As Hitler’s army nears the United Kingdom, it is up to Winston Churchill to decide between negotiating peace or fighting against impossible odds inDarkest Hour,which arrivedon Digital February 6, 2018 and Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand February 27, 2018, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. With outstanding filmmaker pedigree, Darkest Hour is directed by BAFTA Award winner Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice), written by Academy Award nominee Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything) and stars Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman (Harry Potter, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) in his 2018 Golden Globe Award winning role. The critically acclaimed Darkest Hour received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Production Design.
Now you can own DARKEST HOUR on Blu-ray. We Are Movie Geeks has 3 copies to give away.All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie starring Gary Oldman? (mine is SID AND NANCY!). It’s so easy!
Good Luck!
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Darkest Hour on Blu-ray™ and DVD comes with a feature commentary from Director Joe Wright and two exclusive behind-the-scenes featurettes that show Oldman’s extraordinary transformation into Churchill and gives an inside look at the making of this incredible film.
Academy Award® nominee Gary Oldman gives a “towering performance” (Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair) in acclaimed director Joe Wright’s soaring drama Darkest Hour. As Hitler’s forces storm across the European landscape and close in on the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill (Oldman) is elected the new Prime Minister. With his party questioning his every move, and King George VI (Mendelsohn) skeptical of his new political leader, it is up to Churchill to lead his nation and protect them from the most dangerous threat ever seen. Also starring Academy Award® nominee Kristin Scott Thomas (Tomb Raider, The English Patient, Only God Forgives) and Lily James (Baby Driver, Cinderella), Darkest Hour is a powerful, inspirational drama.
BLU-RAY™, DVD & DIGITAL BONUS FEATURES:
Into Darkest Hour – A comprehensive overview of all that went into making this epic wartime drama, including how they maintained authenticity in depicting 1940’s London.
Gary Oldman: Becoming Churchill – Filmmakers, cast, and crew marvel at Gary Oldman’s layered, transformative performance. Oldman himself weighs in on the greatest challenges of portraying a man as iconic and complicated as Winston Churchill.
We Are Movie Geeks is giving away DARKEST HOUR prizepacks to celebrate the release of the film. DARKEST HOUR is now playing in select cities and expands nationwide on December 22
2 winners will receive:
a set of 4 coasters
1 paperback book (Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink by Anthony McCarten)
For a chance to win:
ENTER YOUR NAME AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
1. YOU MUST BE A US RESIDENT. PRIZE WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED TO US ADDRESSES. NO P.O. BOXES. NO DUPLICATE ADDRESSES.
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No purchase necessary.
Watch the official trailer:
Directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten, DARKEST HOUR stars Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn.
During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman).
Credit: Jack English / Focus Features
While maneuvering his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds.
Directed by Joe Wright, DARKEST HOUR is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill’s courage to lead changed the course of world history.
Gary Oldman gives an amazing performance as Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright DARKEST HOUR, a riveting drama about Churchill and the earliest darkest days of World War II, as Britain faced the crisis of Dunkirk and invasion by Hitler loomed. The film is an admirable work, a mix of historical drama and biopic, but it is Oldman’s remarkable Oscar-worthy performance that is generating the most attention.
DARKEST HOUR offers more than Gary Oldman’s sterling, stirring performance. It is also a wonderful companion to a couple of other WWII films released this year, DUNKIRK and the less-seen THEIR FINEST HOUR, both set around he same time in Britain. Combined with director Joe Wright’s earlier film ATONEMENT, which contains a riveting depiction of a soldier’s experience pinned down at Dunkirk, these films create a surprisingly rounded picture of an event and time that still resonates, particularly for Brits.
Of the several films about Winston Churchill this year, DARKEST HOUR is by far the best, not only thanks to Oldman but to a well-written script and strong direction. Director Joe Wright has shown great skill in other period films, such as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and ATONEMENT, and puts those skills to good use here. The film also sports a strong supporting cast and wonderful evocative visual style.
We first see Churchill in typical working mode, in bed having a breakfast that includes whiskey and a cigar, dictating letters to politicians and bullying yet another new young secretary In this case, it is Miss Layton, played by Lily James, who bears the brunt, and the experience nearly leads her to quit her first day. But the situation is saved by Winston’s long-suffering wife Clemmie (the excellent Kristen Scott Thomas), who soothes her and scolds him.
It is 1940, the Nazis are poised to invade Belgium and France is on the brink, the British Parliament has lost confidence in the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup). To gain the support of the opposition, the ruling party must call on an old warhorse, Winston Churchill (Oldman). At 65, the hard-drinking, cigar-smoking rotund politician seems an unlikely pick for leader, and not even King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) is comfortable with the choice. Churchill, on the other hand, seems to have expected it, and springs into action.
