Hook

I’m going to talk about «Hook», a film directed by Spielberg in 1991. The director hasn’t based his film on a novel, or better, he wanted to brush up Barrie’s novel and propose the story of Peter Pan again: in fact he liked very much the Disney movie and he wanted to repropose it in a modern version. In my opinion this film is something like a sequel of the Disney film. In fact it’s the story of Peter Banning, a lawyer in his forties, played by Robin Williams, that is Peter Pan but he doesn’t remember this because he felt in love with Moira, Wendy’s granddaughter, and he didn’t come back to Never Land and he married her. The movie opens in the U.S.A., where the Bannings live: Peter is a lawyer, he’s very busy and he isn’t able to devote himself to his wife, Moira, and his children, Maggie and Jack, that are constantly being neglected or pushed aside. During the holidays they fly to London to visit Granny Wendy, Moira’s grandmother and the woman who brought up Peter, and to take part of a children hospital inauguration. But during this event his children are kidnapped by Captain Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman, and taken on Never Land. So, helped by Tinkerbell, played by Julia Roberts, Peter goes to the isle, but there he has some problems because he doesn’t remember he is Peter Pan, so he isn’t able to fly and imagine things. But he must save his children, so Tinkerbell comes to an agreement with Hook that she will train Peter over three days, after which Hook will have the war he craves. So he is trained by the Lost Boys until he is able to use his imagination and play with them. During the dinner of the first day Peter has an argue with Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys: Peter wins and at the end of it he wants and imagines to throw a spoonful of soup, I think, against Rufio, and it is realized. So from that time he becomes again Peter Pan and he has a lot of fun with the Lost Boys. Then he has to learn how to fly but Peter has trouble with this last requirement because he can’t think of one happy thought. He tries and tries, but he isn’t able. Finally he sees the tree house where Wendy and her brothers once lived and remembers Wendy, her granddaughter Moira and the real reason he didn’t return to Never Land: he wanted to be a father. So he flies. In the meanwhile Jack and Maggie are on Captain Hook ship and he tries to convince them to abandon their father and join the Jolly Roger crew: Maggie doesn’t trust him, but Jack is more malleable because he thinks his father doesn’t care for him. Then Hook uses Jack’s love of baseball to win his affections and the child loves him as his real father. The following morning Peter arrives, ready to fight in the promised war. During the fighting Peter manages to save Maggie, and Rufio starts up a duel against Captain Hook. After getting Maggie to safety, Peter returns to the Jolly Roger just to see Hook run Rufio right through the heart. The dying Rufio tells Peter that his one wish was that he had a fathe Continua »