NEVERLAND. Levi Miller stars as Peter in Joe Wright's Pan. Pictures: Nu Metro
It includes an onslaught on the senses which removes all the whimsy and child-like wonder of the original. There is no Wendy or Nana the dog, or the brothers, but there is a mean-spirited pirate named Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), another named James Hook (Garrett Hedland) with hand still intact, and a younger Peter, who has not yet learnt to fly.
Wright has taken the story back to the beginning, which opens with Peter being dumped as a baby on the steps of a convent. His fleeing mother (Amanda Seyfried) has left him with a silver Pan Pipes medallion and a letter explaining her actions.
Peter is brought up in a Dickensian orphanage by a horrible group of uncaring nuns during World War II and when he reaches the age of 12 he’s whisked away on a pirate shop to Neverland where a new adventure awaits him and the discovery of his true identity.
Young Aussie newcomer Levi Miller displays a maturity beyond his years as the mischievous Peter. The innocence of the original tales is replaced by a “chosen one” narrative thrust, a bombardment of anachronistic music, punk-type clothing designs and themes of child labour and warfare.
This is no fairy tale, but Wright manages to sustain a level of interest as Peter, with the help of Tiger Lilly (Rooney Mara) and Hook take on Blackbeard’s pirates.
Though visually striking, Pan lacks an important ingredient: magic.