While outgoing prime minister Chamberlain councils peace and wants to negotiate with Hitler, Churchill only talks of war. He knows there is no negotiating with Hitler.
The film evokes the time period brilliantly. Visually, scenes are all in desaturated color, leaning to warm sepia tones. Slanting light filters through smokey interiors and gray exteriors. Faces are half-lit or heavily shadowed, lending an air of classic mystery. The murky look reflects the murky situation in which Britain finds itself in the war.
The film is both atmospheric and intimate, taut with tension. It focuses on showing Churchill’s skill as a speechwriter and inspiring orator. Oldman portrays him as a man of great self-confidence, and a bulldog of determination and unreasoning optimism. The combination inspired the British public but worried his politicians at home and leaders of allied countries, some of whom called him delusional or drunken.
But to lead the British people, Churchill at first misleads them about the situation, painting a hopeful picture when things are actually very grim. So grim that the German’s have driven the bulk of British forces back to Dunkirk, where they are trapped with their backs to the sea. The only nearby troops are at Calais, also in dire conditions.
Dunkirk remains a backdrop to this story, which focuses on Churchill himself, which is why this film dovetails so nicely with the earlier two films, DUNKIRK and THEIR FINEST, both of which highlight the role civilians played in rescuing soldiers. In DARKEST HOURS, the battlefield situation is often portrayed in aerial views, showing bombed landscapes and smashed buildings, while leaders strategize in the underground war room.
Audiences are so used to seeing Gary Oldman in roles playing Americans that they may forget the actor is British. Oldman likely relished the chance to play Churchill, Britain’s great wartime leader. Oldman actually looks nothing like Churchill, yet with the help of makeup, completely disappears into the part and is astonishing convincing. He captures the posture, the pattern of speech, familiar from old recordings, Oldman’s Churchill talks incessantly and insistently, saying to an adversary in one scene, “Stop interrupting me while I’m interrupting you.” In another, he shows one of his famous bursts of temper, shouting “You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth,” as he rejects negotiating peace with Hitler.
Churchill’s political adversaries in this struggle are the outgoing prime minister Neville Chamberlain and his supporter Viscount Hallifax (Stephen Dillane). Hallifax declined the office but is helping maneuver Churchill out of it, so Chamberlain can resume his former role.
The dialog is sparkling, with witty quips sprinkled into discussions that reveal the historical situation, the war abroad and political maneuvering at home, and Churchill’s personal life. Scriptwriter Anthony McCarten built his screenplay around three of Churchill’s speeches, culminating with the famous rallying cry “we will never surrender.” McCarten thoroughly researched the man and the events, drawing on the minutes of Churchill’s War Cabinet meetings. The notes revealed moments of doubt or uncertainty unexpected given his confident public image. Privately, Churchill recalled mistakes of the past, and was particularly haunted by World War I and Gallipoli.
Oldman’s Churchill is often bullying, a man of such strong will that even the King admits to being frightened of him, then he surprises us with his sharp sense of humor and sudden kindness, illustrated in a touching scene where his young secretary talks about her soldier brother. Lilly James is perfect in her role, a young woman who at first seems ready to bolt from her challenging job and the later coming to understand and admire the complex, difficult man for whom she works.
Kristen Scott Thomas is simply wonderful as Clemmie Churchill, the only one unafraid of Winston, and the only one able to rally her husband in his private moments of doubt. Her scenes with Oldman are highlights of the film, filled sharp wit and conflict, as well as warmth and romance.
The rest of the cast is good as well, particularly Samuel West as Churchill’s loyal assistant, Sir Anthony Eden and Mendelsohn as the king.
Overall, the film is masterfully crafted, creating character and building tension with a sure hand. The film’s one stumble is an awkward, unconvincing scene in which Churchill makes the far-fetched decision to take the London subway, the Tube, to discuss with ordinary citizens the possibility of peace negotiations with Hitler. While Churchill really did sometimes sneak out to talk to ordinary citizens to get a sense of public opinion, this fictional scene just does not play as real.
DARKEST HOUR is an excellent historical film, one that perfectly captures the time period and critical point in history time, and creates a portrait of a great man at his finest hour, who exemplifies leadership at its best.
Focus Features will release Darkest Hour in select cities on November 22, 2017
This new trailer looks amazing:
During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman). While maneuvering his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds. Directed by Joe Wright, DARKEST HOUR is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill’s courage to lead changed the course of world history.
