Wendy

I honestly have no idea what this film is about. The visuals are not pleasing, the characters are poorly developed and I don't feel connected with any part of this film.

Love the feel of the beginning of this movie and was looking forward to seeing where it took me. However, by about mid way through it had not done anything to improve on that beginning. By the end it left me unfulfilled.

One of the best literary allusions is for someone to be a "Peter Pan," a Pollyanna who refuses to grow old. Benh Zeitlin, writer and director along with writer Eliza Zeitlin, remakes that story into Wendy about a wandering girl and her pre-teen friends. Zeitlin's love of nature and kids is evident as it was in his acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild, which garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

The emphasis on her (Devin France) is a timely take on a little girl who runs from home and returns, always the mistress of her own heart even when she's following charismatic troublemaker Peter (Yashua Mack). Although the shots of mountains and sea are almost too many, they and the kids are lovingly and powerfully rendered in a satisfactory allegorical sense.

Although the fantasy has a few too many episodes that steal from potentially longer character-making scenes, I still get it-you can't, even on a magical island, evade forever the demands of aging. Sophisticated audiences will immediately see a serious Disney-like philosophy at work, its emphasis on dealing with old folks and facing your fate with equanimity. You might lose an arm, but you'll still make it through if you believe in the goodness of life, especially of mother be she your own or a giant loving fish.

While the allegorical implications of this rugged, romantic, and lyrical adventure could fill a book, here it is necessary only to praise the sumptuous seas and mountains of Neverland, scenery J.M. Barrie would wholly approve. The eye-piercing beauty of the magical island, teeming with geysers of enigmatic steam, strikes the right balance between the beautiful dreams of children and the realities that bite them at the same time. Sometimes the tableau-like shots of nature are overwhelmingly sumptuous, just as the underwater world of the giant mothering fish is dark and foreboding.

At no point do the filmmakers create overly-colorful, unreal images that could lead a child to believe that life is easy. Here it is work just to survive and beauty when you realize where the real beauty is-in loving fealty to friends and family.

Even the story's Captain Hook must admit that love is the salvation and sometimes you can't go home. Fortunately for our little band of adventurers, they can become adults and realize that growing up is the greatest adventure of all.

This film starts out kind of boring and lacking in substance. However, halfway through the plot suddenly goes completely bonkers and I'm struggling to figure out if the plot goes bonkers in a positive or negative way.

This movie is based on the story of Peter Pan, except it focuses on Wendy. The story follows Wendy and her twin brothers, James and Douglas, as they hop onto a train and end up on a magic island where kids don't age. However, things begin to get serious when Wendy learns of an old man on the island.

I mentioned how the film starts out lacking substance. This issue is mostly due to the pacing, which is probably my biggest issue with the film. The scene where the kids get onto the train to the island feels like it comes out of nowhere, despite the fact that there is some build up. And even though it's established that Wendy seeks adventure, I don't really get the impression that she is ok with running away. Her sudden fascination with the train is confusing and feels like a scene or two that would further establish her adventurous and reckless side has been removed. The middle of the movie also feels like certain scenes were cut off too soon. For example, when Wendy and her brothers run into Thomas, a kid from their town who ran away to the island when Wendy was a baby, they question why Thomas looks exactly the same as when he disappeared, and then the scene immediately ends. And after that scene, they rarely interact with Thomas and instantly go back to playing. It feets odd to me that the kids seem to forget about the fact that they just reunited with a missing kid from their town and he hasn't aged a day.

While the first half of the film feels very light on action, there's a very sudden shift in tone that honestly, made me uncomfortable, but in a good way. From that point forward, the film is a significantly more enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, I have issues with the ending. Obviously, I can't go into specifics, but let's just say that the ending raises more questions than answers. I don't have a problem with ambiguous endings, but when you're more confused because of said ambiguity, then I take issue.

I rate this film 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 15. It came out in theatres on February 28th and the film is now out on digital.

Reviewed by Calista B., KIDS FIRST! Reporter

Anyone who didn't like peter pan because he was a little black boy is an ignorant sob. some of these comments disgust me and i hope they are deleted soon.

amazing cinematography 6.3