‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Review: ‘The Green Knight’ Director David Lowery Delivers a Rote Disney Reboot
Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic With “Peter Pan and Wendy,” Disney sets out to bring the boy who refused to grow up into the 21st century — not literally, like those taxing live-action/cartoon hybrids, where computer-generated Smurfs get loose in Manhattan or Tom and Jerry wreak havoc in a high-end hotel. The studio’s latest remake is still set in Edwardian England, the way both J.M. Barrie’s play and the animated feature it inspired were. But the sensibility is very much of the moment, as director David Lowery (who did an admirable job of updating “Pete’s Dragon” for Disney) refreshes the 1953 classic according to contemporary priorities. In conception and casting both, the new movie presents a diverse and empowered ensemble. The vintage toon’s shameful Native American stereotypes have been corrected. The beloved Tinker Bell character can now serve as a role model for a wider range of children. Sharing hero duties, Wendy gets to announce, “This magic belongs to no boy!” Even Captain Hook, once treated as irredeemable crocodile fodder, is revealed to be a misunderstood figure from Peter’s past who’s fallen out of touch with his happy thoughts.