DARKEST HOUR is directed by Joe Wright and stars Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn
“Do not let us speak of darker days; let us rather speak of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.” Winston Churchill, 29 October 1941.
If you’re a British history aficionado as well as a film buff, 2017 is your year at the cinemas.
THEIR FINEST, DUNKIRK and now DARKEST HOUR starring Gary Oldman as Sir Winston Churchill have or will be filling the theaters. Check out the brand new trailer for the film below.
Focus Features will release DARKEST HOUR in select cities on November 22, 2017.
Oldman’s look as the statesman is nothing short of amazing!
Here’s a list of the team who designed the hair and makeup:
David Malinowski – personal make-up artist Gary Oldman / prosthetic makeup supervisor: Gary Oldman
Lucy Sibbick – Prosthetic make up and hair artist to Gary Oldman / prosthetic makeup and hair artist: Gary Oldman
Kazuhiro Tsuji – prosthetic makeup and hair designer: Gary Oldman
Heather Manson – hair and makeup artist
Flora Moody – key makeup artist key hair stylist
Ivana Primorac – hair designer / makeup designer
Figure the film to loom large over the upcoming awards season and in all categories. DARKEST HOUR is a film that should definitely be on your radar for Oscars 2018.
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation.
As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
The film also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn.
(ctr) Gary Oldman stars as Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright’s DARKEST HOUR, a Focus Features release. Credit: Jack English / Focus Features
Focus Features has released a brand new photo of Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill from the upcoming film DARKEST HOUR. The film also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn.
Driected by Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Hanna,” “Pride & Prejudice,” “Anna Karenina”), the first poster and official trailer will debut tomorrow.
Focus Features will release DARKEST HOUR in select cities on November 22, 2017.
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
The film is written by Anthony McCarten (“The Theory of Everything”).
Gary Oldman stars as Winston Churchill for director Joe Wright in DARKEST HOUR, which has begun production in the U.K. Focus Features holds worldwide rights to the Working Title Films production as part of the company’s renewed global initiative.
Focus will release Darkest Hour domestically on November 24th, 2017 in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the film globally, beginning with the U.K. on December 29th, 2017.
The original screenplay of DARKEST HOUR is by Anthony McCarten, an Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Award winner as screenwriter of Focus and Working Title’s Best Picture Oscar nominee The Theory of Everything. Mr. McCarten and Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Award winner Lisa Bruce (The Theory of Everything) are producing Darkest Hour with Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, and BAFTA Award winner Douglas Urbanski (Nil by Mouth), reteaming with Focus and Working Title following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, for which Mr. Oldman was a Best Actor Oscar nominee.
The filmmaking team includes costume designer Jacqueline Durran, an Academy Award winner for her work on Mr. Wright’s Anna Karenina for Focus and Working Title; production designer Sarah Greenwood, who has received Academy Award nominations for three previous movies directed by Mr. Wright (Anna Karenina, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) for Focus and Working Title; composer Dario Marianelli, an Academy Award winner for scoring Mr. Wright’s Atonement for Focus and Working Title; director of photography Bruno Delbonnel, a four-time Academy Award nominee; editor Valerio Bonelli (Florence Foster Jenkins); make-up and hair designer Ivana Primorac, who has collaborated with Mr. Wright on four previous movies including Focus’ Hanna; and two-time Academy Award nominee Kazuhiro Tsuji, who will be prosthetics designer on DARKEST HOUR.
Within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
Joining Mr. Oldman in the cast are Stephen Dillane, John Hurt, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Working Title’s slate includes Bridget Jones’s Baby, directed by Sharon Maguire and starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Patrick Dempsey; The Snowman, directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, and Val Kilmer; Baby Driver, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Lily James, Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, and Jamie Foxx; and Victoria and Abdul, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Judi Dench as Queen Victoria.
In addition to Victoria and Abdul and Darkest Hour, current and upcoming domestic releases from Focus include Kubo and the Two Strings, the new family event movie from animation studio LAIKA, directed by Travis Knight with a voice cast that includes Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro, and Matthew McConaughey; Tom Ford’s romantic thriller Nocturnal Animals, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival; the real-life story of heroism The Zookeeper’s Wife, directed by Niki Caro and starring Jessica Chastain; Colin Trevorrow’s The Book of Henry, starring Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, and Jacob Tremblay; Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning; the action spy thriller The Coldest City, directed by David Leitch and starring Charlize Theron and James McAvoy; the untitled new film from Paul Thomas Anderson starring Daniel Day-Lewis; J.A. Bayona’s visually spectacular drama A Monster Calls, starring Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Lewis MacDougall, and Liam Neeson, which world-premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival; and Jeff Nichols’ Loving, based on the love story of Richard and Mildred Loving, portrayed by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, which world-premiered at the 2016 Cannes International Film Festival.
