Children's stories are a crucial element to the movie going experience. If we, as a society, expect to woo kids into the multiplex, Hollywood truly needs to give them something that's entertaining, safe and enjoyable. We've seen many of them: "Matilda", "Goosebumps", "Babe", all the Pixar films, and the like. Now we have "Peter Rabbit" to add to that ongoing list.
Peter Rabbit (James Corden), the mischievous and adventurous hero who has captivated generations of readers, now takes on the starring role of his own irreverent, contemporary comedy with attitude. In the film, Peter's feud with Mr. Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) escalates to greater heights than ever before as they rival for the affections of the warm-hearted animal-lover who lives next door, Bea (Rose Byrne). With the assistance of Peter's family, Ben (Colin Moody), Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki) and Cotton-Tail (Daisy Ridley), does McGregor really have a chance or will he tuck his tail between his legs a get the heck out of Dodge?
Others to round out the cast are Sam Neill as Old Mr. McGregor, Margot Robbie as The Narrator, Christian Gazai as Felix D'eer, Ewen Leslie as Pigling Bland, Sia as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as General Manager.
This was serious yet whimsically directed by Will Gluck (Fired Up! '09, "Easy A" '10, "Iceland" (TV movie) '11, "Annie" '14) plus TV. This was an effective combination of both whimsical and seriousness of plot which made this a great film for the family. His resume is eclectic with multi genres involved. If you like this brand of direction, Gluck's "Which Brings Me to You" has been announced. It was written by Rob Lieber ("Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" '14) plus TV and Gluck ("Annie" '14, "Angry Angel" (TV movie) '17) plus TV, based on a screen story by Lieber and Gluck which is based on the characters and tales of "Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter. Even though these writers are fairly new to the writing territory, the combination of their respective resumes emit a true understanding of how this film was as effective as it was entertaining. Certainly this is based on a classic story, but the contemporary slant these writers took gave this story a fresh newer look for a new generation of fans. It's been a long time since I've read this classic, but after seeing this, it gave a whole new look on a very old story. It wasn't a comedy that wasn't a belly-laugh type of film, rather this was more subtle in its presentation which not only is entertaining, but keeps the target audience's attention more effectively. Sony Pictures Animation created the animation incorporating live action and this makes this something to keep kids that much more glued to their seats.
Was this film flawless? No, it had some slowness in storyline, but this was so minimal that it was hardly even noticeable. Considering children can tire from a slow script, how slow could this have been? And how many films out there can tout that it can entertain an entire family? Not many that's for sure.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG 101mins.
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