'Peter Pan and Wendy' is in need some of magic

On the eve of her departure to boarding school, Wendy (Ever Anderson) and her two younger brothers John and Michael (Joshua Pickering, Jacobi Jupe) are taken to Neverland by Peter Pan (Alexander Molony). There, they meet the Lost Boys and do battle with the vengeful Captain Hook (Jude Law)...

As much as Disney has taken to adapting their filmography to live-action, the results thus far have been patchy at best. Kenneth Branagh's 'Cinderella' had the look and feel of an expensive TV movie. 'The Lion King', with its all-star cast, was a pretty listless affair. 'The Jungle Book' was the only one that seemed to have a pulse, and much of that was down to the fact that it felt more like a bridge between animation CGI and live-action than anything else. In 'Peter Pan and Wendy', David Lowery's second effort for the House of Mouse tries to make reinvent the story but still retain enough for people to understand and remember it.

When you look at something like 'The Green Knight', which was a terrifically-told adaptation of Arthurian mythology, you know that David Lowery is capable of wielding fantasy themes and concepts with confidence. More than that, he can make them resonate with emotion and believability. It never feels like it's cheap tricks or reliance on special effects, but a deep understanding on the power of story and its ability to relate to our condition. The problem with 'Peter Pan and Wendy' is that too often you get the unavoidable sense that any kind of breathing room or atmosphere has been shaved off to make it fit for streaming. The movie feels like it's been hacked to pieces in the editing room, and what we're seeing is about one-third of a good movie, with the remaining two thirds somewhere on the floor.

Ever Anderson has all of the physicality of her mam - that's action star Milla Jovovich, by the way - and is able to buckle and swash with the best of them. Alexander Molony, who plays Peter Pan, has a kind of wispy presence on screen and never fully connects with the mercurial persona. Jude Law, meanwhile, goes for an altogether darker approach to Captain Hook than previous iterations. There's none of the campiness of Dustin Hoffman's Hook; instead, Law plays him like a wounded animal. Not even Jim Gaffigan can liven things up as Mr. Smee, while the various assortment of Lost Boys - sorry, Lost Children - never have enough screentime or presence to make an impact, save for Tiger Lily, played with real conviction by newcomer Alyssa Wapanatahk.

Ultimately, 'Peter Pan and Wendy' never quite finds a reason to exist. It's not unique enough from the animated original, and it's clear that whatever differences that did exist were carved out of what we're seeing now. As good as 'Pete's Dragon' - David Lowery's first Disney live-action adaptation - was and is, 'Peter Pan and Wendy' is an unfortunate follow-up. It's a shame, because there probably was something here, but it's not on screen.