“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
– Winston Churchill
Continuing creative collaborations that began over a decade ago, premier specialty label Focus Features is reteaming with both Working Title Films, one of the world’s leading film production companies, and director Joe Wright on DARKEST HOUR. Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film as part of the company’s renewed global initiative; Focus will release DARKEST HOURdomestically on November 24th, 2017 in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the film around the world, beginning with the U.K. on December 29th, 2017.
Production on DARKEST HOUR begins this fall.
Mr. Wright will direct Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in DARKEST HOUR. The original screenplay is by Anthony McCarten, an Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Award winner as screenwriter of Focus and Working Title’s The Theory of Everything. Mr. McCarten is producing Darkest Hour with Lisa Bruce and Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, all of whom were Academy Award-nominated as producers of Best Picture Oscar nominee The Theory of Everything. Mr. Oldman was a Best Actor Academy Award nominee for Focus and Working Title’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
Joining Mr. Oldman in the cast are Academy Award nominee John Hurt as Neville Chamberlain, whom Churchill succeeded as Prime Minister; Lily James (Downton Abbey, Cinderella) as Churchill’s personal secretary; Golden Globe Award nominee Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI; and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife, Clementine.
For more on Churchill’s great speeches, read the Telegraph’s list here.
Mr. Wright, a BAFTA Award winner, is making his fourth feature with Working Title and Focus; the director’s previous films with the companies were Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, and Anna Karenina, which combined won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four BAFTA Awards. He also directed for Focus the hit thriller Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan.
Focus chairman Peter Kujawski commented, “Everyone at Focus is proud to be the longtime home to Joe Wright and our partners at Working Title, and thrilled to once again be working with the gifted Anthony McCarten and the legendary Gary Oldman. Darkest Hour is about a visionary leader who stood firm in the face of tremendous pressure to abandon his unique point of view on the world, so it is fitting that his story will be told by these visionary filmmakers.”
Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner have been co-chairs of Working Title Films, one of the world’s leading film production companies, since 1992. Working Title has made more than 100 films that have grossed over $6 billion worldwide. Its films have won 12 Academy Awards (for Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables and The Danish Girl; James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything; Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking; Joel and Ethan Coen’s Fargo; Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age; and Joe Wright’s Atonement and Anna Karenina), 39 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, and prizes at the Cannes and Berlin International Film Festivals.
Mr. Bevan and Mr. Fellner have been honored with the Producers Guild of America’s David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures, the PGA’s highest honor for motion picture producers. They have been accorded two of the highest film awards given to British filmmakers: the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award at the BAFTA Awards, and the Alexander Walker Film Award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. They have also both been honored with CBEs (Commanders of the Order of the British Empire).
The company’s commercial and critical hits include The Interpreter, About a Boy, Notting Hill, Elizabeth, Fargo, Dead Man Walking, Bean, High Fidelity, Johnny English, Billy Elliot, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, Pride & Prejudice, Nanny McPhee, United 93, Mr. Bean’s Holiday, Hot Fuzz, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Burn After Reading, Frost/Nixon, Atonement, Senna, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Anna Karenina, Les Misérables, I Give It A Year, About Time, Rush, The Two Faces of January, Trash, The Theory of Everything, Legend, Everest, The Programme, The Danish Girl, Grimsby, and Hail, Caesar!
Working Title’s upcoming slate includes Bridget Jones’s Baby, directed by Sharon Maguire and starring Renée Zellwegger, Colin Firth, and Patrick Dempsey; The Snowman, directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, and Val Kilmer; Baby Driver, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Lily James, Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, and Jamie Foxx; and, also with Focus releasing domestically and UPI distributing around the world, Stephen Frears’ Victoria and Abdul, to star Dame Judi Dench as Queen Victoria.
From director Joe Wright comes PAN, a live-action feature presenting a wholly original adventure about the beginnings of the beloved characters created by J.M. Barrie. The film stars Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard; Garrett Hedlund as James Hook; Oscar nominee Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily; newcomer Levi Miller as Peter; and Amanda Seyfried as Mary.
The music is by Oscar-nominated composer John Powell (“How to Train Your Dragon”).
To celebrate the film, WAMG is giving away 5 soundtrack download cards and necklaces.
