Pan (4/10): All visuals, but no heart

“If you don't believe, Peter, then neither will they.”

It seems that every decade there is a new attempt at bringing Peter Pan back to life wether it be a reimagining of the classic tale or a prequel. This time it was Joe Wright’s turn to give us an origin story of Peter Pan and how he arrived at Neverland. The concept seemed pretty interesting considering Pan is such a fascinating character, and Joe Wright who delivered solid films like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement seemed to be the perfect man for the job. That is why Pan was among my most anticipated films of the year, although that anticipation began to wear down once the first reviews starting coming in. The visuals are quite mesmerizing, but the problem with Pan has more to do with the narrative structure of the film. Pan is such a lovable character, but here he seems to lack that charm that made kids fall in love with his childish and wacky behavior. This Pan seems more mature and not very mischievous. He is in search of his mother and is trying to find meaning to his existence. But that approach sort of takes the fun out of his character. However, the choice of including Hook as an ally was pretty engaging. I liked that element of the story, but that was about it. Hook and Pan have a solid relationship in the film, but it never takes center stage and the action scenes kind of eclipse any attempt of establishing these characters. Hugh Jackman rarely works for me as a villain since he seems to go over the top with these characters at times. Blackbeard was not the exception for Jackman. Rooney Mara seemed like the perfect choice for Tiger Lily, but her character is never given much opportunity in the film and I thought it was a waste of talent. Pan seemed to have all the right ingredients to become a success but from the moment Peter arrives at Neverland to the sound of miners chanting Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, all the magic disappeared. 

I wouldn’t blame the film’s lack of heart on its cast because I thought there were some strong performances. Levi Miller did a good job playing the title character, but the problem is that this Peter simply wasn’t childish and lively as the ones we are used to seeing him in. Adeel Akhtar was given the task of playing Sam Smiegel and in my opinion his character was the closest to the cartoon. Of course here Hook is playing Peter’s friend so he is nothing like we are used to seeing. Garret Hedlund gives the best performance of the film and I think that his character would’ve been a more fascinating character study. We could have used more of his origin story and then explore reasons as to why he ultimately became the Hook we all know. The cast and the visuals were all very satisfactory, but the narrative elements are what ultimately hurt this film and didn’t allow it to take off the way I would’ve wanted it to. Pan was definitely a disappointment for me, and it just goes to prove how difficult it is to bring Neverland to life. I’m in the minority here, but I think that Spielberg’s Hook is the best adaptation of the story. Watch that instead. 

My Review: Four Lions (9/10)

"We are the four lions"

Chris Morris's Four Lions is in my opinion the funniest British film of the last decade (sorry Wright and Pegg, I loved your work, but this was just hilarious). Morris took a huge risk by deciding to make a comedy about a group of terrorist friends that are planning their attack somewhere in the city, and it really payed off because this dark slapstick comedy worked extremely well. In papers you would never think this sort of comedy could work because it is just too dark of a subject matter, but somehow Morris manages to create a buddy comedy around this group of incompetent terrorists. Morris, who also  co-wrote the script with Sam Bain and Simon Blackwell (In the Loop), managed to deliver a smart comedy in what easily could've been a tasteless film. I would've never imagined to find a film about violent jihads to be funny, but this provocative film works really well and deserves to be seen. It is a small independent film, but has some really strong performances from the ensemble cast and several hilarious scenes that had me bursting out loud in laughter. A scene involving a sheep and one of the jihads comes to mind here. There were several more similar scenes that had a similar effect on me. This satire might be a little too dark for some audiences, but it was the kind of comedy I find provocative since it doesn't try to explore the reasons why these people behave like this, but rather just focuses on the ridiculousness of it all. Four Lions blew me away (no pun intended here).

Four Lions focuses on a group of British friends that are trying to form a terrorist cell (wannabe jihads). Omar (Riz Ahmed) and Barry (Nigel Lindsay) are the leaders of the group and there seems to be a power struggle between the two. Omar is actually more of a leader since Barry has more heart and passion than brains. They are devout Muslims, but don't seem very menacing. The other members of the group are Waj (Kayvan Novak) who comes up with stupid ideas like blowing up the internet, Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) who is quiet and reserved and tries to teach crows how to carry explosive devices, and Hassan (Arsher Ali) who likes to add a hip hop flavor to his video communiques. The friends spend most of their time debating about doctrine and ways they should send out their message against the sinful Western culture they live in. The more they discuss and clash about their ideologies the more idiotic they seem. These men are more of a threat to themselves than to the rest of society, but they are determined to get their message across.

Some of the funniest moments of Four Lions involve the power struggle between Barry and Omar as they clash to prove to the others who is a better leader. Omar has an influence on Waj, who is easily manipulated, while the rest of the gang don't know really what they are doing. However the film doesn't only make fun of these radical muslims, it also makes fun of the police, normal citizens, and even pacific muslims for the way they treat women. Morris doesn't try to make these jihad friends look like villains while everyone around them are the smart people, he just satirizes everyone. Four Lions actually works more as a dark buddy comedy in which we end up caring for some of these characters despite their ridiculous ideologies. Nigel Lindsay and Kayvan Novak deliver the most laughs out of their performances. They stand out in a very provocative and hilarious comedy. I have to give Morris credit for taking such a huge risk with this dark subject matter and delivering a fun satire with some of the most memorable laugh inducing scenes I've seen.