They are there to celebrate a much older Wendy opening up an orphanage for lost children who need homes. Peter reveals he was orphan who she found and gave a home. However, one night his children are snatched from their bedroom. There is note revealing the culprit is Captain James Hook in Never Never Land.

    Peter, ever the consummate adult, wants to talk to a grown up so he could find his kids. Yet he encounters The Lost Boys for the first time in years, but does not remember any of them. They are now led by a Mohawk haired youth named Rufio, whom Peter feels leads a poor example for The Lost Boys. Yet Rufio helps him discover the inner child that he lost, and reminds him of what it means to be Peter Pan. He regains his youthful vigor and sets out to rescue his kids from the clutches of Captain Hook.

    However, Hook’s minions use Peter’s children to distract him from a duel between Hook and Rufio, a duel that leads to Hook vanquishing the young warrior. Peter is distraught over having to watch Rufio die in his arms. Yet he finds the courage to have one last duel with Captain Hook before he is devoured by the stuffed Crocodile whom he killed years earlier. This enables Peter to return with his kids to England, assure his wife and their mother (who is also revealed to be Wendy’s granddaughter) that everything is alright with vigor to stay young.

    Some Spielberg fans to this day ridicule the notion of Robin Williams playing a grown up Peter Pan. Even though the film was another huge success at the box office, many today consider it a failure. Much of Spielberg’s source material for the film did come from Peter and Wendy, the novel by J.M. Barrie. This resulted in a movie that may have been more faithful to J.M. Barrie’s original vision than the more well known Disney version. Yet has not been well received by fans and critics alike since its release years ago on December 11, 1991.