micheledirienzo When I was 6 (in 2002), my father gave me this movie's videotape. I loved it and I love it now, after hundreds views. Peter Pan became my hero, like Robin Williams. I loved this story and I became to write thanks to it. I knew the Peter Pan's fable but not this new version. This ipotetica sequel. Genious.

CinemaClown Such a lesser-known work from Steven Spielberg that many aren't even aware of its existence, Hook is an excessively cloying, juvenile & cartoonish misfire, and is possibly the worst entry in what's undeniably amongst the most celebrated film careers of all time.The story of Hook follows Peter Pan who has grown up to be a successful lawyer but his workaholic nature has strained his relationship with his family. Things are set in motion when his kids are abducted by an old foe but in order to save them, he must return to Neverland once again.Directed by Steven Spielberg, the first act is actually interesting and showcases numerous themes & trademarks that define his works. But once the setting moves to Neverland, it becomes an unbearable mess that gets lost in its poorly designed set pieces, childish antics & muddled storyline.Robin Williams certainly isn't a bad choice to play the adult Peter Pan but he isn't given much to work with and his character fails to resonate with the viewers. The visual effects are awful, a rarity in a Spielberg film, and those colourful sets fail to bring the magical vibe of Neverland to life.On an overall scale, Hook is a dull, unimaginative & monotonously crafted fantasy adventure that neither dazzles as a fantasy nor interests as an adventure. Scoring low marks in both storytelling & technical aspects, jam-packed with cringeworthy moments & annoying characters, and failing to do justice to Peter Pan's lure, Hook is forgettable in every sense of the word. Don't even bother checking it out.

mark.waltz The legend of Peter Pan goes way beyond the play that James Barrie wrote in the early 1900's and has been performed mostly in the 1950's musical version that has been filmed several times for TV. Few plays not only get produced as much as this has, but along with prequels, sequels and dramatized studies of how it was created, it is even a far greater dramatized children's tale than "The Wizard of Oz". For this 1991 Steven Spielberg smash hit, the sequel (or "fantasy follow up" which I prefer) takes place many years after the original play occurred, and deals with an aging lady named Wendy (Maggie Smith in one of her sweetest performances) who is rumored to be the original, even if the tale is only indeed a legend. She is being honored for her philanthropy for finding homes for orphaned boys, and her grandson-in-law (Robin Williams) is one of them. He's a hard nosed lawyer, too devoted to his career to pay much attention to his wife and young children, but flying to London to see the woman who found a home for him get this award shows that in spite of all that, he's got a soft spot somewhere inside his prickly personality.While there, strange things start happening. Granny Wendy has a seemingly senile brother (the adorable Arthur Malet) who keeps looking for his lost marbles, and a big sheepdog buries Williams' cellphone which his wife threw out of the window after confronting him over his angry outburst towards his children for interrupting a business conversation. During Smith's award ceremony, sudden winds burst open the sleeping children's giant windows, and when the group returns home, Williams finds a note from the alleged Captain Hook who wants one last showdown with his old rival Peter Pan. This leads Smith to reveal the truth, that Williams is indeed the aging Peter Pan, having abandoned Neverland to marry her granddaughter and turning into the grown-up he always resented. Thanks to wise- cracking Tinker Bell (a perky Julia Roberts), Williams ends up back in Neverland where the lost boys, at first not believing that this paunchy middle aged man could be their beloved pal Peter, put him through the rigorous exercise of being able to recapture what he's lost so he can reclaim his children from Hook (a delightful Dustin Hoffman, emulating Terry-Thomas) and live happily ever after with them in Neverland.Sounds great, right? Yep. In many cases, it is, but the script doesn't know whether this is a family movie geared towards children or an allegory for adults. Some of the screenplay is very wise in its message, and at other times, it sinks to the depths of what makes little boys giggle and adults groan. Most of the boys are fine, although a few (especially the very overweight grinning black kid) will grate on some viewer's nerves with their insipid "cuteness". The Asian actor playing Pan's rival for power in Neverland is very good, giving a little political twist to how they run their little community, as is the little black boy who is the first to believe that Williams is Peter. A violent twist involving one of the boys towards the end will be shocking to everybody and horrifying to the very young. At times, the interaction between the kids comes off as a cross between the youthful gangsters of "Bugsy Malone", a re-hash of the "Bowery Boys" movies and the juvenile humor of "Scooby Doo". Where this film succeeds is in the lessons that Williams learns from this adventure. Hoffman, as well as Bob Hoskins as a delightful Smee, are the acting stand-outs. It is also successful artistically, making me wish there was a Peter Pan theme park that expanded it beyond a Disneyland look. It's also ironic to see Arthur Malet getting the final shot (getting to fly after regaining his marbles), having nearly 30 years before trying to prevent banker father Dick Van Dyke from floating to the top of the ceiling in "Mary Poppins". Spielberg combines the joy of childhood and the disillusionment's of adulthood come together, but the conflict in moods and messages prevents it from becoming fully successful. With constant revivals of the musical "Peter Pan", the successful prequel ("Peter & the Starcatcher") and the fairly successful historical docu-musical ("Finding Neverland", based upon another hit movie) having hit Broadway, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody tried to musicalize this, but after seeing the movie, that seems like a nearly impossible task.

Kirpianuscus it could be reduced at a special meet between actors and director. because it is a pure Spielberg. game of imagination, the same Robin Williams and the unique Dustin Hoffman giving the most impressive Captain Hook of cinematography. and, sure, the hypothesis - if Peter becomes adult? a question who was present in the mind of many readers. and who, in this film, has a decent and seductive answer. it is difficult to define "Hook" among the waves of adaptations as a good or only decent film. it remains a good exercise. and this could be the most important thing.