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Peter is a mischievous 12-year-old boy with an irrepressible rebellious streak, but in the bleak London orphanage where he has lived his whole life those qualities do not exactly fly. Then one incredible night, Peter is whisked away from the orphanage and spirited off to a fantastical world of pirates, warriors and fairies called Neverland. There, he finds amazing adventures and fights life-or-death battles while trying to uncover the secret of his mother, who left him at the orphanage so long ago, and his rightful place in this magical land.
Teamed with the warrior Tiger Lily and a new friend named James Hook, Peter must defeat the ruthless pirate Blackbeard to save Neverland and discover his true destiny—to become the hero who will forever be known as Peter Pan.
See PAN in theaters now
Rated PG for “fantasy action violence, language and some thematic material.”
Audiences might expect the Peter Pan prequel PAN to be a big screen adaptation of humorist Dave Barry’s and writer Ridley Pearson’s bestselling “Peter and the Starcatchers,” a funny, clever, imaginative prequel to J.M. Barrie’s beloved classic “Peter Pan,” or perhaps an adaption of the smart, funny, creative Broadway musical they wrote, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a Tony Award-winning production that delighted grown-ups as well as kids.
Sadly, PAN is neither.
PAN is a kind of prequel to Peter Pan, but the cleverness, charm and humor of “Peter and the Starcatcher” are entirely missing in this disappointing big-budget extravaganza. Instead, “Pan” features a line-up of Hollywood stars, lavish costumes and sets with dazzling visual effects but a script cobbled together from tired, overly familiar kid’s adventure movie tropes, a movie that brings to mind 2013’s “The Lone Ranger.” It seems like the filmmakers spent so much on the cast and effects that there was nothing left for a scriptwriter. PAN has a plot that is a mash-up of “Oliver Twist” and “Star Wars,” with a fistful of kid-friendly adventure movie cliches thrown in. “Original, charming and smart” are not words associated with this turkey. “All style and no substance” are more apt.
Levi Miller plays the future Peter Pan, who was abandoned by his mother (Amanda Seyfried) on the steps of a London orphanage (in a wink to movie history, cinephiles might note it is in Lambeth, where Charlie Chaplin grew up, a star who spent part of his childhood in an orphanage). However, this story is set not in the Victorian era but during World War II. During a bombing raid, underfed Peter and his pal Nibs (Lewis MacDougall) discover that the sinister nun (Kathy Burke) who runs the orphanage is both hoarding supplies and selling orphans to a mysterious pirate. Peter is captured by the pirates, and whisked away on a flying sailing ship to a floating island. The pirate who rules the island, Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), greets the new boys by telling they they are now “free” – but only free to work in his mines, digging for a magical fairy-dust mineral.
In the mines, Peter meets a wise-cracking Han Solo-type named Hook (Garrett Hedlund), and they hatch a plot to escape to the jungle beyond the compound wall. There they meet princess Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara), who is not impressed with Hook despite his attempts to charm, but who helps Peter in his search for his mother. While Hedlund and Mara do a kind of Han and Leia stick, young Miller and Jackman play out a fast-paced adventure version of “Oliver Twist” mixed with a little “Peter Pan.”
That is a lot of big name cast to put in a film where no one seemed to think they needed to hire a scriptwriter. Don’t get me wrong – younger kids are still likely to enjoy “Pan.” It has plenty of bells and whistles – big splashy effects, swashbuckling action, chases through color-drenched fantasy vistas. PAN has a breathless pace, evil villains, brave heroes and a quirky sidekick. For younger viewers to whom all this is new or who relish its familiar beats, PAN can be fun because it is simple, fast and flashy. But this highly-predictable creaky story will be a harder slog for their parents, and there is not much to draw in the little ones’ older siblings either.
The most puzzling part is that the film is directed by Joe Wright, who has brought to the screen such excellent films as “Atonement” and “Pride and Prejudice.” Wright certainly has the skill to make a high quality and entertaining kids’ movie – and probably would have done so if he had been working on an adaptation of “Peter and the Starcatcher.” Instead, the all-style, no-substance PAN is sunk by its lackluster, cookie-cutter script.
The film also uses a puzzling pop music soundtrack, with Jackman as the villainous Blackbeard strutting out for his debut in front of his new recruits, to the sounds of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Those rights must have cost some dough, and the song adds nothing to the film apart from a catchy tune for Jackman, dressed in red stockings and a black frock coat trimmed in feathers, like some preening rooster, to make a grand entrance.
This puzzling stinker of a film is a missed opportunity, and likely something director Wright, as well as the cast, will hurriedly bury on their resumes. Unfortunately, this misfire probably reduces the chances that the much better prequel, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” will make it to movie screens. Too bad.
PAN opens in theaters Friday, October 9th in 3D and 2D
